Architect Won't Give Me My Paid-For Habilitacion Paperwork!

[Farenheit]

I paid an architect to prepare all my habilitacion paperwork, plans etc, it cost around 800 dollars. There was a delay in my signing due to awaiting other papers that had to be presented simultaneously. I paid her in full as the papers were waiting at the escribania and it was a long delay till I could sign them.
Now both parties (escribana and architect) pretend they don't have the papers. I know they're lying. My lawyer isn't doing much to help, I guess she thinks it's a waste of time. What should I do?? Any advice appreciated.

 

[DerAchtundzwanzig]

Ok, so first things first: what type of business is this habilitación for? Is it a business that requires an "habilitación automática" or an "habilitación con inspección previa"?

Also, what did they say exactly? They couldn't have just said that they don't have the papers without giving any sort of excuse.

I have heard many cases of architects / agrimensores who just rip people off, take your cash and you never hear from them again (this happens to locals al the time), so you should always use someone that was recommended by someone you trust.

 

[Farenheit]

It was one with inspeccion previa but we didn't even present the papers to the municipality, they were still waiting to be signed. Basically the architect tried to rip me off in a massive way for some other paperwork which I then took to a third party as I realised what was happening. To pay me back for this, she won't give me back my papers. I can't even get hold of her. The escribana is in cahoots, her secretary gave the game away when I initially called and said they had the papers and that I should call back later to arrange a time to collect, then they changed their story and said they didn't have them. Agreed, I should have had a recommendation. Maybe I should just name and shame on here...

 

[Montauk_Project]

Do you have any written agreement? A factura? If so you can go to the colegio de arcitectos and denounce what happened and see if they can help you. If not, look for another arcitect. And never pay more than 50% upfront.

 

[Farenheit]

Thanks, I will follow that up. I have all our emails outlining costings and my bank transfers to her. Initially I only paid a % upfront but ultimately I had to pay the full amount as I was still waiting for my ABL exemption to come through and that took nearly a year more after she had finished the work. The papers were at the escribania but couldn't be signed until the ABL exemption was presented and I mistakenly thought that meant they were in safe hands.

 

[Iznogud]

Time to introduce them to your "silent partner" and have him formulate a carefully worded death threat.

 

[Mano Negra]

Do the same as you would do anywhere else. Ring her a hundred times, at work, on mobile, at home if you can. Threaten to plaster her all over the internet letting people know she is a thief and that anyone searching her name will find this first. Tell her you will pay a trapito to stand outside her office with a similar sign. Tell her you will complain to all relevant authorities. Send a carta documento. Above all make it very clear you are on a personal mission and you won't give up. She will threaten you with legal action. Just tell her as you have the evidence so what! Then explain you will be suing her (don't actually involve a lawyer unless it is a very large amount), and will be asking for a report on any personal assets she might have with a view to embargoing them. She will give up the moment she realises that you are not going away.

I recently bought a property to then find the last administrator had stolen 60,000 pesos that was owed to the AFIP. The consorcio did not know what to do. I suggested the above and after 2 weeks the guy paid up (we had gone to a lawyer who said we had little chance of recovery). There is a chap on this forum who has several sites here for "negative publicity". He may be able to help (can't remember what name he uses here and don't want to publish his real one).

 

[DerAchtundzwanzig]

In that case, I'll have to agree with Montauk_Project. I think that the best thing you can do right now is go to the Colegio de Arquitectos and the Colegio de Escribanos to denounce what happened. You could also try Defensa del Consumidor. This will work better as a tool to threaten them than any actual results.

 

[Davidglen77]

I've been up against some really horrible people here and this is the best way to get them. In Argentina it's called "escrache" which essentially means "smear". So your statement to them would be "Los voy a escrachar". If you give me their names addresses we can try and find their CUIT and DNI #s and post those in a blog with linkbacks so that anytime anybody is looking for them, the negative info you post will show up in the search engines.
Here's what I did to "escrachar" the inspectors who came to my business looking for bribes:
http://www.escrachados.com/
Good luck!

 

[Farenheit]

Thanks everyone. I just spoke to the architect again and she's so clever she had me doubting myself till I checked our old emails and re-confirmed to myself she was lying about everything. I'm going to send her a carta documento...