IN today’s article, we want to refer to the recent judgment nº 126/2020, issued by the Denia court nº 4, in favour of our client, defended by White Baos Abogados, related to claim against the seller for construction problems.
REAL COURT CASE
Our client, Mr. X, had recently sold a property in Spain.
He received a court claim filed against him by the buyer, months after the signing of the purchase deed before a notary public. The buyer was claiming about €13,500 from my client, the seller, for alleged construction problems; damp, and for the existence of termites on the property.
The claim was presented, six months after handing over possession of the property, the claim from the other party was not based on a hidden defect, but based on the technical point of delivery of a different thing to that which was agreed.
It was declared by the claimant or plaintiff that problems with the property, meant that it was not useful or suitable for the intended use. It is what is known as the ALIUD PRO ALIO or “one thing for another”. Whose legal basis is found in articles 1101 and 1124 of the Spanish civil code.
Our defence in court, was that in these cases the existence of a problem is not enough and must be substantial, involving the total dissatisfaction of the buyer.
In the aforementioned case, at no time was it proven by the other party, that the damp or termites (whose existence we questioned), if they exist, were essential or relevant, in such a way that it could be understood that the plaintiff had been delivered a useless object by my client.
Based on this argument, the Denia court No. 4 dismissed the claim filed against my client and ordered the other party to pay the costs of the court procedure.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.
Therefore, if you as a buyer or seller have legal doubts or court problems, in relation to any property bought or sold, or if construction problems, dampness, termites, etc. exist, you have to take into account, in cases like a claim against the seller for construction problems.:
For any questions about Spanish real estate law, construction defects, purchase and sale contracts, contact us, and we will help you,
• That depending on the action you want to initiate, for hidden defects or delivery of something different, the term to file the claim is different. Could be six months or five years.
• You should immediately consult specialist lawyer such as ourselves.
• Depending on the type of action filed, it will not be enough to prove the existence of the problem. It is crutial to prove its importance and that it was not known or visible.
• If you intend to initiate a legal action for the delivery of something different than agreed, you must also prove that the problem makes the property impractical for the intended use. That is, it must be considered a non-habitable property.
* You can consult an extract of the referred court order in this LINK
The information provided in this article is not intended to be legal advice, it simply transmits information related to legal issues.
Carlos Baos (Lawyer)
White & Baos
Tel: +34 966 426 185
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