Spanish homebuyers urged to make most of off-plan claims deadline extension

Buyers who paid and lost deposits on off-plan properties in Spain have fresh hope, as the country has extended the deadline for such claims from 7 October to 28 December 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, the team at CostaLuz Lawyers is encouraging homebuyers who were going to miss the October deadline to take advantage of this last chance to try and recover their money.

The issue relates to those who paid deposits on off-plan homes that were subsequently never built due to developers going bust. They are now able to make claims against the banks who partnered with the developers, provided their claims are in by 28 December 2020.

CostaLuz Lawyers is a pioneer in this field. Having researched the issue since 2008, they filed their first off-plan deposit lawsuit against a property developer’s bank in 2011. In 2012, they won the case, with a landmark ruling resulting in a payout of nearly €1.5 million for the 47 buyers they were representing.

Keith himself was part of that first off-plan deposit class action back in 2011/12. In fact, he was the instigator of it, working to bring the other 46 claimants on board to benefit from CostaLuz Lawyers’ expertise. Following the successful 2012 ruling, he took up a role with the firm and has worked as a core member of their team ever since.

The team has now successfully won nearly 850 claims from Spanish property developers and banks, with a further 500 in progress and 100 pending outcomes. Since that initial case, CostaLuz Lawyers has worked with more than 1,500 clients from the UK, Ireland, Spain and other European countries.