North Cyprus Property Victims – today, fellow victims, I am going to tell you yet another of story of how the rich get rich and the poor get shafted. The main players in this, oh so familiar story, are Mark Unwin Estate Agent (such a familiar name in these stories), Alpan Uz Developer, it is Christmas time, the time of Pantomime so you are allowed to hiss and boo, and the victim John Pattison.
John dared to dream of owning a ‘Place in the Sun’ which should have been completed in July 2006. However, John, like thousands of us on the island of Cyprus was systematically lied to and and misled as to the progress of the build, which if you read his own words linked below, so were his potential neighbours, all 19 of them, on this site.
By the time they got Alpan Uz to court in 2010, all his assets were in his mother’s name. Oh what a surprise, how original – not. (boo, hiss).
So what of Mark Unwin? Well in fairness, Unwins Estate Agency has been in existence quite some time, so that alone would mean that they have sold a lot of properties. It has been pointed out to me, that by sheer volume, the name will crop up in shall we say, less than fortunate circumstance. Less than fortunate for the purchasers that is.
Yes, I can agree with that. Surely though, this Agency should have been checking that no money was advanced to the developer unless the stage payment being asked for had been reached, that the purchaser should have been alerted immediately a stage for which payment was being requested had not been completed. Now call me old fashioned, but when an agent is being paid between 5 and 6% of the purchase price (£5000 to £6000 per £100,000 of a purchase price), he might just expect to get off his backside and check.
I am reliably informed that if you do not receive your property, the commission paid to the agent is forfeit and you as the purchaser are entitled to receive that sum. You did, after all pay that sum to the developer who gave it to the agent as commission.
The Estate Agents Law which came into force early in 2008 is a retrospective law, it allowed Contracts that pre-dated the law to be registered. The Estate Agents Association confirmed that under this law you are entitled to sue the agent for the return of the commission if you cannot get your title deeds (Kocan). Now here is the big problem, Advocates see agents as their bread and butter. To find an Advocate willing to sue an Estate Agent is difficult, if not impossible. Indeed for those of you who have not worked it out, the Advocate allegedly pays some of your fee as a ‘bung’ for introducing you to their pratice. This is something that in my opinion should be outlawed.
I would advise anyone who thinks that they could have a valid claim for the return of their money given as commission to an Estate Agent to carefully word their story and send it to the Estate Agents Association and ask for their help and advice.
http://www.johnpattison.co.uk/
Never give in, never give up.
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