Tuesday, November 30, 2004
From Valencia Life Network
COMPLAINING AGAINST ABUSES
The two hundred functionaries of the Office of Harmonization for the Interior of Alicante – OAMI – yesterday submitted a report to the director general of the EU, Alexander Schaub in which they laid out the dreadful effects the Valencian Land Laws – better known as LRAU – are having on the local and foreign communities. At one point the report stated: “[the law] Represents an attack on the right to own private property on totally unacceptable levels for a member state of the EU.” The report also added that the Valencian Government has not paid attention at all to the demands made on it by the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, who requested a moratorium on building in the Community. The report represents the penultimate stage of the campaign against the LRAU championed by the AUN collective, amongst whose members are many ‘Eurofunctionaries’ whose homes are also caught up in the LRAU
COMPLAINING AGAINST ABUSES
The two hundred functionaries of the Office of Harmonization for the Interior of Alicante – OAMI – yesterday submitted a report to the director general of the EU, Alexander Schaub in which they laid out the dreadful effects the Valencian Land Laws – better known as LRAU – are having on the local and foreign communities. At one point the report stated: “[the law] Represents an attack on the right to own private property on totally unacceptable levels for a member state of the EU.” The report also added that the Valencian Government has not paid attention at all to the demands made on it by the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament, who requested a moratorium on building in the Community. The report represents the penultimate stage of the campaign against the LRAU championed by the AUN collective, amongst whose members are many ‘Eurofunctionaries’ whose homes are also caught up in the LRAU
Monday, November 29, 2004
AUN meeting in Benissa Friday. November 26, 2004.
Over two hundred people visited the Club Fustera, Benissa last Friday, to meet with other families either affected by or concerned about the LRAU land problems or its effect on the environment.
As there have been several new areas of Valencia recently affected with new council plans, it was not only families from Benissa, but also other parts of the Comunidad who got together to exchange views, ideas and hear the latest news from Charles Svoboda , the President of "Abusos Urbanisticos No". This included his report on AUN's recent meetings with the Valencian Ombudsman, the Promoters and Realtors association of Alicante, and progress on taking cases involving abuses under the land laws to the Valencian and European courts. The early prospect of a "land grab" insurance policy was also announced.
The meeting was held outside in the sunshine – this did cause a few problems and next time a microphone will be used. Despite the sound problems, the meeting was a huge success and proved that the residents of Valencia are determined to fight the LRAU and will not give in to the abusive land laws.
The next meeting at the same venue is planned for Friday January 28th 4-6pm.
For more information on the fight against the LRAU or details of how to join the AUN contact e.mail mailmaster@abusos-no.org or see website www.abusos-no.org
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The following are some of the questions raised at the afore-mentioned meeting.
Question:
The estate agents have advertisements for their new properties, could the AUN have an advertising campaign showing the land problems?
Answer:
The Agents´ adverts cost millions of pounds/euros. The AUN could therefore not afford such an exercise. The magazines/newspapers earn huge amounts of money from adverts such as those by the agents and developers therefore we have no way of stopping the promotions. But, as even the promoters acknowledge, a story covering the problems caused by abuses under the land laws can effectively cancel tens of thousands of Euros worth of advertising, as an articles carrying sensible warnings about how actual and potential property owners can work together to protect themselves.
In 2003 the society did write to over 250 local Estate Agents plus others specialising in selling properties in Spain – only a few replied saying they supported the cause, and several of these were later found to be selling properties on the new urbanisations! Earlier this year we asked members to forward the special presentation to their local estate agents – again no response was received.
Question:
Does it help if the property affected has a mortgage attached to it?.
Answer:
There may be some benefits. First, a lending institution (such as a bank) will usually carry out a full title search at relatively low cost. If the mortgage is a Spanish one, it normally attaches to the property ("in rem") not to the individuals taking out the loan ( as in the case of British mortgages). So having a mortgage may provide the option of simply walking away from a property if the losses of land and development charges are too high. BUT it is important to get individual advice on this, since circumstances vary almost from property to property. If we are able to arrange for a form of title or "land grab" insurance, that may prove to be a better option.
Question:
Will the society fight as hard against the new law LUV as it has against the LRAU? Answer:
Probably , as the most recent draft of the LUV has most of the same problems for small property owners and in some parts is even worse than the LRAU. We are pressing for the government to put forward a law which respects human and property rights in accordance with European laws and norms, which the current text does not.
Question:
Is it possible to find out if a property will be affected in the future? How do we find out if we are already affected?
Answer:
While the town halls will usually inform you about plans that have already been approved, there is no way to know what will happen in the future as land can be reclassified at any time. Usually apartments or property that is already in a legal urbanization will be free of problems – property on the margins of towns or in the country side are most at risk from new development plans, almost without warning.
For both questions the only answer is to monitor the official Valencian and Alicante websites on a daily basis. AUN does this to the extent possible, but can only attempt to provide this service for areas where AUN members reside. The information should be available on the Valencian or Alicante official websites (http://www.pre.gva.es/dogvweb/cindex.htm and http://www.dip-alicante.es/bop/).
The current law states that the information must be displayed for one day in a regional newspaper, but which paper and what heading it comes under changes regularly and therefore is very difficult for anyone to locate. The LRAU provides for notifications of owners registered in the official property register , but this obligation is frequently ignored. The draft law (LUV) demands only that notification of plans affecting property appears in the official bulletins.
