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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:
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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