Spanish press releases and campaigns
Land grab, LRAU, Letter to the minister of housing, illegal planning in Catrall resolved.
L.R.A.U. Urban Development Activity Act Valencia 1994
In 1994 the Valencian community released an iniquitous piece of legislation known as the L.R.A.U. or Urban Development Activity Act. The purpose of this legislation was to cause people living on the fringes of newly constructed urbanisations to contribute for the benefits the urbanisations would bring such as mains drainage, street lighting, roads and etc.
Reasonable in its approach, in fact this piece of legislation was hi-jacked by developers and builders who together with corrupt council officials used it to steal land from private owners. The effect of this legislation on many house owners was devastating with significant numbers losing their properties.
When we realised what was happening, in common with others we immediately protested against this legislation but with virtually no effect. In recognising the need for the matter to be drawn to the attention of as many people as possible we approached the quality press in the UK and after a considerable difficulty managed to raise their interest.
They immediately renamed the L.R.A.U. as the Spanish Land Grab Act and reported accurately the situation with buying land in the Valencia province. Notwitstanding, Britons, other foreigners and Spaniards alike continued to fall victim to this dreadful legislation. In an attempt to help victims of this legislation SPC set up a help and advice service, putting people in touch not only with each other but with those who in any way at all were able to help.
Eventually, the EU became involved and the LRAU was condemned and repealed but only to be replaced by the L.U.V. an identical act which has also been rejected by the EU. Today the situation is that whilst the L.U.V. is technically in force, it is unlikely that any part of its legislation could effectively be carried out. We continue to monitor the situation with this Valenican law.
Press release to the Spanish minister of housing - June 2008
SPC since the start of our inception has put procedures in place which avoid all of commonly known issues when purchasing, buying and building in Spain.
SPC actively campaign for the reform of the Spanish construction industry and to make changes to the law, for the benefit of legal and financial protection of all local and overseas investors, for land and property purchasers.
Below is the English translation of a letter sent to minister of housing in Spain, from SPC. This has also been released to newspapers in Spain.
For original Spanish letter, please scroll below the English translation.
Beatriz Corredor Sierra,
Ministra de Vivienda
Paseo de la Castellana, 112
28071, MADRID
26 June 2008
Dear Minister,
In 2007, Spain’s property boom ground painfully to a halt. The result of a decade of frantic building activity based more on greed than the need for housing has brought about a situation where Spain has a huge housing surplus, an economy addicted to cement and a coastline which suggests that bribes are still effective when it comes to planning matters.
For ten years the property market has served Spain well, providing employment for millions of people as well as a significant percentage of the revenue required by the country. However, hidden behind this impressive information is the simple fact that the Spanish property market has been hit by a never ending stream of bad news involving corruption scandals, illegal building, demolition threats, land grabs, over-development, dishonest and corrupt estate agents, corrupt and incompetent lawyers, tales of huge, obscene commissions and countless stories from unhappy owners, buyers, and investors. With newsgroups, bulletin boards, web sites and much of the British and European media now bored witless by the sheer weight of complaints about Spanish property there can be few today who when considering buying a house abroad consider Spain for long if at all. For many - foreigners and Spaniards alike, buying a property in Spain has proved to be akin to playing hopscotch on a minefield.
Minister, we are aware that you have been inundated with requests from constructors, estate agents and others working within the property market for action which will hopefully kick-start the market. However, with a glut of almost 1 million homes in Spain and many people trying to sell their holiday homes, we are not convinced that anything wonderful is going to happen soon. This being the case, we would like to suggest that you turn your attention to the property market in an attempt to rid it permanently of the fraud and corruption with which it has been associated for so long. We appreciate that the government has made inroads into this problem with several mayors and others having been imprisoned and others awaiting trial but the corruption which concerns us is that which affects the single property buyer and who can end up losing everything. Unfortunately, most of the people caught up in the various types of property fraud are foreigners who simply are ignorant of the laws, habits and culture and who believe that as with most other European countries, laws will be in existence which will protect them not only from the actions of others but those of themselves.
Fraud involving foreigners is no worse than fraud involving Spaniards save for one fact. Foreigners are usually able to find powerful sources to whom they can complain. Usually the media in their own countries, each such complaint when reported can and does influence the actions of many people who had been set on taking the same route as the complainant but now decide against it. The loser is of course the Spanish property market.