Over two hundred people visited the Club Fustera, Benissa last Friday, to meet with other families either affected by or concerned about the LRAU land problems or its effect on the environment.
As there have been several new areas of Valencia recently affected with new council plans, it was not only families from Benissa, but also other parts of the Comunidad who got together to exchange views, ideas and hear the latest news from Charles Svoboda , the President of "Abusos Urbanisticos No". This included his report on AUN's recent meetings with the Valencian Ombudsman, the Promoters and Realtors association of Alicante, and progress on taking cases involving abuses under the land laws to the Valencian and European courts. The early prospect of a "land grab" insurance policy was also announced.
The meeting was held outside in the sunshine – this did cause a few problems and next time a microphone will be used. Despite the sound problems, the meeting was a huge success and proved that the residents of Valencia are determined to fight the LRAU and will not give in to the abusive land laws.
The next meeting at the same venue is planned for Friday January 28th 4-6pm.
For more information on the fight against the LRAU or details of how to join the AUN contact e.mail mailmaster@abusos-no.org or see website www.abusos-no.org
------
The following are some of the questions raised at the afore-mentioned meeting.
Question:
The estate agents have advertisements for their new properties, could the AUN have an advertising campaign showing the land problems?
Answer:
The Agents´ adverts cost millions of pounds/euros. The AUN could therefore not afford such an exercise. The magazines/newspapers earn huge amounts of money from adverts such as those by the agents and developers therefore we have no way of stopping the promotions. But, as even the promoters acknowledge, a story covering the problems caused by abuses under the land laws can effectively cancel tens of thousands of Euros worth of advertising, as an articles carrying sensible warnings about how actual and potential property owners can work together to protect themselves.
In 2003 the society did write to over 250 local Estate Agents plus others specialising in selling properties in Spain – only a few replied saying they supported the cause, and several of these were later found to be selling properties on the new urbanisations! Earlier this year we asked members to forward the special presentation to their local estate agents – again no response was received.
Question:
Does it help if the property affected has a mortgage attached to it?.
Answer:
There may be some benefits. First, a lending institution (such as a bank) will usually carry out a full title search at relatively low cost. If the mortgage is a Spanish one, it normally attaches to the property ("in rem") not to the individuals taking out the loan ( as in the case of British mortgages). So having a mortgage may provide the option of simply walking away from a property if the losses of land and development charges are too high. BUT it is important to get individual advice on this, since circumstances vary almost from property to property. If we are able to arrange for a form of title or "land grab" insurance, that may prove to be a better option.
Question:
Will the society fight as hard against the new law LUV as it has against the LRAU? Answer:
Probably , as the most recent draft of the LUV has most of the same problems for small property owners and in some parts is even worse than the LRAU. We are pressing for the government to put forward a law which respects human and property rights in accordance with European laws and norms, which the current text does not.
Question:
Is it possible to find out if a property will be affected in the future? How do we find out if we are already affected?
Answer:
While the town halls will usually inform you about plans that have already been approved, there is no way to know what will happen in the future as land can be reclassified at any time. Usually apartments or property that is already in a legal urbanization will be free of problems – property on the margins of towns or in the country side are most at risk from new development plans, almost without warning.
For both questions the only answer is to monitor the official Valencian and Alicante websites on a daily basis. AUN does this to the extent possible, but can only attempt to provide this service for areas where AUN members reside. The information should be available on the Valencian or Alicante official websites (http://www.pre.gva.es/dogvweb/cindex.htm and http://www.dip-alicante.es/bop/).
The current law states that the information must be displayed for one day in a regional newspaper, but which paper and what heading it comes under changes regularly and therefore is very difficult for anyone to locate. The LRAU provides for notifications of owners registered in the official property register , but this obligation is frequently ignored. The draft law (LUV) demands only that notification of plans affecting property appears in the official bulletins.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
IMPORTANT MESSAGE
This message is for AUN members who are not receiving messages on a regular basis via e.mail. Unfortunately a large amount of messages are being returned undelivered to the sender - either myself or Chuck Svoboda.
This could be due to various reasons. Your computer may consider our mail as spam. You may have changed your e.mail address and forgotten to advise us. You may have a hotmail address which is limited to the size of message. Or, we may have misread the address from your application form.
Whatever the reason, you are missing out on some very important messages.
If you are not receiving e.mails from the AUN please contact the society. Also, if you have friends or neighbours who have mentioned that they do not receive mail, please ask them to contact us.
Thanks. Jan.
This message is for AUN members who are not receiving messages on a regular basis via e.mail. Unfortunately a large amount of messages are being returned undelivered to the sender - either myself or Chuck Svoboda.
This could be due to various reasons. Your computer may consider our mail as spam. You may have changed your e.mail address and forgotten to advise us. You may have a hotmail address which is limited to the size of message. Or, we may have misread the address from your application form.
Whatever the reason, you are missing out on some very important messages.
If you are not receiving e.mails from the AUN please contact the society. Also, if you have friends or neighbours who have mentioned that they do not receive mail, please ask them to contact us.
Thanks. Jan.
Monday, November 15, 2004
MURCIA. The AUN has been approached today by a family in Fortuna, Murcia, who are unfortunately now caught up in a land-grab situation. If you are in Murcia region and have land problems (or if you know anyone in that area who may be affected) contact me, Jan at Postmaster@abusos-no.org
