Time limits to bring personal actions to Court have been shortened, be careful.

The new regulation of the Spanish civil Act and the new law 42/2015, in particular the amendment of our section number 1964, have considerably shortened the time limits for civil lawsuits, something to consider, especially if you need to bring actions in court for anything you may believe is owed to you or for any other different matter.
The deadline until recently, and if no different law was providing otherwise, was fifteen years to claim in a civil court, but since January 1, 2016, this period has been reduced to only five years, so, if someone owes you money from 2008 then, with the previous act, you were having until 2023 to sue him, now, you would be able to sue them only until the 1st of January 2021.
This new time limit also applies to any other previous ongoing action, by example, if someone is having a pending decision from January 2009 that in theory should last until 2024 (as a demolition order) will now be enforceable only until January 2021 when thereafter it will definitively have expired.
Therefore, any legal issue happening after that date (January 1, 2016 ), have a five year time limit for Court action, and those possible actions before January 16th will no longer be enforceable from1st January 2021.
So please, be careful with these new Court action deadlines, because although they are right, if you take so long preparing your case then time may run out and you can loose your opportunity to sue. Anyway, if you have any doubt as to any particular time limit, do not hesitate to contact us (info@rhv-lawfirm.com), and we will be delighted to help you in order to avoid unpleasant surprises to you.

Roberto Fernández – Civil & Tax Lawyer at Alicante Solicitors > Raymundo & Hopman. 

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Catastro (SUMA) Revisions. Update your SUMA!

Four Vega Baja Towns (Jacarilla, San Miguel de Salinas, Torrevieja and
Redován), have been recently revised for the Catastro update. Over 2000
infractions were found and denounced in the mentioned Towns due to lack of IBI
payment. This revision not only affects houses, it also involves any other
buildings such as pools, barbecues, etc. Aerial photographs are the tools used to
compare old and brand new constructions.
It is therefore strongly advisable to (get) ensure that your house fits with Catastro
and Land Registry descriptions in order to avoid fines and expensive and time
consuming problems in the near future. Our Law Firm has a large experience in
this field due to our work with the Catral, Orihuela and other Towns legalisation
cases and we would be more than happy to resolve any question you may have
in this regard.

Maria Navarro – Lawyer & Barrister at Alicante Solicitors > Raymundo & Hopman.

Banks found responsible for the purchasers off-plan money loss.

Recently, the Courts of Alicante have produced a sentence forcing a Bank to give back the
deposits that clients made to promoters to buy houses off-plan and that sadly, were never
built. This is a topic of great interest for the British community as in many cases the buyers were citizens of the islands and were left defenceless when losing their savings.
It seems now to be some light at the end of the tunnel since the local courts are
beginning to follow the line that the Supreme Court initiated, punishing banks
where the money was deposited to return these payments that buyers gave to
promoters as they should have been safeguarding it, as provided in the old Law
passed on 1968.
This is an important step forward as until now, although many Petitions were
brought to Court and won against promoters or builders who were leaving
purchasers with no house and no money and as usual putting the blame on the
estate market crisis, while they claim to be penniless.
Although it would be necessary to study each case in particular, this can be a
very interesting and justice restoring route for those that were left defenceless
and abandoned, also, a realistic opportunity to get their money back.

Roberto Sanchez, Civil and Tax Lawyer at Raymundo & Hopman Abogados.

Murder or Homicide?

A Man was recently stabbed to death in
Villamartin, Orihuela Costa. A British man,
believed to be in his 20´s, was reportedly
stabbed to death with a broken bottle at a sports
bar in Villamartin, Orihuela Costa.
The incident occurred in the early hours of last Saturday, when a man was
attacked and stabbed in the neck, throat, face and thorax. Three British citizens
have been arrested in connection with the crime; two men aged 26 and 43, and a
woman aged 39.
The arrested, if enough evidence of their participation in the tragic incident is
found, will be now prosecuted and depending on the development of the case
(facts, evidence, particular circumstances of the case, etc) the alleged criminals
could be charged with Homicide or Murder.
Homicide is a crime subject to 10-15 years imprisonment. However, Murder, as
an aggravated crime, has a related penalty of 15 to 20 years imprisonment.
What turns a Homicide into Murder are the aggravating circumstances; 1. To use
means, tools or any other way to ensure the result (death), 2. To kill for a price or
reward, and 3. Murder with malice or cruelty. If two of the three aggravating
circumstances before mentioned are considered then, the alleged criminal could
be punished with 20 to 25 years imprisonment.

Ignacio Ganga, Lawyer and Barrister at Raymundo & Hopman Abogados.

