A Happy Story of Returned Investments

Xabia al Dia today reported that six neighbours who invested all their savings to buy houses in Javea have recovered their money.

Six people who bought properties on C/Carlos Benimeli between 2004 and 2008, have managed to recover all the money they invested that they thought had been lost forever after the bankruptcy of the developer in 2008.

In statements to XAD, the lawyer representing them, from the Valencian office Varona Asesores y Abogados, said that the neighbours who had all paid the bank a good part of their savings to acquire a home in the promotion, could recover that investment as the courts are now forcing the bank to return the investment money. In some cases, returns have exceeded 50% of what they paid when they originally signed the purchases.

In 2004 and 2008, a total of 27 people invested in a promotion on C/Carlos Benimeli on the corner of San Juan Bautista. They put between 50,000 and 60,000 euros into Bankia. Construction began, but between 2008 and 2009 the developer ceased trading and all hope of recovering that money appeared to be lost. 

However, in 2015 the Supreme Court ruled in favour of an owner who had suffered a similar situation and based on a 1964 law the magistrates forced the bank to return the amount of the deposit for the purchase of the home.

In the case of these Javea neighbors, according to Varona’s proposals, the bank did not force the developer to issue an endorsement of the money contributed by the purchasers. Shortly after the company went bankrupt, it was liquidated, but the bank was left with the promotion, which was later passed to the Sareb bank.

With this ruling of the Supreme Court, they have managed to get Bankia to return, with interest, the amounts that the owners invested to acquire the homes. So far, there have been six neighbours to whom the bank have now returned the money, with interest.

But lawyers, Varona, believe that there may be many more who can similarly recover their money, but they stated that returns under this ruling is possible only for those who deposited money for the purchase of a home, not for those who invested in parking spaces etc. The deadline to recover it will end in October 2020.