We are a small firm of constructors, dealing in the main with foreigners wishing to either retire to Spain or live and work here permanently. We know from our own experience of these people that many are now turning away from Spain simply because of the risks involved with purchasing Spanish property. The only comforting advice available to these people seems to be along the lines of finding themselves a good, competent lawyer when everything should be OK. There are enough demolition orders on properties throughout Spain to cast extreme doubt on the ability of many Spanish lawyers to keep their clients out of trouble. All too often, the lawyer ends up part of the problem as opposed to part of the solution. The intention here is not to insult or denigrate the Spanish legal profession but with the greatest of respect its role in the purchase of Spanish property may well benefit by a glance from government.
In 2006, 22,600 of the 900,000 Spanish property transactions inscribed in the Spanish property register involved British buyers - making them the biggest single group of property buyers after the Spanish themselves. Too many of these people ended up in situations which should not have happened. Dishonest estate agents coupled with lazy and incompetent lawyers have left many with land upon which they cannot build, houses in which they cannot live and every situation imaginable in between. In the meantime, the L.R.A.U. Act Valencia 1994 (condemned by the EU) and the L.U.V. which replaced it (and just as enthusiastically condemned by the EU) lays in wait for those victims who may not yet have heard of Spain’s Land Grab acts. In total, the British represent over 60% of all European demand for holiday homes in Spain and each time British demand falls, it puts pressure on the Spanish market.
Earlier we mentioned that in the main we dealt with foreign retirees. These are a particularly unique group of people who in the main are unaffected by credit squeezes etc., having planned their retirement and organised their finances some years ago. Demand for Spanish property among this group of people has fallen seriously even though they are financially well off. Perhaps the fact that those with a budget for overseas property know they now have a far greater choice of destinations than ever before and they are starting to exercise these options - finding them preferable to the risks associated with buying Spanish property.
The constant threats of demolition by what potential buyers see as the “bullying state” don’t help matters at all and they need to be quickly removed. Demolition should only be carried out if it can be shown that there was clear intention on behalf of the owners to disregard or ignore the law for whatever reason and it should be carried out quickly. For others, whose only crime appears to have been appointing an incompetent lawyer or deceived by an estate agent or developer the situation is very different. Little point exists in punishing the victims for the incompetence or dishonest actions of those they retained to represent them. Punishing them can never be effective as a deterrent. Instead, the law should pursue all those responsible, dealing with them firmly and in high profile manner in order that not only justice be done but be seen to be done. The threat of demolition is an ongoing saga which needs to end. It’s an ill wind which blows no good and something most decent people find offensive.
Your predecessor, Maria Antonia Trujillo, correctly observed that more qualifications are required to sell a lettuce than to sell a house. However, the revelation of this remarkable fact seems to have brought about little by way of change despite revealing an obvious weakness in the system.
As long as the sun shines on Spain there are going to be foreigners who wish to live here. They will contribute considerably to Spain’s economy by purchasing property and cashing their retirement cheques each month. Relations and friends will visit them and their expenditure whilst here will also benefit Spain. However, many potential buyers of Spanish property who are well funded simply have no confidence in the property market for a variety of known reasons and currently will not buy.
We sincerely believe that immediate changes in the way the property market operates are necessary and if brought about will bring immediate and needed benefits. Among many potential buyers of Spanish property there exists a single common denominator which is: allowing that the government must know of the things which are wrong why does it allow them to continue? Anything the government does now will go a long way to answering this question which is not only being asked by buyers of Spanish property but another group which is equally or more important and for years has had hundreds of British buyers arriving at Spanish airports each month.
These are the UK estate agents who have chosen to specialise in selling property abroad but who have shown an increasing reluctance in dealing with the Spanish property market because of the seemingly never ending problems. To understand their reluctance requires only that you know that under UK law, any person involved in any part of a commercial action for which they will receive payment can be held responsible for any losses or damages incurred by the buyer. Therefore any client referred by a UK estate agent suffering loss can simply look to the agent in the UK for compensation and not have to become involved in the Spanish legal system.
