Recovering Deposits from Morocco

Alcudia Smir - Moroccan Development

Delayed Developments in Morocco

Recovering Deposits From Morocco

I spent the best part of last week in Marbella speaking with a selection of solicitors about the hopes for recovering deposits from Morocco. What I was essentially looking to do was to regain funds from incomplete or poorly completed developments particularly along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Morocco. I returned home with a lot more hope than I had anticipated.

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NOTE: New findings by the Spanish Supreme Court mean that those who signed contracts with Spanish companies like Property Logic and Fadesa, who deposited funds into a Spanish Bank Account and had Spanish Bank Guarantees (or in some cases without) may be able to reclaim their funds via Ley 57/68 in Spain. Click here to learn more.

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The good news is that deposits can be recovered from Morocco, but you’ll need to deal with a company that has a certain set of competencies that aren’t easily found – hence my trip to Marbella.

I’m glad to say that I spoke to at least one company there with the necessary qualifications to take a case to have deposits refunded from delayed developments in Morocco. This particular visit was dealing specifically with the AP5 development in Alcudia Smir in Morocco, also known as Residences du Soleil.

One issue that was raised by every solicitor I met last week was that that of completion. Whatever happens and whatever you decide to do, you must do it before the developer completes on the project, otherwise you do not have a case, full stop. If and when you receive your notification that the ‘licence of first occupation’ is available for your property then you are obliged by law to complete on the property. If you have not made an objection of some description to the developer before that time the law will see it as an acceptance that you had no problem with the delay and the law immediately switches to the developer’s side.

Essentially, this means that, even if you decide not to partake in an action of some description to recover your funds, you should lodge a complaint, preferably through a recognised legal channel, showing that you have a problem with the delay to the project and that this complaint has been legally registered. In Spain this is usually facilitated by sending what is termed a BuroFax – this is a registered fax, sent open, with the contents legally noted.

If you do not do this then the builder is perfectly entitled to come after you for the balance of payment. Whether he would do this or not is debatable, but it is obviously better that you negate his ability to do so in any way possible.

In case you are wondering what the Spanish connection is in this particular case it is because the development was originally sold by Fadesa in Spain, via Larionovo in Ireland. Consequently most of the bank guarantees issued for the developed were drawn on Spanish banks, which adds an extra level of complexity to the whole issue.

For those with investments in AP5 I have received reliable information that the licences of first occupation will most likely be  issued in September or October of this year so any case being taken would have to be lodged before this time. Apparently the building looks very much like it is completed, but there are obviously items outstanding that will take a further few months to complete. In fact any action would probably need to be lodged in the next month or two (May or June 2011) as nothing is likely to happen during the summer months of July and August, so it needs to be well under way before this time. Other than this the developer can claim that the property was completed before any complaint was made and, after that, the chances of success would be minimal. In fact, at this stage the company would refuse to take on the cases on that basis.

If you would like to be included in any proposed action to recover deposits from Alcudia Smir please drop me a line on info@diarmaidcondon.com and I’ll come back to you on it.

Recovering Deposits From Morocco – 2013 Update

Since the above post was written things have moved along significantly. The group we formed following the above post is currently in the final phases of negotiating a refund from Excelia/Fadesa/Addoha, etc. This group is, unfortunately, closed to further entrants at this stage. We have, however, over the period of time over which we have been following up this case, made some very good contacts in Spain and Morocco. We are now able to offer services to a range of people who are currently experiencing problems in recovering deposits from Morocco.

The projects in which we currently have most interest include:

Recovering Deposits From Morocco

About diarmaidcondonadmin

Diarmaid Condon is Ireland's foremost Independent Overseas Property Consultant and Journalist. He has been in the industry since 1995 and, in that time, has been a strong advocate for improved legal protection in the sector.

13 Comments

  1. hi diarmaid,

    i am waiting for funds back from fadesa in morocca in alkudia smir, i was asked for my bank details a year ago and have recieved nothing back yet…

    • What were they offering you at that stage Mary? Your entire deposit back or just 75% of it. Although this is, of course, largely irrelevant as they haven’t sent it to you.

      • just 75% would be happy with that if i got it..

        • I wouldn’t tell them that in advance Mary, if I were you. If they think you’ll settle for 75% they’ll offer you a lot less than that in the hope that you’ll accept a lower offer. One other client was offered 25% by them, which is obviously a joke.

    • Hi have u received your deposit back yet Ian nevins

  2. Thank you for your help with this matter, this is my first time investing in property overseas so i am totally out of my league. I will submit my displeasure about the delay to the lawyers who are supposed to be working on my behalf. Manzares, thank you for letting me know that I need to do this. Any other information would be greatly appreciated. Joe Anglim

    • No problem Joe. Just be aware that Manzanares are the legal entity engaged by Fadesa originally (and still being used by Excelia now as far as I’m aware) to carry out all of their legal work on Alcudia Smir. Their record in acting for clients against the developer has been, as far as I can ascertain, utterly deplorable. If you are looking to get your deposit back from Excelia I’d suggest using a different solicitor, but if you just want to have it completed as soon as possible then Manzanares are probably ok for that.

  3. buenos dias
    Soy inversora de alcudia smir ap7 pero mi preocupacion es la misma
    Ni abogado ni bancos respondesn
    Quien tenga un abogado por favor me mande el contacto

  4. Hi Diarmaid,

    Just came across your info about recovering deposits from Morocco. Do you have ant info about recovering deposits from Playa Vista Developments?

    William

    • Hi I also have problems with Playa vista and they have my deposit from 2007

    • Hello ,

      my wife and i also bought a two bed on the playa vista development. have either of you heard any updates (bar the claim that things have started back up and it looks positive …forgive me for not holding my breathe on that claim !!)

    • Hi William, Doreen & Gareth, sorry for the late reply, I missed these posts when they came in earlier this year. I’m afraid we’ve not had any dealings with Playa Vista but my partners in Morocco claim they are the most difficult of all the developments to deal with, so they’ve steered clear of them for the time being.

      Apart from telling you to visit the unofficial forum, http://www.playavistaonline.co.uk/, which I’ve no doubt you’ve already been on, there’s not a lot else I can suggest at this time.

  5. Some websites containing reactions in France from victims of Excelia (Addoha / Fadesa) who have put deposits on property in Saidia.

    http://www.scoop.it/t/victimes-immobilier-a-saidia
    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cauchemar_Immbolier_Saidia/232460256850952?ref=hl

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