M1 Legal victory: €365,000 Spanish timeshare award as contract ruled null and void

What is believed to be the largest award yet in a Spanish timeshare dispute has been won for Southampton couple Mr & Mrs Sewell-Rutter.

In the Spanish courts, Malaga-based M1 Legal, acting on behalf of European Consumer Claims, secured an award of €365,000 against La Pinta Beach Club in Tenerife.

The case was complex, involving different authorised agents acting for different companies. However, the evidence presented to the court showed the contracts were linked.

The judge concluded it was clear the companies involved were, in effect, the same entity.

The judge also ruled that the timeshare contracts should be treated as null and void because they were in perpetuity. Under Spanish Timeshare Law, weeks sold after 5 January 1999 cannot be in perpetuity and must not exceed 50 years.

“As far as we are aware, this is the largest timeshare victory ever achieved,” said M1 Legal ECC spokeswoman Sharon Johnson. “M1 made this possible through continuous dedication and commitment in supporting this case.”

Mr & Mrs Sewell-Rutter commented: “We have had timeshare weeks with La Pinta Beach Club for over 10 years and, every year we went there, we were approached by the resales department and pressured to buy additional timeshares, which they promised to sell at a profit. The pressure each time to make us part with our money left us exhausted and we gave in. As a result, we lost most of our savings, had to remortgage our house and take out a bank loan. In the end, we lost a considerable amount of money.”

“We didn’t know where to turn when we found M1 Legal. At last, we had found a company that dealt with us in an understanding and professional way. It took some time, but our case finally went to court in Tenerife and, a few months later, we were told we had won. We can’t thank M1 Legal enough for their efforts. They have been brilliant throughout, and now we will get our money back. We are so delighted and will recommend anyone who has lost money as a result of timeshare scams to get in touch with M1 Legal.”

M1 Legal provides legal services to support European Consumer Claims for people who have been subject to mis-selling and subsequent breach of statutory duties by resorts in relation to holiday ownership products and services sold transnationally. These include floating week timeshares, points-based timeshare products, holiday clubs and fractional ownership.

Claims include actions against resorts, marketing companies, management companies, exchange organisations, and finance and lending companies.

To find out more, contact Sharon Johnson at M1 Legal on 0034 951 562 209 or email sharon@m1legal.com. You can also visit www.M1Legal.com.