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1. First: your money is always protected
Disputes are about work, not about money disappearing. The two are always separate on Leo.
When you start a Leo job, the full project amount goes into escrow — held by Stripe, not by Leo, and not by the contractor. No milestone payment is released until you confirm the work is done. If the contractor abandons the job, the money is still there.
This means that in almost all disputes, the question is: how much does the contractor deserve for the work they actually did? Not: how do I get my money back? That is a fundamentally different, easier problem to solve.
The contractor can never access money you haven’t approved. Milestone payments sit in escrow until you tap “Approve.” The materials card is loaded for materials only — Leo can freeze it the moment a dispute is raised. Your exposure at any point is limited to what has already been legitimately spent.
2. What Leo can do immediately
When a dispute is raised, Leo acts — automatically.
The moment you flag a dispute, Leo triggers platform-level protections without waiting for any manual review:
- Materials card frozen — the contractor cannot make new purchases on any job
- All pending milestone payments withheld — across all their active Leo projects
- New job matching paused — they do not receive new homeowner enquiries
- Case file auto-generated — scope, payments, photos, messages compiled into a structured evidence document
- Both parties notified — 48-hour cool-down window opens for direct resolution
A contractor with multiple active Leo projects and thousands in pending milestone payments cannot afford to ghost a dispute. The platform leverage is proportional to how much they rely on Leo. This is not a threat — it is a mutual protection mechanism. The same protections apply if a homeowner tries to falsely dispute legitimate work.
If the dispute is resolved in the contractor’s favour — everything unfreezes immediately, and Leo makes that explicit. The platform works for both sides.
3. The seven-step escalation ladder
Each step is proportionate to the size and nature of the problem. Most disputes end at Step 1 or 2a.
Leo mediates — in-app, automated
Leo auto-generates a case file and opens a structured conversation between both parties. The contractor sees what you are disputing. You see their response. Leo’s system reviews the evidence and can issue a recommended resolution based on the contract terms, milestone photos, and payment records.
Most disputes are misunderstandings about scope or timing. With the full record in front of both sides, most resolve here.
Free 48 hoursRemote aparejador review
If mediation doesn’t resolve it, Leo commissions an independent aparejador (a qualified Arquitecto Técnico, the equivalent of a chartered building surveyor) to review the dispute remotely.
The aparejador reviews the scope document, milestone photos uploaded by both parties, variation order records, and any invoices. They issue a written professional opinion: work within scope / work outside scope / insufficient evidence to determine remotely.
This opinion is signed with their COAAT colegio number and is legally valid as documentary evidence in Spanish arbitration and civil court proceedings.
Free for homeowner 3–5 days Legally admissiblePhysical aparejador visit
If the remote aparejador states they cannot determine from documentary evidence — for example, a dispute about quality of materials installed, or a hidden structural defect — Leo schedules a physical site visit.
The aparejador visits in person, measures, inspects, and issues a full informe pericial (expert report). This is the highest-weight technical evidence available short of a court-appointed expert. It is accepted by the Junta Arbitral de Consumo and all levels of Spanish civil court.
Leo advances the cost of the visit and recovers it from the party found to be at fault — typically from escrowed funds or via the contractor clawback mechanism. There is no upfront charge to the homeowner.
No charge to homeowner 1–5 days Full pericial reportJunta Arbitral de Consumo — free consumer arbitration
Spain has a national consumer arbitration system (Sistema Arbitral de Consumo) that issues decisions with the same legal weight as a court judgment. Leo prepares the entire submission for you:
- Pre-fills the online form with your identity, contractor identity, and case reference
- Attaches the signed scope as proof of contract
- Attaches the aparejador report as the technical opinion
- Drafts the exposición de hechos (statement of facts) from the Leo case file
Every Leo contractor signs an arbitration clause when they join the platform, contractually committing them to participate. If a contractor is adhered to the Junta Arbitral system and refuses to appear, the arbitration proceeds and a laudo is issued by default. If they are not yet adhered and refuse the Junta’s invitation, that refusal is a documented breach of the Leo service agreement — and Leo prepares the full procedimiento monitorio petition for the homeowner to file.
The laudo (arbitration award) is an título ejecutivo — a direct enforcement title with the same legal weight as a court judgment. It is enforceable against the contractor’s assets via the Court of First Instance without re-litigating the case.
Free for homeowner 3–6 months Court-enforceable award (RD 713/2024)Procedimiento Monitorio — court payment order
For money owed that the contractor disputes or ignores, Spain’s procedimiento monitorio is a powerful tool. You file a petition at the local Juzgado de Primera Instancia with the documented debt. The judge reviews. If documentation is sufficient, a payment demand is issued to the contractor.
