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- Aifos threatens to take our appartment back if we do not pay an extra 10,000 EUR. Can they do this?
Property Law
Antonio Flores Vila
25th of May 2006
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Q. We bought an Aifos apatment in balcones de roquetas almeria in july 2004.
Our last interim payment was due october 25th 2005,but the funds did not arrive in our spanish bank until the 26th october so aifos did not get the payment .I immediately contacted our solicitor in almeria asking how to make the payment,they emailed aifos many times but had no reply. I myself emailed aifos to find how we could pay the missed payment but did not get a reply.
Now aifos say they will take the apartment back unless we send the outstanding payment (ok),but aifos also want an EXTRA 10,000 euro.
We have made every effort to pay the missed payment.
We feel like we are being blackmailed into paying an extra 10,000 euro .
Can they do this,they made no attempt to contact us about the paying but have now found the time to ask for more.They say we have broken the terms of the contract.
We have paid already 35,800 euro and have been told that we will get it back less agent sellig fees and legal fees should we not go ahead, but only when the apartment resells.
Thank you.
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A. In my years of practice I have seen malpractice, negligence and abuse but with Aifos we always move one step up the ladder. Aifos is prolific in manufacturing consumer fraud, deceipt, misrepresentation and many bad things and yet we are still waiting to see if they can manufacture properties!
In your case you need to analyse several aspects of the transaction, namely:
- If there is a building licence.
- If there is a bank guarantee.
- If the developer owns the land on which the developer is projected.
- If the contract includes a clause stating that in the event of the developer not complying with their obligations they will award damages to the extent of your deposit, apart from reimbursing it (if this is not in place they cannot keep your deposit).
All of the above have to be in place in order that they can attempt to cancel your contract and cannot request that you pay any further sum.
Different consideration has to be given to the request of an extra 10,000 Euros as this barely remains in the 'civil' side of law and become somewhat criminal, close to an offence of 'extortion'.
In my opinion your lawyer should be firm with Aifos and if you are able to pull out, receiving your full deposit back, proceed with it. If on the contrary the property is almost finished and you are happy with it then stick to your guns, and the law, which is fully on your side.
Note to buyers having problems with Aifos
Currently the lawfirm Lawbird Legal Services is representing a large number of clients in different court cases against Aifos in order to claim the refund of deposits and possible compensations for properties that were never built. If you are in this same situation, or are experiencing any other problems with the developer Aifos, and you are considering taking legal action, please don't hesitate to submit a query through this site, or contact aifos@lawbird.com for further assistance.
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