13 Year Long Lawsuit - No End In Sight

[PaulBee]

I would greatly appreciate any opinions about a law suit that´s
gone on 13 years and hasn´t really gotten to the main hearing yet.
Is this common in Argentina ?

My first lawyer slowed things down a bit by colluding with the other party
and stealing my money.

I had been contacting the lawyer annually. She´d ask for another payment,
but really hardly anything´s happened yet. It is clear that the other party,
a flooring company, owes me money. They claim they didn´t sell me the
faulty flooring. I have a paper trail from my architect giving me the bank
account to deposit the payment in. I have proof that I deposited money
into the account of the flooring company. The flooring company says
they know lots of architects and this looks prescripted, so they won´t
refund the money. They say they don´t know how I got their bank
account info, nor why I´d deposit money into their account.

Putting aside the issue that the flooring was worse than useless,
should I not at least be entitled to a refund of my money ? In
the real world (not Argentina) keeping my money would likely be a
crime. In any case, the legal people keep saying
everything will have to start over if I launch a criminal suit.
Apparently one can´t just launch a complaint with police.

Any guesses if this case will end ? Does it seem some one´s
been paid to delay the case ?

I´m hoping the "justice" system might improve so that the case
gets heard before all parties die off.

I know you´re not a bunch of lawyers, but would love to hear
your thoughts.

 

[bobg]

No small claims courts in Argentina?

 

[UK Man]

No small claims courts in Argentina?

That'd probably be too easy and if there was I'd guess it would still cost a fortune in time and money...happy to be proved wrong though. There is some sort of consumer complaint department where you can go and officially complain about poor service. I've heard the wife saying she's lodged several complaints with them although I haven't fully taken in what it's all about as nothing ever seems to come of them. It's probably just a place to get something off your chest.

As for Argentine lawyers. All money grabbing arrogant shits from what I've experienced and certainly not to be trusted.

 

[RichardP]

I wouldn't expect any satisfactory outcome if 13 years have passed. It may be best to accept the losses and quit feeding the shysters.

 

[nikad]

I can understand why you went for a civil lawsuit if this started such a long time ago. I believe this is a clear case for consumer's Defense and there have been important laws being passed in the last few years. The whole process is free and fast, maybe that is why it was not brought to your attention before? I don't think there is any reason why you couldn't file this under consumer's Defense and continue with your civil lawsuit for damages, etc. Asking your lawyer once a year does not suffice.

 

[gracielle]

This is the website mentioned by Nikad.....

http://consumidor.go...o_nuevaley.html

Know what the next steps will be when your rights are violated with the new system of conflict resolution in consumer relations. This system is in the process of regulation and implementation. We hope to tell you soon that it is up and running.

 

[PaulBee]

I can understand why you went for a civil lawsuit if this started such a long time ago. I believe this is a clear case for consumer's Defense and there have been important laws being passed in the last few years. The whole process is free and fast, maybe that is why it was not brought to your attention before? I don't think there is any reason why you couldn't file this under consumer's Defense and continue with your civil lawsuit for damages, etc. Asking your lawyer once a year does not suffice.

Thanks for your input again Nikad ! I had hoped that with a property manager and lawyer, things should get done. How naive I was back then !
I´ll look into your suggestion very seriously. Thanks again !

 

[PaulBee]

Thanks for the link Gracielle ! When this started, years back, there was a mediation session, but lawyers were present.
I was shocked that there was no penalty for perjury at those sessions ! I will look into this. Thanks everyone for your
thoughts and suggestions !

 

[PaulBee]

Nikad and all, my property manager said he´s used the new consumer proptection system with good results, but didn´t think it´s for complaints
against small companies. (I guess the company that ripped me off has perhaps 100 employees, but that´s a shot in the dark. They
make and sell floor tiles, ec., have been in biz for decades and have a substantial web site.)

My property manager asked me if the lawyer, who´s been working on my case for 13 years, had suggested the consumer protection system.
She suggested I stick with her, but she´s not exactly impartial. Her previous correspondence was from a
couple of years ago. Now suddenly she says she needs a 2nd engineers´ report on the floor tiles. I wasn´t
aware that was the supposed cause for delay (sigh) !

I appreciate your patience and would be grateful for any thoughts. I hope at least my posts have been informative for some of you, as
yours are to me !