We believe that confidence in the property market, particularly among foreigners wishing to live permanently in Spain would be improved considerably and possibly far beyond what it had ever been if there were a house buyers charter which guaranteed to protect them from fraud or incompetence. If you feel the cost of this would be too great then you are clearly aware of the problems. However, the costs of operating such a charter could be reduced almost to nothing by ensuring that Estate Agents were required to undergo formal training at the end of which they would be examined and if successful, licensed to practice. Further, once licensed they would be required to carry malpractice insurance and it would be obligatory to prove to all clients that such insurance existed and was currently in force.
When selling property in Spain there seems to be no standard on how it should be measured and sized. As a result, the size of a building can vary by us much as one third simply by including terraces, flat roofs, staircases and patios etc. There should be one basic measurement which only concerns useable living space. We use this method ourselves, even though in comparisons with other properties our own property appears to be smaller, even though the reverse is usually the case. Other salient measurements such as roof terraces, balconies etc can be included separately but will not create the misunderstanding which they usually do and which in many cases is intended.
Competence among many lawyers leaves a lot to be desired and in some cases so does integrity. Lawyers are the subject of many justifiable complaints by buyers. The habit enjoyed by many lawyers of demanding fees “upfront” is something which should be stopped. They should be allowed to ask for a deposit in order to qualify that their appointment is genuine and to invoice for work in progress but the significant part of the bill should be collected when the work is done and a final itemised invoice is provided in writing. All too often we have seen “raring to go enthusiasm” evaporate or stall once a lawyer has received his full fee in advance of carrying out any work.
All lawyers practicing law should be required to carry malpractice insurance which in the event of them being held responsible for any act of incompetence or neglect is more than adequate for the purposes of providing full compensation. Lawyers should not be able to limit their liabilities by any means other than insuring them.
The quaint habit of Lawyers under-declaring the purchase value of a property to evade tax should be ended. Enough is known about the practice to know that the buyer has never benefited from the procedure, which when carried out makes him immediately guilty of tax evasion. How are housing figures issued by the Ministry to be taken seriously when a significant, unknown percentage of the purchase price of each property sold is being withheld from them and apparently with their full blessing!
Cap commissions for all property sales to a maximum of 5% per sale with the seller being required to declare in writing to the buyer what his commission is. Move the overcharging of commissions from civil law to criminal law.
With Spain not having a system for outline planning, the purchase of land upon which it is hoped to build can be risky. Where land is being purchased for the construction of a private house, purchase should not be able to take place until construction has been approved by planning and other relevant authorities. Deposits for land purchase should be held in escrow by a bank or lawyer acting for the purchaser and refunded in full if planning is refused. If planning is approved, the price agreed for the purchase of the land shall be that agreed initially in writing between seller and buyer. Should the land purchase fail to take place within 3 months from the approval of planning then the buyer should be entitled to review his selling price. Should the buyer withdraw from the sale following planning approval his deposit should be forfeit to the vendor.
Many potential buyers of Spanish properties are deterred by the fact that there have been many cases in Spain of building being approved but at a later stage being refused by a greater authority to the detriment of the owner. As to how this situation can come about is irrelevant but any authority giving permission to any person or organisation for the construction of a building should be responsible in law for its decision. If a greater authority at a later stage shall deem the construction illegal, then the granting authority should be responsible for all losses incurred by the constructor and those instructing him. Further time limits for recompensing should be set so as to avoid long, unreasonable delays.
Previously mentioned is the L.R.A.U. Act Valencia 1994 and the act which replaced it (L.U.V.) Both of these acts are iniquitous pieces of legislation and have been abused by corrupt officials and developers alike. Known almost universally by the foreign media as the "Land Grab Act" this legislation serves to do nothing now other than to keep Spain held in contempt by far too many people. It is doing dreadful damage to the Spanish property market with many boycotting Valencia and other parts of Spain simply because they have no desire to provide the roads and infrastructure for urbanizations they are never going to live on. The European Union has ruled against both of these acts and it is now time for them to be trashed – something which should have happened long ago. They are associated with dishonesty and unfairness and the longer they are allowed to exist, the more damage will be done to Spain. It is clear now that if these acts last for another hundred years they will never be able to achieve what they were designed for so no logical reason exists for them not to be axed.