The contractor has 20 days to respond. If they do nothing — which fraudsters often do — the judge issues an automatic enforcement decree. This becomes a judgment debt enforceable against their assets (bank accounts, vehicles, property). No court battle. No waiting for a verdict.
Leo prepares the petition pre-filled with case file data, and tells you exactly where to file (your local juzgado). No lawyer required to file the petition regardless of amount (LEC Art. 814.2). A lawyer is only needed if the contractor opposes and the claim exceeds €2,000, or for the execution phase if the enforced amount exceeds €2,000.
20-day auto-enforcement No upper limitJuicio Verbal — small claims (under €15,000)
If the contractor contests the monitorio (or the arbitration award), and the amount is under €15,000, the case proceeds as a juicio verbal — a simplified oral hearing (threshold raised to €15,000 by RDL 6/2023). No lawyer is required if the disputed amount is under €2,000.
Leo’s case file — scope, variation orders, payments, photos, aparejador report, chat history — is the foundation of the court filing. The contractor’s verified identity is already on record.
6–18 monthsCriminal complaint — Guardia Civil or Police
If the contractor has committed fraud — taken money they were never going to earn, disappeared with materials funds, provided false identity — Leo provides the full criminal complaint package. This is not a civil dispute; this is a police matter.
Leo exports the contractor’s biometric-verified identity (face photo, ID document, NIF, address), the full evidence file, and a formatted denuncia narrative. The homeowner delivers this to the nearest Guardia Civil post or police station. Because Leo verified the contractor’s real identity, there is nowhere for them to hide.
File within 6 monthsIn most cases, you never leave Step 1. The contractor knows what Step 6 looks like — a police report with their face and home address attached. That knowledge is why most disputes resolve quickly.
4. The aparejador — your independent expert
Spain’s most trusted technical authority on construction quality and compliance.
What is an aparejador?
Arquitecto Técnico — licensed through the COAAT (Colegio Oficial de Aparejadores y Arquitectos Técnicos)
An aparejador is a qualified construction technical director — a professional with university-level training in building science, materials, construction methods, and Spanish building regulations. They are licensed professionals with mandatory malpractice insurance and a colegio registration number that can be independently verified.
In Spanish law, an informe pericial (expert report) from an aparejador is the standard technical evidence used in construction disputes at every level — from consumer arbitration through to the Supreme Court. When an aparejador signs an opinion, it carries the weight of a professional staking their licence on it.
Remote review: what it covers
The remote aparejador review at Step 2a covers the vast majority of renovation disputes. The aparejador reviews:
- The signed Leo scope — what was agreed vs what was claimed
- Milestone photos from both the contractor and homeowner, timestamped and geotagged
- Variation order records — what was agreed, what was added, what was disputed
- Invoices and receipts submitted during the job
- The chat and voice note record between both parties
What remote review cannot cover
- Hidden structural defects not visible in photos (cracks behind plaster, leaks under floors)
- Verification of the exact materials installed (is that tile actually Porcelanosa?)
- Work done and concealed before the dispute was raised
When any of these apply, the aparejador states it explicitly in their report — and the dispute escalates to a physical visit (Step 2b). The aparejador’s report always includes a clear statement of what was and was not assessable remotely, so the document retains its legal validity.
The structured photo protocol
When a dispute is flagged, Leo sends both parties a structured photo checklist tied to the specific scope line items in dispute. Each item becomes a prompt: “Show the completed bathroom tiles from this angle.” Both parties upload independently. The aparejador reviews both sets.
For jobs above €5,000 or where photos are ambiguous, the aparejador can join a live video call through the Leo platform and direct the walkthrough themselves. This is recorded and stored as part of the case file.
Legal basis: A pericial documental (expert opinion based on documentary evidence) is fully admissible in Spanish courts and arbitration under standard rules of evidence. The key condition — which Leo’s process meets — is that the expert is a qualified colegio member and clearly states what they could and could not assess. This is standard practice in insurance claims across Spain.
5. The Leo case file
Every job builds its own evidence pack from day one. Not after a dispute — from the moment the scope is signed.
The Leo case file is a structured PDF generated automatically at any point. It contains everything a police officer, arbitration panel, or civil court needs to understand what happened — formatted for non-technical readers, hashed for tamper-evidence.
What the Leo case file contains
This is why Leo is worth paying for. A homeowner who arrives at a police station or arbitration panel with the Leo case file has a 40-page structured document showing exactly what was agreed, what was paid, what was photographed, and what an independent expert concluded. That is a solved case, not a he-said-she-said.