Widow's anxiety as debt collectors try to repossess her Spanish dream home
A 74-year-old widow has revealed she has to double-lock her doors as debt collectors try to repossess her Spanish dream home.
Anita Mozley, originally from Derby, moved to Spain in 2012 with her husband Geoff, who she sadly lost when he was 69, to leukaemia.
However, the former administrator has admitted her ideal retirement move has turned into a nightmare as she faces a bizarre legal dispute.
The widow said she faces a "waiting game" and is forced to double-locked her doors as she claims representatives from BC Grupo, a property registrar in the country, knock on her door informing her that she no longer owns her house.
This is despite a court order issued in 2018 that she claims certifies her purchase of the property.
'Invisible' mirror home hits market for $18million – made entirely of glassMr and Mrs Mozley attended a property exhibition in Derby in 2005, after which they decided to purchase a home in La Murada outside the city of Orihuela, in the province of Alicante, about an hour's drive away from Benidorm.
The home was purchased via a company called Atlas which has since dissolved.
Mrs Mozley says the couple paid a deposit of £2,121.57 and more instalments over the next nine months to Atlas and solicitors Aroca Seiquer & Asociado, who arranged the purchase.
In February 2006, she claims she and her husband then signed for the purchase of the property, paying the last €5,7711.25 to the builder.
But in 2018, Mrs Mozley says she then had to go to court - costing her, she claims, €20,000 - and attained a court order as the builder of her home aimed to repossess the house.
Four neighbouring properties whose owners did not go to court, Mrs Mozley says, have been repossessed, and she has been visited by debt collectors, who have made her feel “scared” and “harassed”.
Now, despite a pause over Christmas - she has not had a representative knocking on her door since November 28, 2022.
Mrs Mozely told DerbyshireLive : "I've double locked all my doors, they are locked now even though it's not dark yet. I still feel so anxious.
"This week it's the holidays here in Spain, for the New Year and the three kings. I don't think anybody is working as much as they normally do. I'm trying to be positive it's no good being anything other.
"I fear I'll have to go back to the UK, but I don't have anywhere else to go. Here I'll get more support than in the UK. Hopefully, I won't get rehoused, it's just a waiting game, unfortunately.
Abandoned 'Chernobyl-on-Sea' still left derelict after 12 years in the UK"I'm hoping to come back to Derby in January but I discovered recently that my passport was up in April. I'm trying to get online to get my new passport sorted.
"I've asked BC Grupo to contact my old solicitor to get any paperwork that they could reference. I just hope they do, I've been talking to people but nobody has been in the situation that I am in.
"I've also written to the judge who declared that I own the property. The people knocking on the door are saying that doesn't stand anymore. I've written to him [the judge] asking if it does still stand."
BC Grupo's branch in Murcia have been approached for comment.
After outlining Mrs Mozley's case using Google Translate, due to the language barrier, a spokesperson said the office "does not look at this type of operation, you need to contact [the firm's office in] Madrid".
The company's HQ but it could not be reached using the phone number given on the firm's website. An email address was also not included on BC Grupo's site.
A spokesperson from Aroca Seiquer & Asociados told Derbyshire Live in November 2022: “We are unable to make any comment about any potential clients, current or past, in accordance with the Data Protection Act."