Foreigners are important to the Spanish Property Market and logic points towards encouraging them to invest in Spain but in real terms, their treatment, together with that of many Spaniards whose only interest was in buying property has been an outrage, with the government doing little or nothing about the frauds perpetrated against them. Despite the fact that these frauds were regularly being reported by the foreign media the government did little and the damage to the property market continued.
To add insult to injury, today as the effect of interest rate hikes start to bite, the banks or some of them are up to their old tricks with their treatment of repossessions. In common with many others, we are being offered property from a variety of sources at knock down prices but where the proviso is for large amounts of under declared black cash. The idea of the property being sold to raise as much money as possible so as to be able to discharge the banks debt and return as much as possible to the previous owner is laughable. The previous owner is going to be very lucky to see a single cent of the proceeds, unlike the many cronies who gather around on the day of the sale to share in the plunder. Strict, laws are needed to monitor and control the disposal of repossessed property and to afford maximum protection to the former owner.
We have already mentioned the negative effect of demolition orders on properties belonging to both Spaniard and foreigner alike. We would ask both the National government and that of the Autonomies to look sympathetically at as many of these properties as possible in the hope of being able to legalise some of them.
One final point which is worth considering is that for anyone to be able to buy and sell a property in Spain requires that his property increase in value by at least 20 per cent just to pay for the buying and selling costs.
Minister, as foreigners living in your country we both are aware of our right to do so but have always held the belief that primarily Spain is for the Spanish. For our part we are grateful to be in Spain and this letter should not be considered as a complaint but rather something constructive which may point to ways of quickly resolving some of the problems within the property market and helping to re-establish confidence in it – particularly with foreigners.
As a courtesy, I must inform you that once you have received this letter, copies will be made available to the media in Spain, many of whom hold an interest in this subject and have campaigned actively on some of the points contained within.
Without shadow of a doubt, taking up any of the above would result in a market much safer for those purchasing property in Spain. We will continue to focus attention on the problems associated with the Spanish property market until such time as they are addressed and people from all walks of life can expect to buy property in Spain without risk.
We will report any progress as and when it may happen.
21st July 2008. We hear that 1300 houses which have been illegally built in Catral and under sentence of demolition are now not to be demolished. Britons are the vast majority of owners many of whom stood to lose everything had the demolition orders been carried out.
Respetada Ministra,
En 2007 la prosperidad del mercado inmobiliario español ceso bruscamente el resultado de una década de construcción frenética basado mas en avaricia que en la necesidad de crear viviendas. Ahora España tiene una enorme cantidad de viviendas, una economía adicta al cemento y una costa que sugiere que aun se pueden comprar favores para adquirir permisos de construccion.
Durante diez años el mercado inmobiliario le ha servido bien a España creando empleos para millones de personas y un porcentaje significativo de ingresos que el país necesitaba. Sin embargo, escondido detrás de esta impresionante noticia se encuentra el hecho de que la inmobiliaria española ha sufrido una interminable ola de mala prensa por escándalos de corrupción, construciones ilegales, amenazas de demoliciones, arrebatos de propiedad, sobre construcción, agentes inmobiliarios deshonestos y corruptos, abogados corruptos e incompetentes, historias de enormes y hasta obscenas comisiones e innumerables historias de propietarios, compradores e inversionistas quienes han sufrido. Grupos noticiosos, afiches, informáticas de web y muchas prensas inglesas y europeas ya hartos del tema por la mera cantidad de quejas de propiedades españolas dejan como consecuencia que personas interesadas en comprar fuera de su país de residencia ni siquiera consideran a España un destino viable. Para muchos, extranjeros y españoles igual, comprando propiedad en España es como jugar rayuela en un campo minado.
Ministra, somos conscientes que ha sido inundada con peticiones de constructores, agentes inmobiliarios y otros trabajando en la industria quienes piden que se tomen medidas para recomenzar sin embargo, con un exceso de un millón de viviendas en España y muchas personas tratando de vender sus casas de verano no estamos convencidos de que algo se hará en un futuro próximo. Siendo este el caso quitaremos sugerir que el enfoque debería ser erradicar la corrupción y el fraude asociados al mercado inmobiliario. Reconocemos que el gobierno ha comenzado a tratar de solucionar este problema y ha procedido por vías legales a castigar a Alcaldes y otros por malversacion, pero la corrupción que nos concierne es la que afecta a compradores individuales que terminan perdiendo todo. Desgraciadamente la mayoría de las personas afectadas por los diferentes fraudes en la industria inmobiliaria son extranjeros quienes desconocen las leyes, costumbres y cultura del país pero creen que al igual que otros paises europeos existen leyes que los protegerán de las acciones de otros y de si mismos.
