Statute Barred Debt Period?

[Yellow Belly]

I have a colleague who has a debt in Spain on a loan which was borrowed in 2006. He bought a property which he subsequently sold in 2007 and assumed that the loan had been cleared by his solicitor from the proceeds of sale. He says that he has had no contact from the Spanish Bank between that time and a few weeks ago where they allege that the full loan amount is outstanding and are threatening to pursue him for all sums which they say is due as they received nothing from the solicitor who is now no longer in business.

Is there a statute barred period after which this Bank can't pursue him?

 

[Jim2007]

Is there a statute barred period after which this Bank can't pursue him?

I would imagine that Spanish law applies and not Irish law.

 

[ivannomonet]

Surely his first thoughts should be to report the suspected fraud to the spanish authorities, not to wonder how he can escape payment?

 

[Mr Holmes]

Surely his first thoughts should be to report the suspected fraud to the spanish authorities, not to wonder how he can escape payment?

On the face of it you would think so, but the fact is that for the judgment to be registered against the debtor in this Country, Irish law regarding same must be complied with. The question that begs answering is where the debtor is currently residing ?

 

[Yellow Belly]

Sorry for delay in posting but the man being pursued is resident in Ireland and has always been so as far as I know. He has reported the matter to the Spanish authorities but is still being threatened with immediate legal action by a Spanish Bank so hence the enquiry with regard to statute time limits- in his eyes he had already cleared the loan from the property sale so isn't trying to avoid payment but put opposition to the Banks claim while some sort of investigation takes place into where the original sales proceeds went.

 

[Gerry Canning]

1. Looks like he assumed solicitor had sorted Spanish Bank.
(given that its unlikely property sold for exactly what was due, did he not ask what about residue due to him or due to Bank?)
2. Has he written to Spanish Bank and outlined his understanding.
(I presume Spain also has a way of sanctioning/guaranteeing rogue solicitors ps.hope they are better than our boyos?)
3. Since deal concluded in 2007 , why did it take to now to raise its head?

Too many questions here methinks.

 

[Yellow Belly]

I agree Gerry.

I have had my own battles with Irish Banks but never as complicated as all this. The property was sold as part of a divorce settlement & he assumed that any profit had just gone into the settlement and that like here the Spanish solicitor would clear any loan outstanding- obviously doesn't work like that in Spain. He has explained the situation to the Bank who are still adamant that they want to seek judgement and if any amount can be recovered from the solicitors or other compensation scheme that it can be offset against the judgement sum- that is what they are telling him at the moment anyway. He says he hadn't heard a thing about that property/sale/loan since 2007 and I beleive him as I know him quite well and he never even mentioned it in passing even when we would be discussing my tales of woe with Banks.

Obviously he wants to find the solicitors and get them to cough up the funds but the firm actually closed down a few years ago so that is going to be difficult. He asked the Bank for help in doing this but he gets the impression that they know they have no chance of either locating the solicitor or getting paid there so the easier option is to pursue him. This man would have a 100% credit rating and is just afraid that this will scupper that. He is going to fight to postpone the case while he tries to locate the solicitors but was just wondering if the case was statute barred due to the length of time since the whole thing took place. It will be interesting to see where it goes but I feel sorry for him as he is stressed out to the max over it.