Where were the BRS or British Embassy?

Living on Mars


Joined: 29/02/2008
Posts: 54

Message Posted:
03/04/2008 19:04

We waitied patiently in a que of 40 or 50 people, some of whom arrived at 4am yes ....4 am in the morning, in a desperate attempt to finally register their properties with Girne TAPU.



Fortunately for us on the day we arrived (5.10 hours in the morning), we had a lovely chap named Steve who kept the proceedings in order. We all swapped adviced (and war stories), and still it took an average of 20 - 40 minutes each to register our properties ..which meant that only 18 of the 30 people who were issued with an official ticket were seen.



The poor hard working lady behind the counter, worked hard to get as many people as possible seen in the allocated 0830 - 1200 noon, time slot. But with all the lack of information available, most people in the que, had wrong documents, incorrectly completed documents, or lacked doncemnets, which, like us, meant that we had to dash backwards and forwards to and from our Soilicitors and Construction Office to get the right bits and pieces!



Surley those helpful peolpe from the BRS or British Embassy, could have been on hand first thing in the morning, offering help and advice (and a cup of tea would have been nice - only joking!!!!) It was a case of the blind leading the blind. Everyone agreed that if we had have had proper help that morning, ie what forms you need, where to get photocopies, what bits needed filling etc, what the pitfalls are (i.e. Girne Kocan's can only be registered in Girne, Fama Gusta Korcan's can only be registered in Fama Gusta etc), the que would have been properply organsied and fully ready for the TAPU lady to take our 44.50 YTL. WHERE WERE THE BRS ?????????

porsche


Joined: 03/04/2008
Posts: 2

Message Posted:
03/04/2008 21:49

When we arrived to at the land office in Girne, at least 50 people were waiting from 0700 hours, every one had different information as to what the land office required in paperwork. You would have thought with the amount of

problems that the Brits have experianced with the villas that a representative from the BRS or the British Embassy would have been on hand to assist in the registration. It would have been refreshing to see a British representative on hand to assist this would have saved us and the Land Office considerable time and less stress for us all.



Thanks to all those that helped us through the morning

Living on Mars


Joined: 29/02/2008
Posts: 54

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 12:01

Does anyone esle have any thoughts on this .... ?

brian24001


Joined: 23/03/2008
Posts: 606

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 12:42

To be honest, I thought all the required info/paperwork was well and truly covered, certainly on 'villaowners'

My neighbour and I certainly had not problem using the info there, and it was on the from page of Cyprus Today about 5 weeks ago, went along, Stamp first them LR with no problems, all done in under 2 hours.

I think most of the mayhem was probably caused by people leaving it to the last minute, which being fair wasn't necessarily their fault as I beleive many travelled from UK just to do this at the3 last minute.

Living on Mars


Joined: 29/02/2008
Posts: 54

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 13:42

I was there ..... it was bedlam!



We saw the article in the Cyprus Today, but it did not cover all the requirements. The 'biggest' stumbling block that caught everyone out was the fact that we were not adviced with regards the what Kocan's the TAPU office would accept ...no mention of this in the Cyprus Today!



Also, there was an awful lot of confusion over what was acceptable to the TAPU in the way of evidence of who the original contract 'vendor' name was in and signed. We had to to supply evidence from our contructors to support the signature on the original contract agreement. We had to have proof that the person who signed the back of the contract belonged to the construction company ...this caught many people out.



Furthermore, I have just read the Cyprus Toda article again, and no where does it mention that you need a copy of the original Kocan ???? The TAPU at Girne would not register anything without the original Kocan, this threw everyone into complete meltdown!

