With fear, but with a desire to fight. This is how a group of home buyers of the 21st century building, located in El Reducto, in Arrecife, who will sue the real estate company Masar Canarias, promoter of the property, after spending five years waiting for the delivery of the apartments. These owners are at a dead end.
Although Justice ruled in favor of those who denounced Masar to return the money they deposited during the sale of the home, the real estate company has not returned these amounts, which are around 100,000 euros per buyer. In addition, Banesto has just executed the mortgage that the real estate company had contracted, so buyers could be left without rights to the building.
"The owners have never been able to access the homes and are in a drastic situation, because they have deposited all their savings in this building and Masar Canarias has not complied with the contracts it signed," explained Carlos Viñas, lawyer for some owners, on Radio Lanzarote. "They cannot access their homes, the money is not returned to them, it is a very complicated situation," he said.
Therefore, they met last Friday at the Sociedad Democracia to jointly undertake criminal actions against Masar Canarias. "There may be a crime of fraud, but I prefer not to comment further. Let's hope that the complaint prospers, that Masar is convicted and returns the amounts deposited by the owners," Viñas said.
Mortgage foreclosure
To this difficult situation is added the latest news from this building: "The bank Banesto, as a preferred creditor, has seized the entire property," said this lawyer. "If the situation was already difficult, now buyers can see all their expectations thrown to the ground," explained Carlos Viñas.
The lawyer indicated that the contracts signed by the buyers and the real estate company "do not affect Banesto, which can execute the mortgage." "It is a totally legal position, but Banesto should understand the situation, think that there are many affected, many people who have put their hopes and savings in this building," lamented Viñas, who asked the bank "to reach an agreement" with the owners. "That is, either grant them a considerable reduction in the price of the apartments or return the money they deposited as a down payment."
Both this lawyer and another affected party, Sira Jiménez, ask buyers who did not attend the meeting on Friday to "contact them and hurry to try to fix the situation." Some owners live in the peninsula and "have not heard about this latest news." "The matter needs efficiency and speed and buyers should not remain on the sidelines," the lawyer said.