January 2016

Spanish Pension Plans.

At the present time, any person wanting to
maintain their standard of life when retiring must
complement the State Pensions with additional
saving financial products. A Pension Plan can be a
good idea.
But, what is a Pension Plan? It is a type of retirement plan and in Spain, there
are two different groups; Company Pension Plans wherein an employer makes
contributions toward a pool of funds set aside for an employee’s future benefit.
The pool of funds is then invested on the employee’s behalf, allowing the
employee to receive benefits upon retirement, and, Private Pension Plans that
can be contracted individually by anyone and out of any Company control
wherein the person that has contracted it makes the contributions ‘’upon’’
towards ‘’his’’ their retirement benefit.
There are Pension Plans for each type of investor. The differences lie on the way
the Plan invests. There are fixed rate Plans (they invest in national debt or
companies), Variable rate Plans (they invest in funds, stocks, actions, etc),
Combined Plans (they combine both of the previous Plans criteria) and
Guaranteed Plans (they safeguard the invested capital).
We can contract one or several Pension Plans. However, it is essential that the
set, or “portfolio”, in which the Pension Plan is investing, matches with our
customers risk profile of investment.

The risk profile of an investor is defined by the investors attitude towards risk, in
short words, the investors risk tolerance. Thus, the categories of investors are
Conservative, Balanced and Enterprising.
The money invested in the Pension Plan (called consolidated rights) can be
surrendered at retirement, or before, in case of permanent disability. Also and as
provided in the Spanish Laws, the Pension Plan money can be surrendered
before retirement when the beneficiary has a long term unemployment situation,
suffers a severe disease or if evicted from his first residence or living home.
Also and from January the 1st of 2015, the Pension Plan money can be
surrendered after ten years from the first payment contribution.
What makes the Pension Plan so attractive are its tax benefits; the Pension Plan
is the only financial product that reduces the taxable income in the yearly tax
return. However, the taxable income reduction is limited to 8.000 euro Pension
Plan payment contribution per year.
Spanish Banks have different and many Pension Plan offers but to know if a
Pension Plan suits your needs, or, which Plan better fits with your tolerance to
risk profile, it is highly recommended to seek advice from your Financial and legal
adviser.
Our Lawyers are specialised in these and other investment related matters;
contact us for further information, we will be pleased to help.
Maria Navarro,
Lawyer and Barrister at Alicante Solicitors > Raymundo & Hopman.

New-Build Homes: Defects & Purchaser’s Rights.

By Connie Raymundo
(Article published in Costa Blanca News Dec 4th, 2015)
New-build homes appeal to many people for a variety of reasons but
houses, even brand new houses, are not always perfect; faults or
defects may sometimes appear after the purchase.
The Building Law (LOE) provides three different guarantee periods of 1, 3, or 10
years during which the purchaser will be able to complain and seek redress,
depending on the magnitude of the defect:
Ten years: this is the guarantee period when the stability or structural integrity of
the building itself is in jeopardy. This category includes all defects affecting the
main structure and fabric of the house including foundations, supporting walls
and beams etc.
Three years: this guarantee period applies when, because of faults or defects,
the house does not meet habitation requirements with regards to hygiene, health,
environmental protection, noise or thermal isolation energy saving and so on.
One year: this is the guarantee period for minor items such as cosmetic defects
in wall surfaces and painted finishes, marks and scratches on fittings etc.
However, it is essential to realise that different to these guarantee periods is the
limited time available to take legal action. House Defects action expires after
two years from the time when the defects first appeared and/or became known
by the purchaser. Under the provisions of this action Builders, any Agents
involved, as well as the Architects, can all be sued.
3
In reality though, two years usually proves to be too short a time to sue and
because of this, it has been quite usual for purchasers of new homes to use the
Breach of Contract court action against the builder or promoter (this action goes
only against those parties whose signatures appear on the contracts) because
it’s time limit was 15 years.
However, the section of the Civil Law that specified this 15 year time limit has recently been changed; the new Law 42/15, approved on 7th October, has
reduced the time limit from 15 years to only 5 years.
This new rule is clearly a setback for purchasers of new homes as it considerably
reduces their options for seeking legal redress through the courts.
Also be aware that this new 5 year deadline for court actions does not only apply
to Breach of Contract suits, it also applies to all personal actions; so anyone
having a legal problem can no longer afford to ‘’wait around’’ delay before
contacting an independent and specialised lawyer.
The Building Law (LOE) guarantee periods of 1, 3 and 10 years apply only to
new-build homes, so we will be looking at the rights of purchasers of previously
owned houses in our next article.
Lawyers at Raymundo & Hopman are specialised in these House Defects and
Breach of Contract actions, and will be pleased to study any case and to produce
a preliminary legal report about any purchaser’s possibilities of success free of
charge.
Connie Raymundo – Lawyer and Barrister at Alicante Solicitors > Raymundo & Hopman. Reg. nº ICALI 5936.

