non responsive lawyer - help!

[justthe6ofus]

Hi everyone. I'm buying a villa and paid a 3000 deposit 3 weeks ago. I'm using the lawyer recommended by Goldacre - Maria Caceres and to say she is non responsive would be an understatement! 3 weeks later and she still hasn't even sent me a service contract! According to Goldacre's time frame I should paying my 10% deposit next week and completing 4 weeks after that.

So, my question is... can anyone recommend a decent English fluent lawyer who moves at a slightly faster pace than this one?!

Also, does anyone know if a power of attorney (which I did at the notary a few weeks go) is only valid for the one lawyer, or can I use it for anyone I choose?

I've tried contacting Goldacre but they too are not responding which has got me a bit worried 

Thanks for any advice - this is driving me nuts! 

[gattaca66]

Hi - you have my sympathy, this is absolutely not acceptable. Your lawyer and your agent should be doing all they can to expedite a quick sale, and don't deserve your business if they can't respond in a professional manner, ie promptly!

I'd strongly recommend Aguado, Damsel y Reguera in Corralejo, very professional and English-speaking, and there have been many recommendations on this forum for Napoleon Gonzales, whom I've not used myself.

I suspect your power of attorney is specific to the one solicitor, and I'd be a bit concerned that someone who won't return my calls has access to my bank account.... Hopefully someone with more knowledge on the subject can help you there. Very best of luck, though, sorting things out, property buying is stressful enough without these problems!

[silent_running]

I'm pretty sure the POA is not only restricted to that lawyer but also a specific set of activities/timescales.

When we bought in late 2014 we refused to pay a deposit until we got to the deposit contract stage (the 10%) as there was no paperwork in place to cover the 'send â,¬xxxx to y' instruction from the agent.

I'd have thought the agent would want to move things along as they don't get their (large) fee until completion.

Finally, we did use Napoleon and were pleased with his service.

[Johnrgby2]

Hi everyone. I'm buying a villa and paid a 3000 deposit 3 weeks ago. I'm using the lawyer recommended by Goldacre - Maria Caceres and to say she is non responsive would be an understatement! 3 weeks later and she still hasn't even sent me a service contract! According to Goldacre's time frame I should paying my 10% deposit next week and completing 4 weeks after that.

So, my question is... can anyone recommend a decent English fluent lawyer who moves at a slightly faster pace than this one?!

Also, does anyone know if a power of attorney (which I did at the notary a few weeks go) is only valid for the one lawyer, or can I use it for anyone I choose?

I've tried contacting Goldacre but they too are not responding which has got me a bit worried 

Thanks for any advice - this is driving me nuts! 

I did say in an earlier post she is slow, but she does get there, we instructed her on 3/09 and got the keys on 15/10, which is by Island standards pretty quick, the power of attorney is specific to her, so you would end up paying the Notary fee again, also take into account that if you instruct some one else it will delay. Goldacre are a reputable company, so I would doubt there is any cause for concern, have you tried contacting Nic Tann, I have his mobile if you do not have it.

[justthe6ofus]

Thank you all! Johnrgby, Silent-running and Gattaca, you've put my mind at rest at least.

I spoke a Greek friend this evening and she also said about the poa being specific to the lawyer I've chosen and how tricky/time consuming it might be to annul that one and get a new one.

I did have a moment where I thought I've given access to my bank account to a totally random person! Having said that, there's sod all in the account yet! 

It's good to hear that someone has used Maria and had a good experience eventually. Same with Goldacre - as much research as I've done I still get a bit anxious that I could be being totally taken for a ride! (paranoia sets in quickly)

I have emailed Nic at Goldacre - no reply so far, which as I say, is worrying me a little. I suppose once you fall in love with a property you get a bit paranoid that something is going wrong behind the scenes (or maybe that's just me)

Maybe I'm just being over anxious and need to chill out a bit and accept the whole mañana thing. I think I'll stop sending polite emails and actually pick the phone up tomorrow though if I've not heard from anyone.

Thanks again everyone, you have made me feel a bit better about the whole thing.

[polkadot]

If you do decide to change lawyers, I can recommend Napoleon we used him recently. All documentation translated into English, almost daily email updates, only took one month from setting up POA until completion and post completion he has arranged for all bills to be transferred into our name and set up DDs.

[justthe6ofus]

Funnily enough I had replies from the lawyer AND Goldacre the other night - found them after I posted here.

Turns out Goldacre haven't produced/sent a purchase contract to the lawyer (?) sounds odd to me, I thought the lawyers produced the contracts, but anyhow. Nic was surprised to hear this and tells me he'll chase everyone.

It's all very odd. I haven't even got my money ready yet as when I couldn't get hold of anyone I kind of convinced myself it was all gong fall through. Now I've got a mad panic to get a shed load of cash together in the next 10 days! That's going to be fun. 

Quite handy in a way as the euro has recovered slightly since last week - saved a couple grand there.

[Ivemovedon]

Try and hang in there till after the referendum. Just been told by my money broker that if the result is a remain as he fully expects it to be, the rate will blow sky high in your favor. I know it's not set in stone but he seemed more than confident. He must have seen Barak Obama giving it large on the 6 o'clock news.

[justthe6ofus]

Try and hang in there till after the referendum. Just been told by my money broker that if the result is a remain as he fully expects it to be, the rate will blow sky high in your favor. I know it's not set in stone but he seemed more than confident. He must have seen Barak Obama giving it large on the 6 o'clock news.

I agree! It's a bad time to be needing to buy euros in a rush! I had to transfer my 10% today and will have to transfer over what's needed to complete soon ish - can't hold off that long, and actually it would be a fairly hefty gamble with such a large sum. Having said that, I also expect a stay result. I think there's just too much scaremongering going on to sway the undecided voters towards an out vote.

I got a good deal this afternoon by timing it right and playing a few brokers off against each other - it was incredibly satisfying playing them at their own game    Managed to get 1.28 which considering we were at 1.23 a week or so ago pleased me no end! I'm going to need the rest to complete in about 5 - 6 weeks so am still deciding whether to go for a forward contract now or gamble it out.

[IanPearce]

I used the solicitors in the Caleta Property Group, absolutely brilliant and spoke English, in fact the girl on reception is English!