Landmark victory for M1 Legal heralds yet another half million pound month of awards

M1 Legal's 6 year fight to 'lift the veil' on one of Spain's oldest timeshare complexes pays off

Groundbreaking victories

Pueblo Evita is one of the oldest complexes on the Costa Del Sol. Named after Evita Perón, and (legend has it) built around a luxury villa designed for the Argentine political activist. Pueblo Evita has been sold as timeshare for several decades and has an enormous user base. Like the majority of timeshare companies in Spain, Pueblo Evita has been writing illegal contracts since 1999, but until now it has been impossible to trace liable companies to sue on behalf of their members.

In April 2022, M1 Legal successfully sued the maintenance company MB Benalmadena S.L.U. and the English sales company Pueblo Evita Marketing Company LTD. Both of these companies were declared in default by Torremolinos Court number 3.

"These victories were hugely significant," says Fernando Sansegundo, the head of M1 Legal in Spain. "Our team has taken on and defeated every single illegally operating timeshare company in Spain. These judgements have opened the door for hundreds of Pueblo Evita victims to sue for compensation."

Millions of pounds worth of awards

"Months of half a million pounds or more in awards are becoming commonplace for us," says Sansegundo. "In April we won twenty seven separate victories, representing a total value of £501,400 for the recipients.

Over half of this fortune was won against the notorious Club la Costa. £265,674 was shared between thirteen award winners.

"This averages out at £20,463 per recipient," Fernando points out. "When you bear in mind that most of these people just wanted to be free of the annual fee commitments, to be awarded well over £20,000 as well was a result that made every claimant grateful"

A further £109,543 was awarded to six claimants against Canary Islands giant Anfi.

Onagrup found themselves on the receiving end of awards valued at £67,027. Three award recipients averaged £22,342 each from these wins.

The mighty Marriott lost two cases to M1, and the former members were awarded £36,519 between them. Finally, Lion Resorts and Perblau 2000 had judgements against them for £19,682 each.

April's largest individual awards

"There were several big individual winners in April," confirms Sansegundo with some pride. "A Surrey couple called Lee and Dionne were awarded £45,300 against Club La Costa. This was because the contract was illegal in that it was for over 50 years, and also because of lack of correct information on the property. This usually means they were sold floating time, or points, both of which have been illegal to sell since 1999.

"Simon and Anne from Sheerness in Kent, a very nice couple, won £38,255. This was also against Club La Costa, and for exactly the same reasons.

"The third largest award went to a Slough couple called Paul and Helen. These former Anfi owners were awarded £36,827 because (again) of lack of correct information on the property.

"These are significant amounts of money," notes Fernando. "People who were worried about owing money to their timeshare companies every year for decades, or in some cases forever, are now not only free but also receiving enough compensation to buy a luxury car or put a child through university."

2022 so far

As timeshare company delaying tactics are systematically neutralised by M1 Legal's diligent legal efforts, the claims process is speeding up.

Compensation is being awarded in ever greater amounts. "So far in 2022 (correct at time of writing) M1 Legal has achieved 139 successful awards," says a proud Fernando. "This is a total of £2,287,850. Thirty four of those awards were against Anfi, adding up to £515,427.

"Sixty three more awards were against Club La Costa and they total a staggering £1,136,793.

Fernando has advice for timeshare owners who bought in Spain, on or after the 5th January 1999: "Right now is the time to make your claim if you have an issue with your timeshare, or the way in which you were sold the membership.

"The exploratory work has been done. The major hurdles have been overcome. The courts are familiar with the offences committed by timeshare companies and how these affected owners. Compensation is being awarded in record amounts, and it won't last forever because these companies don't have unlimited resources."

To enquire about enlisting the help of M1 Legal with your membership, your first port of call is to contact their associated claims firm, European Consumer Claims (ECC)

"There are too many cases for M1 to handle them all," explains Sansegundo. "So ECC handle all enquiries in order to select the strongest cases. The consultation is free, and it means nobody wastes any time or resources on a case that doesn't have any chance of success. If ECC accept your case, you pretty much guarantee success.

"M1's success rate in court is currently running at 98.6%. And the very few we did lose were a long time ago, when we were just starting out in this field."