New EU Regulations on Criminal Records.

The European Commission has submitted a proposal to ease the
exchange of information on criminal convictions not only between
Member States of the European Union, as it has been done since
ECRIS was created in 2012, but also between third countries. This
proposal aims to give judges and prosecutor’s efficient tools to fight against
international crime and terrorism taking into account the terrorist threaten that
Europe is facing after the attacks in France.
The proposal will be presented to the Justice and Home Affairs Council to be
discussed and, once the legislative procedure is finished, the Directive will come
into force a year after its publication on the Official Gazette. The Commission is
dealing with new and changing threats and considers paramount an efficient
exchange of comprehensive information which will guarantee Member States’
security, enhance legal cooperation, reduce costs, improve efficiency and the
identification and exchange of digital fingerprints.

By Oana Dragoi – Lawyer at Alicante Solicitors > Raymundo & Hopman.

January 2016

 

SEPTIC TANKS INFORMATION FOR CATRAL AND ORIHUELA

Dear friends,

Due to the last events in Catral and Orihuela, a lot of people is asking me to recommend Companies selling Septic Tanks in the area. Sadly, I cannot do this because my professional duties and status BUT, I am hereby opening this Blog post in order to allow you all to share here your experiences, good or bad, the prices of your Septic Tanks, the name of the Company you would or would not recommend to others etc.

Any comments from dealers, companies, etc will be deleted immediately, this is supposed to be a private chat between Catral and Orihuela residents. Also please, take in account that if you live in a different area then, you will need to check out the specific requirements of Septic Tanks in accordance to your Water authorities.

And please, if you still do not know the requirements for the EU and Water Authorities approved Septic Tanks then, do not hesitate to contact me and I will be pleased to help.

Connie Raymundo

Solicitor

Reg.nº ICALI 5936

Nuevo Blog de Raymundo & Hopman Abogados

 

ACTIO LEGIS – Leyes y Actualidad, pretende ser un espacio útil donde los Letrados y Colaboradores de nuestra firma, Raymundo & Hopman Abogados (Alicante), puedan compartir información de sus áreas de especialización con compañeros y visitantes.

Comenzamos nuestra andadura en este interesante medio escrito con la presentación de nuestro Despacho de Abogados;

RAYMUNDO & HOPMAN es un despacho de Abogados multilingüe y multidisciplinar con sede en Alicante.

Somos profesionales independientes y ofrecemos al cliente información precisa y clara desde el principio. Trabajamos con el convencimiento de que nuestra relación con el cliente debe basarse en la comunicación y el entendimiento para obtener una visión completa de sus problemas y necesidades. De esta forma, nos aseguramos de ofrecerle la mejor asistencia y un servicio especializado.

La primera consulta es gratuita y en la misma, siguiendo nuestra política de claridad, el cliente recibe un Presupuesto por escrito para que libremente pueda decidir si contrata nuestros servicios.

Ofrecemos un servicio legal integral tanto a Particulares como a Empresas, Comunidades de Propietarios, Instituciones, Asociaciones, etc.

Algunas de las áreas de trabajo de nuestro despacho en las que nuestros Abogados son reconocidos expertos son;

Urbanismo; Planificación, Gestión, Disciplina, etc.

Derecho Penal.

Derecho Civil; General, Contratos, Hereditario y de Familia.

Derecho Mercantil.

Derecho Administrativo.

Derecho Internacional Privado.

Derecho Inmobiliario e Hipotecario.

Derecho Laboral.

Asociaciones.

Gestión de Fincas; Constitución y Administración Comunidades de Propietarios, reclamación morosos, etc.

Fiscal, Impuestos, Inversiones, Seguros, etc.

Extranjería, Residencias, NIEs, etc.

Es para nosotros un placer asistir a nuestros clientes y hacernos cargo de los pormenores de los procedimientos legales siendo uno de nuestros objetivos aliviar el estrés que pudieran causarles.

Más información en www.rhv-lawfirm.com

Connie Raymundo

ICALI 5936

 

RAYMUNDO & HOPMAN

C/ Navas 19, 4º (ático)

03001 – Alicante

Tfno +34 965 20 77 19

Fax   +34 965 21 87 94

info@rhv-lawfirm.com

www.rhv-lawfirm.com