Corinium


Joined: 23/03/2008
Posts: 58

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 14:08

I too went to the Land Registry Office and after just half an hour came away simply shaking my head. It is chaos

I decided to bite the bullet and went promptly round to my solicitors, dumped all the paperwork with the receptionist, Handed over £350 (ouch!) and now hopefully they will deal with it. Any questions about wrong forms, proof of this or that, photocopies etc etc etc can be dealt with by them - The experts who speak the language, understand the beauracracy and will deal with it without being fobbed off



If you have the £350 I think its money well spent

Living on Mars


Joined: 29/02/2008
Posts: 54

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 14:19

But this is my point ..surely a representative of either the BRS and /or British Embassy could have been on hand to ease the situation and may well have saved you the £350. I thought that is what they are supposed to do??? Help the Brits!



I must admit, when we did get through the paperwork, which took us 5 hours, two trips to the solicitors, one to the construction company the back to the TAPU, I did feel like I had save the solicitors fee and promptly celebrated!

Corinium


Joined: 23/03/2008
Posts: 58

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 14:28

Hope you didnt celebrate to the tune of £350!!!

orangekazzie



Joined: 31/07/2007
Posts: 1091

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 14:30

Just a thought but maybe no one informed the BRS that they might be required as everyone who is a member of the BRS already have their homes registered so probably wouldn't have given it a thought that they may be needed to be on hand.

Karen

Living on Mars


Joined: 29/02/2008
Posts: 54

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 14:38

True ... it would have been nice to see someone who knows what is going on. Marion Stokes does so much for nothing ...and doesn't ask for any membership money like the BRS do. Surely the BRS should know what is going on in ther 'hometown'. If nothing else it would have been a good way of getting to know new prospective members .... and a good way of signing up new ones! Just a thought!

Corinium


Joined: 23/03/2008
Posts: 58

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 14:47

Great in theory, but would you want to go down there, to be swamped with Brits shouting at you, waving bits of paper at you, demanding to know why you've not done this or that? For nothing?

In my experience, as soon as you put yourself up as a volunteer for something, everyone else seems to see you as some sort of expert, and expecting personal treatment, rather than someone just trying to help

brian24001


Joined: 23/03/2008
Posts: 606

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 14:51

Have to say LOM, msg 5 that it sounds like (as usual) the goal posts had moved by the time you got there.

We didn't need original Kocan as land not divided yet, no question about signatures, just copy of passport, form and stamped contract (we went at the time whe a Turkish translation was needed too, but that was easy to arrange).

Sounds like it ended up like most things, a total cluster!

Living on Mars


Joined: 29/02/2008
Posts: 54

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 15:07

There was no need for a turkish translation when we went - 25th March 2008 .... like I said totally totally bedlam! I love the TRNC ....

Corinium


Joined: 23/03/2008
Posts: 58

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 15:27

LOM

I see from previous posts that you have purchased from Santa Fe in Alsancak.

Originally you stated you discovered there was a mortgage on the land.

It appears from what you say above that there are now no emcumberances on the land.

I have purchased from Santa Fe in Alsancak too, I was wondering if you are on the same site as me.





Whereabouts is your property?

Living on Mars


Joined: 29/02/2008
Posts: 54

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 16:01

Hi Corinium



I would like to keep my exact location to myself - for security reasons.

Living on Mars


Joined: 29/02/2008
Posts: 54

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 18:52

Corinium ...



Have you registered your property yet .... did it come back okay ????

phylray



Joined: 21/09/2007
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
04/04/2008 23:18

I can't see what it's to do with the British Embassy really! In my experience living/working abroad many years, they, and the foreign office, are the last of all countries to come to the aid of nationals., even in real emergencies. I haven't registered property yet, as I didn't have all the paperwork correct, & was advised to hold off, but we may have to pay nearly 400 ytl for all the plots we share amenities. Rip-off!

Corinium


Joined: 23/03/2008
Posts: 58

Message Posted:
05/04/2008 12:28

LOM

All the paperwork is with my solicitor at the moment.

I sent them an email yesterday asking what is happening, hopefully I'll hear back soon, they are normally pretty good at responding.

On the other topic regarding the whereabouts of your house, I accept your wishes about security, its just that from reading your previous posts, I am sure we know each other!!!!



Regards