Access Rights to property.. Who Checks?

Dreamydiver



Joined: 30/08/2010
Posts: 306

Message Posted:
08/05/2011 08:53

Just been talkin to some friends who have lived in their villa for some time. Minor niggles with build etc but nothing major.



However, theyhave just been informed the dirt track to the properties from the main road isn't part of the complex or even the equivilant of council owned land, it actually belong to a TC.



Just wondering whether the advocate should have spotted this or the builder (off plan build) who is still around.



Can anyone help or advise as to what they can do? thanks



Access hasn't been denied but it isn'r nice to think it could!

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
08/05/2011 09:02

The first thing your friends better do is to ascertain whether their 'investment' even has 'Planning Permission'!



Whatever, and I speak from my friends' experiences, they're liable to have to 'dig deep' to overcome the problem. Trying litigation will only suceed in further lining the advocates' pockets - it'll eventually have to be resolved by mutual agreement with the owner of the land that their access track is situated on. The ramifications will, very likely, be that they will have to fund the tar sealing of said track and payment of an exhorbitant lump sum for 'use of'.



One can only but wonder if the landowner was/is in cahoots with your friends' builder/landowner?

AnthonySmith


Joined: 14/05/2009
Posts: 455

Message Posted:
08/05/2011 09:31

Unfortunately, it is down to you. Advocates in the TRNC range from useless to beyond useless. I read in one of the papers the other month that the head of the bar said it was down to people - with little or no knowledge of law, let alone TRNC law - to guide their solicitors through whichever process they were going through.

misunderstood


Joined: 08/04/2011
Posts: 1004

Message Posted:
08/05/2011 10:46

Advocates have no duty of care, however my advocate did ascertain we had a right of way.



sound as if this development is another to add to the thousands of cons.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
08/05/2011 10:46

I am not going to defend or apologize for the advocates but simply offer an explanation as to how things came to.



In the old days the advocates were only busy with litigation and also arrange the odd contract for clients. There was no such thing as "Conveyancing". Hardly anybody went to an advocate for that. The parties would normally meet in front of the Land Registry Office and get things done with the help of a chap for a few quids who could be found in or near the office. Even today this is what the locals do.



Then came the era of the "expats" who went to the advocates (to them solicitors) for conveyancing. The developers had their own favourites and even if somebody went to another one, soon they would start working together sort of hand-in-glove. So lots of "copy and paste" advocates mushroomed everywhere at exorbitant fees. All in all the prices of the properties were very good, so to hell with other niceties.



We have a government who put the cart before the horse and trying to crawl forward with little success. The problems are piling up but they have no clue what to do. Turkey has stepped in to reorganize and they met with insults. The mind boggles.

ismet

Dreamydiver



Joined: 30/08/2010
Posts: 306

Message Posted:
10/05/2011 09:11

Ismet,



apologies for not fully understanding whether your reply is advising my friend what to do or simply stating there isn't much to do once the 'donkey' has bolted from the stable (pardon bad pun!).



I understand from them that they are aware of the complexities of purchasing there, they began the process 7 years ago.



What they have just heard from their advocate is that the whole site touches a road according to the title deeds which they say means the site has a legal access to a Government road. Build permits are not granted if sites do not have a legal access to a road and indeed several other clients on the site already possess their title deeds.



Does this suggest (appreciate no one out there would be able to give a definitive answer w/o access to paperwork) things aren't as gloomy as they originally thought?





thanks folks!

clive-tpc


Joined: 02/02/2011
Posts: 25

Message Posted:
10/05/2011 14:20

ıf you would like some ones details who can check out boundary with tapu and city planning send me a mail and ı will give you his details...i use him all the time for matters like this

Tango1


Joined: 19/02/2011
Posts: 1151

Message Posted:
10/05/2011 15:30

When I asked our first advocate/solicitor (a now notoriously bad one) why he hadn't done a certain "thing" for us and which should have been an automatic search in my opnion, the answer was "you didn't ask me" That was 6 years ago which was when I discovered that they will do nothing unless you make a specific request. In other words they have absolutely no Duty of Care to their clients, which comes as an awful shock as we are used to our Solicitor duing full searches and protecting and informing us of any pitfalls which may exist when purchasing a property.



Tango1

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
10/05/2011 20:12

Tango,

I think my explanaion above explains it all.

Lesson to learn: when in Rome find out how the Romans do things, i.e. do as the Romans do.

ismet

Zoots


Joined: 05/02/2011
Posts: 669

Message Posted:
10/05/2011 20:35

Tango: "When I asked our first advocate/solicitor (a now notoriously bad one) why he hadn't done a certain "thing" for us and which should have been an automatic search in my opnion, the answer was "you didn't ask me" That was 6 years ago which was when I discovered that they will do nothing unless you make a specific request. In other words they have absolutely no Duty of Care to their clients, which comes as an awful shock as we are used to our Solicitor duing full searches and protecting and informing us of any pitfalls which may exist when purchasing a property."

As Elko says, you have to do your research before making a major decision involving a lot of money. People of average eduction should know there was a war which split Cyprus and left half of it - this half - under Turkish occupation. Surely most people would ask themselves 'Is this a sensible and safe place to invest?' Anyone who bought here without doing even basic checks or taking advice from a trusted TC is nuts.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
10/05/2011 20:54

Same old Pike

ismet

birdman



Joined: 20/09/2010
Posts: 690

Message Posted:
10/05/2011 22:59

The two houses behind mine, offset , have access over a part of my land/garden.(5 metres wide)

It was all sorted out by their advocates at not too much cost to them. Otherwise they would not have been able to access their properties.

One has had paving blocks laid, 25 metres long ( a drive) but the furthest away, 35 metres further on , is still a track from the end of the paving blocks. It is not a problem. I did not ask for or receive any compensation for their access. They now have full legal rights of access.

They are lovely local neighbours.

nostradamus


Joined: 15/04/2008
Posts: 557

Message Posted:
11/05/2011 07:24

We had a similar situation with our property many years ago. An access road which did not belong to anybody turned out to partly belong to somebody who built a wall in the middle of it stopping us from accessing our house. The advice at the time was that we apply to the land office for increased access and they would put a price on this which we would have to pay the the owner. Unfortunately, we were also advised that this could take up to 2 years to sort out. In the end our lawyer negotiated with the land owner concerned and we paid about a thousand quid for a right of way - this was for a piece of land about 3 feet wide by 20 feet long. This was way in excess of any figure that the land office was likely to decide but we couldn't really do anything else. The land was of no possible use to the owner but he saw us foreigners as a cash cow and freely admitted this! Hey ho, you live and learn. I suspect that these may still be the options open to your friends.

dearie


Joined: 08/03/2011
Posts: 142

Message Posted:
11/05/2011 09:14

If you would like the advice of a DECENT lawyer she is Alessina Critchlow - English and English qualified and can be found at Karakum opposite Lemar car park above the off license next to Cassini sandwich bar. S and A Advocates. tel 0533 872 2821. Good Luck

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
11/05/2011 09:27

I have had dealings with Alessina and I can recommend her.