At the end of last week, the news was received of further appeals to the High Court of Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, by Anfi were once again rejected, yesterday yet another appeal was dismissed by the same court. In all cases, Anfi lost the initial case at the Court of First Instance of San Bartelóme de Tirajana. In one case not only did Anfi appeal, but the lawyers for the client also appealed as the Court of First Instance failed to recognise or make reference to the payment in double of any payments made during the statutory cooling-off period.

In our first case, Norwegian clients being represented by Lawyers from Canarian Legal Alliance won their case at the Court of First Instance, where the judge declared the contract null and void. The court also demanded that Anfi repay the client 42,429€ plus legal interest and legal costs.

Once again Anfi decided that they did not agree with the decision regardless that on every occasion they have lost the appeal, but launched it anyway.

The lawyers of CLA on behalf of the client also launched their own appeal regarding the failure of the court to award double the deposit taken during the cooling-off period. This point is a matter of law and has been confirmed on numerous occasions by the Supreme Court.

The Judge of the High Court Number 5 of Las Palmas rejected and dismissed the Anfi appeal but did accept the appeal by CLA on behalf of their client. The Court recognised that the illegally taken deposit should have been refunded in double.

They increased the award by 16,420€ which brought the total amount to 58,849€, added to this will be the legal interest and legal costs.

The following day another Anfi appeal was rejected and dismissed by the High Court Number 5 of Las Palmas.

The original trial involving another Norwegian client originally won their case at the Court of First Instance Number 4 of SBT. The judge, in this case, declared the contract illegal and therefore null and void, they also demanded that Anfi repay 57,813€ plus legal interest and legal costs.

In this ruling, the judge did recognise the point on the illegal taking of deposits, doubling up the amount taken illegally.

But as we have come to expect Anfi once again launched an appeal, once again they lost.

The High Court confirmed the sentence without hesitation and ordered the repayment of the said amount and confirming the contract was null and void.

Yesterday it was yet another Norwegian client of CLA who had their case concluded by the High Court.

The original ruling from the Court of First Instance declared the contract null and void with Anfi being ordered to repay the client 88,000€ plus legal interest and legal costs. In this case, the Court of First Instance recognised the illegality of the taking of any payment within the statutory cooling-off period. This doubling of the deposits taken amounted to 37,000€ more than the client originally paid.

But once again Anfi did not agree with the ruling and once again launched their appeal to the High Court.

As we have seen in all cases being heard on appeal, the High Court, this time Court Number 3 of Las Palmas, rejected and dismissed the appeal and confirmed 100% the original sentence of the Court of First Instance.

All these cases were prepared and conducted on behalf of the clients by CLA Lawyer Eva Gutierrez with Claims Consultant Caroline Castro assisting the client during the procedures.

As we have been seeing over and over again, Anfi appeals every case, the reason, your guess is as good as mine.

What we do know is that Anfi along with other timeshare resorts and the industry trade body the RDO (Resorts Development Organisation) still believe that the law is wrong, that the Supreme Court has misinterpreted the law. This is rather incredulous considering the time it has taken for the law to be verified and the 130 rulings made by the Supreme Court, all confirming the law and the sentences of the lower courts.

We also know that Anfi is employing some very underhand tactics by using this appeals process to delay payments. It is a fact that has been published not just here on Inside Timeshare but also in the Spanish press, that Anfi is moving funds from various bank accounts to give the impression they have no money.

This point is also being investigated by the Provincial Prosecutors Office with the assistance of lawyers from CLA, who have provided much of the evidence of these accounts.

It is also a fact that these appeals not only confirm the payments ordered but also cost Anfi a great deal of money. There are the legal costs of launching an appeal, our information is that it costs around 3000€ just to file the appeal with the court, add to this the cost of their legal representation, plus the accumulation of interest on the awarded sums, it does not take a mathematician to work out how much this is costing Anfi.

No doubt we shall be seeing many more of these cases on our pages over the course of the next year, as it seems like Anfi are not about to change their tactics.

If you would like further information on your legal rights and whether or not you have a valid and viable case, please use our contact page and Inside Timeshare will get back to you.