Fraude perpetuado a extranjeros no es peor que el fraude perpetuado a españoles salvo el hecho que los extranjeros pueden encontrar recursos para hacer publicas sus quejas. La prensa difunde estas historias que, a su vez, influyen en decisiones de otros tantos quienes consideraban comprar en España. Claro que el perdedor es el mercado inmobiliario español.
Somos una pequeña compañía sirviendo mayormente a extranjeros que bien quieren jubilarse y mudarse a España o vivir y trabajar aquí permanentemente. Sabemos por experiencia propia que muchos dan marcha atrás debido a los riesgos de comprar propiedad en España. El único consejo alentador que les queda parece ser que encuentren un abogado competente y todo saldrá bien. Hay tantas ordenes de demolición en propiedades españolas que pone en duda la habilidad de muchos abogados españoles en proteger a sus clientes, Demasiado amenudo el abogado termina siendo parte del problema en vez de ayudar en la solución. No pretendemos insultar ni menospreciar a los profesionales legales españoles pero, con todo respeto, el papel que juegan en compra y venta de propiedades en España podría beneficiarse de la intervención del gobierno.
En el año 2006 22.600 de 900.000 de propiedades españolas registradas fueron de ingleses que los hace segundos en compra de propiedades después de los mismos españoles. Demasiadas de estas personas terminaron en situaciones que nunca debieron ser, agentes inmobiliarios deshonestos a la par con abogados incompetentes y desinteresados y ellos con solares donde no pueden construir, casas que no pueden habitar y otras tantas situaciones.
Mientras tanto la ley L.R.A.U. Valencia 1994 (condenado por U.E.) y el L.U.V. que lo reemplazo e igualmente condenado por la U.E. esta a la espera de victimas que tal vez no conozcan las leyes españolas que rigen propiedades inmobiliarias. En total los ingleses representan 60% de europeos que buscan casa de verano en España y cada vez que la demanda inglesa cae el mercado español sufre.
Anteriormente comentamos que la mayoría de nuestros clientes son extranjeros jubilados. Este es un grupo particular que en general no se ve afectado por los cambios económicos ya que planearon su jubilación y organizaron sus finanzas hace ya años. A pesar de que son economicamente solventes ha decaído alarmantemente el interés en comprar en España. Tal vez teniendo los medios para comprar en el extranjero tienen mas opciones que antes y ven otros destinos mas apetecibles dados los riesgos asociados con la compra de propiedades en España.
La constante amenaza de demoler viviendas que compradores ven como un "estado de acoso" no ayuda en nada y debería eliminarse a la brevedad posible. Demolición debería usarse solo si se puede demostrar que hubo mala intención por parte de los dueños que optaron por ignorar la ley o pasarlo por alto por la razón que fuese y debería llevarse a cabo a la brevedad posible. Otros cuyo único "crimen" parece ser el usar un abogado incompetente o dejarse engañar por un agente inmobiliario o un constructor la situación es muy diferente. No hay razón para castigar a las victors por las acciones incompetentes o deshonestas de aquellos que supuestamente estaban representando sus intereses. Castigarlos nunca dará fruto para que la ley se respete. La ley debería aplicarse a aquellos que son realmente responsables y debería ser aplicado con firmeza y públicamente para que no solo se haga justicia pero para que sea evidente que se esta haciendo justicia. La amenaza de demolición es una saga sin fin que debe ser terminada. Personas decentes se ven ofendidas y todos pierden al final de cuentas menos los responsables quienes son los que deberían pagar.
Su predecesora María Antonia Trujillo correctamente observo que se necesitan mas requisitos para vender lechuga que para vender una casa. Sin embargo el revelar este dato de peso no parece haber lograr un cambio a pesar de que claramente indica una falla en el sistema.
