The developer has let us down - what to do now?

Then I suppose the only thing left is to keep hoping. Thank you

Since the company is no longer responding, we also can’t access the money withheld in the bank.

In what delusion did you make such a useless withholding?

Statements of claim are effective eye-openers.

And conversely, 30 emails are a sign that one has no legal protection and will write another one or two hundred and thirty emails. You might as well throw cotton balls. The draft statement of claim moves the matter from the complaints department inbox to that of the legal department.

At the latest, when they want to get to the withheld amount and initiate a payment order, there’s no way around seeing a lawyer anyway.

ouch... no money at all for a legal dispute?

Have you ever sent a proper letter by registered mail that puts the company in default?

I suspect the loan has been assigned so that your bank does not pay the remaining amount to you but only to the developer. Since the house is not yet finished (free of defects), you cannot initiate the payment. Chicken or egg; cat or tail. Never Ending Story, the developer can sit this out, he knows you are running out of steam.

Are you already repaying or just paying interest?

There is no way around a lawyer. We had about 500 euros in legal fees for the final stretch (it would have been even better to invest 300 euros before signing). For you, it will certainly be more, but it’s no use!

Go to a specialist lawyer for construction law! If you don’t have ~300 euros for a consultation and a letter, then you are already out of the house anyway. Then it doesn’t matter. For everything else: Ask your parents, go into overdraft, take out a personal loan.

Alternative: Declare the house as free of defects ("Basta"), pay the outstanding invoice, and live with it.

We also still have outstanding defects. Although we can and did hire a lawyer, financial losses are still to be expected, even if we "win." In addition, we only partly pay in money; partly we paid with our little house – the construction did not go smoothly – and also with nerves.

Maybe it will be easier for you to weigh things if you take into account a fundamental loss and the currency of nerves. Sometimes there is no other way. Still, enjoy living there!

Best regards

Gabriele