Developer ordered to pay for standing water on terraces and damp in storage rooms.

WELL-KNOWN DEVELOPER ORDERED TO PAY MORE THAN €100,000 IN COMPENSATION TO A HOMEOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION WHOSE BUILDING IT DEVELOPED, FOR PERSISTENT DAMP AND STANDING WATER ON TERRACES AND IN STORAGE ROOMS

Court of First Instance No. 1 of Alcorcón has ordered a well-known national developer, in a judgment just notified to us, to compensate a homeowners’ association in Móstoles in the sum of €95,914.31, plus interest and legal costs.

The reason for the ruling, according to the presiding judge, is a breach by the developer-seller of its obligations in handing over the homes and storage rooms sold, since they have been showing a series of defects in the form of damp and water ingress that make them unusable or unfit for the purpose for which they were bought, thereby amounting to a breach of contract for which the developer-seller must answer.

The judge accepts none of the exculpatory arguments put forward by the defendant: it cannot hide behind the after-sales service provided by the building contractor to avoid its liability, and the judge gives no weight to the rather weak expert report it submitted.

Instead, the judge finds proven all the damage identified by the owners, as set out in an Expert Report that forms the backbone of the claim, and to which the presiding judge gives greater credibility for its rigour, thoroughness and faithfulness to reality.

The judgment, which is not yet final and which orders the developer to compensate the homeowners’ association for the full amount claimed (€95,914.31 plus interest plus legal costs, which altogether will comfortably exceed €100,000), has been enthusiastically welcomed by the residents of the building.

The claim was signed by one of the lawyers of DPCON SL, the firm specialising in construction defect claims. In addition to the success of having the claim upheld in full, DPCON SL congratulates the Alcorcón court on the speed with which the proceedings were handled: the claim was filed in mid-February and just 7 months later the judgment ending the first instance has already been notified, something undoubtedly desirable but unusual in our national judicial landscape. DPcon Reclamación Daños Constructivos.