Mientra brille el sol en España van a haber extranjeros que quieren vivir aquí. Serán contribuyentes de importancia para la economía española comprando propiedades e invirtiendo sus ingresos. Familia y amigos visitaran en país contribuyendo a su vez a la economía de España. Personas con los fondos necesarios quienes podrían compar propiedades no tienen la confianza necesaria para invertir en el país por las razones antes citadas.
Sinceramente creemos que hace falta efectuar cambios de inmediato en la forma en que el mercado inmobiliario opera para lograr los beneficios necesarios que hacen falta. Muchos compradores potenciales de propiedad española ven un denominador común que es el no poder comprender por que no reacciona el gobierno sabiendo lo que anda mal. Cualquier acción que tome el gobierno ahora servirá para contestar esta interrogante de no solo compradores de propiedades españolas pero también de otro grupo de igual o mayor importancia que durante años se ha asegurado de que cientos de ingles llegaran mensualmente a los aeropuertos españoles.
Estos son agentes inmobiliarios en el Reino Unido que eligieron especializarse en propiedades extranjeras pero que ahora no quieren tener nada que ver con propiedades españolas dado el sin fin de problemas que eso representa. Para comprender ese sentir basta saber que la ley en el Reino Unido especifica que cualquier persona que toma parte en una acción comercial por la que percibe una nomina es responsable por cualquier perdida o prejuicio que sufriese el comprador. Por lo tanto, cualquier cliente que compre a través de un agente inmobiliario en el Reino Unido puede recurrir al agente si se viese perjudicado sin necesidad de tratar con el sistema legal español.
Creemos que la confianza en inmobiliaria española por parte de los extranjeros que desean radicarse en España mejoraría considerablemente, incluso mas allá de lo que fue, si el gobierno tuviera regulaciones que protegieran a los compradores de fraude o incompetencia. Si cree que el coste serhia significativo entonces se dha cuenta de los problemas existentes. Sin embargo, el coste de aplicar estas regulaciones serian mínimas si simplemente exijan que los agentes inmobiliarios tengan ineducación formal y que se les requiera pasar un examen y si lo pasan obtener una licencia para ejercer el cargo. Es mhas, una vez que obtengan el permiso deberían tener seguro contra negligencia profesional y deberán dar constancia a cada cliente que el seguro esta vigente.
Cuando se vende propiedad en España no parece haber un estándar de como debería ser medido y evaluado y como resultado, el tamaño de un edificio puede variar hasta en un tercio simplemente incluyendo terrazas, techos planos, patios, etc. Debería haber una medida básica que se refiera solo al área habitable. Nosotros empleamos este método aunque comparada con otras propiedades la nuestra parece ser mas pequeña cuando amenudo, en realidad, es mas grande. Otras medidas como las de terrazas en el techo, balcones, etc. pueden ser incluidos en una memoria sin causar mal entendidos como es usual e inclusive intencional.
La competencia de abogados deja mucho que desear y en algunos casos también integridad. Abogados representan gran parte de las quejas de compradores. La practica de pedir pago por servicios por adelantado debería ser prohibido. Pueden pedir algo a cuenta para asegurarse de que la cita es genuina y para costear el trabajo que se lleva a cabo pero la mayor parte de la factura debería deberse cuando el trabajo se complete y contra entrega de una lista de servicios y cobros por escrito. Amenudo el abogado pierde interés y entusiasmo por el caso cuando ya ha recibido pago en su totalidad.
Todos los abogados deberían obtener seguro de negligencia profesional para que puedan costear compensacion si se les encontrase responsables de actos de incompetencia o negligencia y sin poder recurrir a limitar su responsabilidad por otros medios salvo asegurarlo.
El método común de usar un coste menor al real en declaraciones de compra para evadir impuestos debería terminar. Se sabe lo suficiente del proceso para saber que el comprador nunca se beneficia pero que termina siendo culpable de evasion de impuestos al momento de firmar. ¿Como puede uno tener confianza en los datos de viviendas del Ministerio cuando una cantidad indeterminada pero significante del coste de compra no es declarado y aparentemente con su bendición?
