Developer ordered to pay €85,000 for construction defects in two terraced houses.

                 A first-instance judgment has just been notified, handed down by Madrid Court of First Instance no. 33, finding in favour of the claimants in their lawsuit against the developer of their homes, two terraced houses located in Leganés.

            Since they were handed over, the claimants’ homes have shown various construction problems, which were not resolved despite countless verbal and written demands that the owners sent individually to the developer. To mention just a few examples, the homes have damp, railings in very poor condition, waterlogging in the garden, chipped floor tiles, inadequate watertightness of the pumping well, poorly installed windows, hairline cracks, etc.

            After months of fruitless meetings with the developer, and tired of the lack of a solution to their problems, the owners decided to put the matter in the hands of DPCON, a firm specialising in bringing court claims in this type of dispute.

              After one of its technical experts had drawn up an expert report, and approximately two months after the client first got in touch, DPCON filed the corresponding lawsuit  with the Juzgado Decano (central court registry) of Madrid. In the lawsuit, the lawyers in our legal department sought compensation for their clients matching exactly the amount of the repair estimate that their technical expert had included in the report. 

           During the proceedings, the developer used various tactics to slow down and obstruct them: it asked for up to 8 subcontractors to be brought into the proceedings, with the aim of shifting its liability onto them. It denied being the developer, arguing that its involvement had been limited to acting merely as a “monitoring” company or “payment controller”. It tried to submit an expert report out of time. It asked for the hearing to be postponed on various grounds. It threatened to apply for the proceedings to be annulled…

            None of this has helped it, because Madrid Court of First Instance no. 33 has now found entirely in favour of the owners of the two affected duplexes, ordering the developer to pay the claimants just over €85,000 in compensation, plus statutory interest from the date the lawsuit was filed, and legal costs.   

            The judgment, which is not yet final, is striking for its detailed technical analysis of all the defects claimed, with the judge giving reasoned grounds for all her decisions on each defect claimed.

          Understandably, the owners have welcomed the court’s decision with joy and satisfaction since, beyond its obvious financial impact, it provides compensation, at least in part, for the years since their homes were handed over, during which the company that sold them systematically rejected their legitimate claims. 

If you have a similar problem, contact us with no obligation.  DPcon Reclamación daños constructivos.