Legal Help & Investigations

Due to the huge number of problems I have had with builders, court cases, my aborted purchase from Bulgarian Dreams of an apartment in Bansko and as I live here and have had much experience with Bulgaria, both good and bad, I am often contacted by people in various circumstances to see if I can help in anyway, if I can advice which route they should take, what their options are, if I can point them in the direction of a good lawyer or if I can investigate their issue for them.

To give you an idea here are a few of the cases I have been involved with:

  • BulgarianRealEstate .net - A lady contacted me in autumn 2006 who had bought a house for renovation in 2005 and had employed BulgarianRealEstate.net to over see the project and do the work. A quote was given for the full renovation of 15,000 Euro. Delays came about for one reason and another and it was end of May 2006 before work even started on the house. October brought uncertainty,  as she was not getting the updates on the house like before, and had problems trying to find out what was being done. She eventually received photos late autumn 2006 only to find that the house was basically in the same state as in May 2006 but now with no windows and concrete had been laid over wooden floors and other problems. On coming over to Bulgaria she discovered the company had spent all the money and the builders had disappeared, leaving a house in a worse state than when they began. The case is now with the lawyer to try and recover some or all of the money given for the renovations.

A number of other people have also been ripped off by this company as you can see by viewing the topic on MyBulgaria here.

  • Platinum Developments/Sunset Resort - In around 2003 a number of British and Irish investors put down deposits on a development being built by a Dutch company. This company then went bankrupt and Platinum Developments (PDI) bought them out and offered investors a rescue package. One option was to receive the deposit back and a large number chose this option and signed all paperwork for this (3rd party agreement) and sent back to PDI. However, the signed copies of these documents were not returned to the investors so they have no proper proof of agreement with all signatures on it. The return of the money was delayed for a couple of years, each time saying development had to be complete etc first. They were eventually promised money in June 2007. But then no money arrived and on pushing the issue, investors were told that never any intention to pay it back and they would get nothing. My friends here started legal action and since then a further 20 or so people have joined in. The company behind the development has been renamed, changed ownership, changed share holders and so on numerous times. Likely a tax fiddle. All Irish were paid back but not British. British have just served notary appeals on Sunset Resort to request their deposit back. Norwegian paper covering story as PDI pushing their developments in Scandanavia. I went to take photographs for the magazine and to report on findings at Sunset Resort.

  • Cheap-Bulgarian-Properties (Chirpan) - I was contacted by a guy who had seen a house for sale on eBay through this company and had paid a deposit, then come over to see it and had decided to proceed with sale. However, on returning to UK communication with the company stopped and he found out that his company was not yet properly set up and his house not transferred to him, even though he had paid all money for it. I was asked to look into the matter and see what I could find out. I was able to find out personal issues appeared to be reason for no communication but that there were also worrying ways in which the guy had been sold his property. There was eventually some communication but issue is not yet resolved. A number of other former clients of this company have since come forward and contacted me as they are having issues with getting hold of their company documents, have been left high and dry with tax issues and re-registration of their company and moving the company address and have also discovered they paid rather more for their property than it was really worth. I have now helped two former client's start the process of re-registering their company and moving their registered company address away from Cheap-Bulgarian-Properties and have dealt with their tax form for 2007. Two other former clients have been in contact with my lawyer here to try and resolve their issues.

  • Search of Notary Registers - I was contacted by someone who had sent money to a Bulgarian colleague to buy land on their behalf. Money and colleague disappeared!. Through notary searches/court searches we discovered the colleague had bought an apartment recently in the city and a plot of land near Gurkovo.

  • Completion on Apartments/Snagging lists - I arranged for a snagging list to be done on an apartment in Sunny Beach only to find apartment more like renovation project than new build. Advising lady on best option and legal avenues. Numerous enquiries with regard to late completion of apartments, lack of funds to complete due to not being able to resell under contract, get mortgage, rent out etc...

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This type of correspondence and research takes time and often involves many long emails, phone calls, chats on Skype/MSN etc as well as discussions with lawyer and colleagues.

While I am not qualified to give proper legal advice on such matters I can hear your story and maybe suggest a route forward or give general advice. However, this type of work takes up a fair amount of my time and so I would ask that if you contact me and you feel what I tell you is helpful in anyway or gives you a little peace of mind, an idea etc...then please make a donation via moneybookers or direct to my UK bank account which will go to the Tierschutz (Animal Protection) Mission in Burgas - a rescue centre for abandoned and stray dogs and cats in Bulgaria.

Moneybookers: rachel@thetravelbug.org

Natwest UK:
Account Name: Rachel Helen Gawith
Address: 10 Elephant Yard, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4LZ
Sort Code: 01-04-66
Account Number: 80093647
IBAN: GB72 NWBK 0104 6680 0936 47

If you have a concern or issue similar to the above examples please feel free to drop me an email and we can see how I can help and the best way to proceed.

Rachel