Depositos para la compra inmobiliaria deberian estar bajo la custodia de un tercero ya sea un banco o un abogado que represente al comprador y ese dinero reenbolsado si el permiso de construccion es denegado. Si el permiso de construccion se otorga, el precio sera lo anteriormente acordado por escrito entre el vendedor y el comprador. Si la compra no se realiza dentro de tres meses desde la obtención del permiso, el vendedor puede reconsiderar el precio de venta. Si el comprador decide no proceder con la compra el vendedor recibirá el deposito pagado.
Muchos compradores en potencia se desalientan por el hecho de que han habido muchos casos en España de permisos otorgados que mas adelante son denegados por otra autoridad. Es irrelevante saber como puede pasar esto pero cualquier autoridad que otorga permiso a cualquier persona u organizacion para la construcción de un edificio debería ser legalmente responsable por su decisión. Si una autoridad superior mas adelante concluye que la construcción es ilegal entonces la autoridad que dio el permiso inicial deberá responsabilizarse por las perdidas sufridas por los constructores y aquellos para quienes trabajan. Recompensacion debería pagarse dentro de un plazo fijo para evitar esperas largas e irrazonables.
Mencionado anteriormente la Ley Valencia 1994 L.R.A.U. y la ley que la remplazo L.U.V. son ambos legislaciones abusivas que han sido empleadas por oficiales corruptos así como promotores de inmobiliarias. Conocido casi universalmente como la ley del acoso inmobiliario, esta ley no sirve para nada salvo mantener a España en desprecio frente a demasiadas personas. Le hace mucho daño al mercado inmobiliario español con muchos boicoteando a Valencia y otras partes de España simplemente porque no tienen deseos de proveer caminos e infraestructuras para urbanizaciones donde ellos no vivirán. La Unión Europea ha dictaminado contra estas leyes y ya es hora de que terminen con ellos. Están asociados con falta de honestidad e injusticia y mientras mas tiempo sigan vigentes mas daño le harán a España. Si están leyes siguieran vigentes por otros cien años no lograrían su propósito o sea que es ilógico mantenerlas.
Extranjeros son importantes para el mercado inmobiliario español y lógicamente deben ser alentados a invertir en España. En términos reales el tratamiento que ellos y muchos españoles han recibido al querer solo comprar propiedad ha sido espantoso y el gobierno se ha desinteresado de los fraudes de que han sido victimas. A pesar que la prensa extranjera regularmente escribe relatando estos fraudes el gobierno ha hecho muy poco y el daño a la inmobiliaria española continua.
Para colmo de males hoy en día cuando se hace sentir el efecto del alza de intereses, los bancos, al menos algunas de ellos, vuelven con sus mañas al tratar de reposeciones, Al igual que a muchos nos ofrecen propiedades de varias fuentes a un precio bajísimo pero con la condición que una suma importante sea en dinero negro y no declarado. La idea de que se venda una propiedad para saldar la deuda con el banco y para que el propietario obtenga algún beneficio es irrisorio. El dueño tendría mucho suerte si ve un céntimo de la transacción aunque no asi sus compinches que se aparecen el día de la venta para disfrutar del botín. Se necesitan leyes estrictas para sobrever y controlar la venta de propiedades reposeidas y brindarle la máxima protección al dueño.
Ya hemos mencionado el efecto negativo que traen las ordenes de demolición de propiedad de españoles al igual que extranjeros. Pedimos al gobierno nacional y los gobiernos autónomos que vean estos casos con caridad con la esperanza que sea posible legalizar algunos.
Algo que merece consideracion es el hecho que para vender o comprar una propiedad en España requiere que sube por lo menos 20 por ciento en valor simplemente para pagar el coste de vender o comprar.
Ministra, com extranjeros viviendo en su país somos conscientes de nuestro derecho de residencia pero creemos que primordialmente España es para los españoles. Por nuestra parte sentimos gratitud por vivir en
España y esta carta no se presenta como una queja pero como algo constructivo que pueda indicar como resolver rápidamente algunos de los problemas de la inmobiliaria española y para ayudar a reestablecer confianza, especialmente para extranjeros.
Como cortesía os debo informar que una vez que vos hayáis recibido la presente, copias se entregaran a la prensa española muchos de los cuales tienen interés en este tema y han participado en promover algunas de las ideas expuestas.