Looking for advice in Estate agents - Page 2

Thanks for letting me know

If you have been treated badly by an AIPP member then I hope you filed a complaint with them.  If you don't file a complaint with the professional body then that body will not be aware of breaches of practice by that agent and cannot act on it.  Again Cheryl - have you filed a complaint?

Also remember that an estate agent is not a lawyer and they are not qualified to comment on matter relating to legalities, they can only pass information that they have been given.  Whilst reputable agents will have run certain legal checks on the property before listing it, and can therefore comment (note, comment not advise) on certain aspects of things, they are there to market, show and sell the property on behalf of the owner.  An honest agent will mention an invisible damp problem, or that the current owner is struggling to pay the bills, or that there is an on-going dispute between owners on the community, IF they know about it, but the person showing the property may not actually be aware of these things themselves.  It is your lawyers job to work on your behalf and investigate these matters.

As for tourist rental licenses, some of you will know that, as property finders, we have been waging a campaign with agents we have contact with about the importance of understanding the legal requirements for a license and the property requirements, and informing potential buyers about this.  If an estate agent knows you are wanting to rent the property as a tourist let, and you have informed them of that, then they are obliged to take that information into account.  However legal redress is a very long and costly process.  It is your lawyer works for you and should be aware of all legal constraints on holiday letting, so he/she is actually the one who should be involved in checking if a property will comply before agreeing to hand over the deposit and sign any paperwork - you can make an offer and pay the deposit to your own lawyer (not to the estate agent!) while checks are made and make continuing with the purchase subject to initial checking for compliance.  That way, if the property wont comply, you wont lose your deposit and will only have a small extra bill for your lawyers time.  Remember everything needs to be in writing, even to your own lawyer.

If you buy a property that already has a license in place then it can be transferred into the new owners name.

I agree with you, the Abogado is the one who SHOULD ensure everything is above board but that doesn't always happen especially if the buyer uses the Abogado recommended by the agent under incessant pressure and as you say, litigation is a long and costly process. I had an independent Abogado but I wouldn't recommend him for anything.
Any estate agent who didn't know the laws regarding Tourist Licences at the time shouldn't be operating in the business but according to my own experience and reading other posts, it is much more likely that if telling the truth would get in the way of a sale, many choose to lie, or fudge the issue. I am quite confident that Estate Agents are still selling properties quoting potential rental income knowing full well that it will not get  a licence. Another poster quite recently has found out that the short term holiday let income he was expecting will never come to fruition and he will be limited to longer term lets at a much lower rate and yes, the agent was aware. I also very much doubt if buyers are advised either by their estate agent or abogado that their new property is likely to flood every time there is a downpour.
As letting was only ever going to be on an ad-hoc basis for me, it simply wasn't worth doing anything about it especially as doing so could have had a negative affect on my integration into the community and I think it is unfair to put the onus on the unsuspecting buyer when really it should come from government intervention. 
Your comment about the initial deposit being subject to certain checks holds the most sway with me because I have found that Abogados want you to pay the initial deposit at the very start of the process, possibly because this almost always ensures people are not going to walk away from a €3,000 loss and their fee is therefore guaranteed on completion. How many, I wonder, would suggest this approach to their clients without specific instructions?
Saying all this, I can only say that you have both always gone to great lengths to put as much information out there as possible and I recommend your posts frequently.

Thank you Cheryl.

@DaveBev - absolutely right, the lawyers are the people to rubber stamp everything is ok or not!

The first thing to do though is to formally raise a complaint with the agent (ask them for their complaint form, by law they have to hold the official documents) The complaint MUST be completed in Spanish NOT in English. Sit out the Spanish process and you're not likely to get very far... unless you engage with a Spanish lawyer, I wasn't prepared to throw good money after bad.

Then, just so you know in my case, I went back to the AIPP and then I was passed the Property Ombudsman. The PO is UK based and speaks English. The whole process is then in English.

My advice to you then is to be very thorough and present every last piece of evidence, written agreement, copious notes etc (as I did) and it goes a long way. Thankfully, after 6 months of hard work and persistence, I received compensation. Subsequently, the agent was not able to renew their AIPP membership, however, they displayed the out of date notice in their offices and were still listed (and still are!) on the AIPP website.

After all that, my advice (besides making sure you have a bloody good, thorough, lawyer) is to get everything and I mean everything in writing. Back every conversation up with an email, if it is a verbal agreement for anything. Be thorough and show you are professional and I am sure you will work out who the better agents are.

Please do not ask me to name and shame the agent in our case, holding on to negativity is bad for the mind, plus I will likely get banned!

Be thorough! Be Careful. Be patient.

Hope it helps