Real Estate Cases

Middle-aged couple, Belgian husband and French wife, they trust to much in the real estate agent because she is French and talks their language. They buy an apartment in a beautiful building in Barcelona. The construction is old (20th century), they sign the earnest money contract (contrato privado de compraventa con arras penales /down payment) with the real estate agency. They pay an amount of thirty thousand euros (37,000 euros). They come to us because they suspect that there has been a deception, they do not understand what is going on, since the neighbors tell them that there will be works in the building because there are structural damages. They are afraid and they still have to make the purchase before a notary and deliver the remaining amount. When they come to us it is late and they have already signed, and the real estate company refuses to return the money. We found out that the problem is that when an extra floor was added to the building, in the seventies, it was made with cement affected by aluminosis.

Aluminosis is caused by aluminous cement, which has a large amount of alumina, which causes the crystalline structure of the cement to change from hexagonal to cubic over time. This increases porosity and decreases its mechanical and atmospheric resistance. It is generally considered a hidden defect sufficient to invalidate a purchase.

Finally, the purchase is stopped and you are referred to a criminal law specialist, as we identify, during the investigation, the necessary elements of a fraud crime. Unfortunately, we cannot avoid the case going to court.