31 Days to Homelessness – The Plot Thickens

Saturday has rolled around again and I was reflecting on the events of the past week. I have also been doing some research on Google into a certain B.R. True or D. Barry Russel True Tauger, apparently an official sworn translator appointed and certified by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More of that later.

No communication has been received from Snr. Gomez Llorente of DeCotta, McKenna and Santafé  of Nerja so I hand delivered a letter asking the same questions as I had done in an e-mail dated the 7th Nov. He simply needs to tell me where he got the information regarding the sale of my property on the 16th December. Not a difficult question for a lawyer to answer you would think. There is more but I will not reveal that until next week.

Several visits to the post office bemused the postal staff as I am not normally a regular visitor it also revealed that I had no mail from the Torrox Court. 9 days had passed since I requested information on how someone can register and bid at a public auction in Spain and in Torrox Court in particular. Still nothing.

On Friday I visited the Court to ask about the information I had requested and to deliver a petition to the judge. This may seem odd to you reading this but this is how it happens when you have no legal reprentation and you are fighting for the roof over your head. I visited the usual office and the usual staff member was there and I must confess I did not understand all he said in reply to my questions. The result was I was not going to get the information I required, there was no date set for the auction and he could not find my case or name on the computer. Very strange especially when he found it there on his screen 9 days ago.

I was asked to present my petition in another office opposite which I duly did. Strangely, my name nor the name of my ex-wife who is obviously the other person in this case, came up on his computer either. However, the petition to the judge was delivered, stamped and receipted so the mission of the morning was accomplished.

So what has the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do with all this? The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs appoints and certifies Official Translators. I have documentation stating that B. R. True of Ronda has translated an English Court Order into Spanish and it is officially stamped as such. Unfortunately, one vital word is wrong.

The translation was ordered by DeCotta, McKenna and Santafé and yet there is no trace of B.R. True or D. Barry Russel True Tauger (as it says on his stamp) on the official Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs list of sworn translators that I am able to see on Google, Yahoo MSN and the rest. Perhaps he has retired.

Can you see where this is going?

Slipping through the legal net, a 53 year old Englishman, resident in Spain, is to lose his house and home within a matter of days. He has fallen victim to cross-border legal processes and unfortunate circumstances which include an archaic and somewhat secretive, local legal system.