Santa Fe- Ocean View Contracts

Nasist60


Joined: 06/03/2008
Posts: 35

Message Posted:
14/11/2009 11:00

Some people may remember that I previously posted an article regarding our purchase problems with Santa Fe . As the first people to purchase on the site they quickly realised that they could sell for a higher price and under duress we had to sign a waiver contract whereby we were due to receive our funds back.We never did receive full refund or any form of compensation even though a number of clauses in their original contract had been broken( when I mentioned them to Reps from Santa Fe they just laughed). I really do not want anyone to go through what I have had to endure both from a financial and personal perspective.We have 3 young children and Santa Fe did all they could to ensure a recent holiday we had there was ruined - after 2 weeks we finally resolved the issue with Bulut MD of the company the night before coming home.Their lawyer admitted they were in the wrong along with some other interesting comments !!! but as he was retained by them he was powerless.(continued)

Nasist60


Joined: 06/03/2008
Posts: 35

Message Posted:
14/11/2009 11:12

We did all we could regarding the original contract however Santa Fe advised that they were cancelling it however they then offered us a villa on another site.- which we knew was one that they had difficulty in selling.I have reportedly requested Santa Fe ( Bulut) to revert to mails I had written but to no avail - regrettably we only have ourselves to blaim as we had been advised by a number of people not to go near them. Our contract is now being de registered at the Land Registry against our wishes but our Lawyer has advised that he will be personally liable if this is not done ( he did sound worried - I do wonder about Santa Fe's influence in the corridors of power - they seem to have people in their pockets) .If anyone would like further info please advise..At some point I would like to arrange for an article in the press out in TRNC. If I sound bitter it is because I am TRNC is a lovely place and everyone we met was friendly unfortunately Santa Fe destroyed any 'dreams' we had.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
14/11/2009 11:21

Nasist60 (msg. 1):

You wrote "... under duress we had to sign a waiver contract "

Did they hold a gun at you or what? I am sorry but I do not accept such excuses. If you sign a contract, you are supposed to stand by it and not look for excuses afterward.



msg.2

"Our contract is now being de registered at the Land Registry against our wishes but our Lawyer has advised that he will be personally liable if this is not done "

Your advocate cannot deregister your contract unless he has Power of Attorney from you and you can revoke it any time. Additionally, just to make sure that it is not deregistered, you can ask someone to delive a notice from you to the Land REgistry to the effect that you are not deregistering it and that the POA you gave to your advocate has been revoked. That will put the Land Registry and the advocate on a tight spot if they do deregister it. However, if you refuse to deregister it, the developer is most likely to take you to court and ask the court for a declaration to the effect that you are in breach of contract etc. Are you sure you want this?

ismet

http://www.elkocyprus.com

Nasist60


Joined: 06/03/2008
Posts: 35

Message Posted:
14/11/2009 16:23

Thanks for your response .... We had paid Santa Fe GBP100K.-they advised that as we were 2 days late with our latest payment they had terminated our contract and had already resold it (delay was caused as our Lawyer was checking whether the land was mortgaged) We were in N.Cyprus for 2 weeks and they wanted us to puchase one of their other villas on a different site.Given the circumstances we wanted the situation resolved prior to leaving and since they would not budge re our original contract thought that trying to get our funds back was the only option left open to us.



Santa Fe put a clause into the contract advising that in the event we did not deregister our lawyer was liable and obliged to deregister on our behalf. With hindsight we should not have signed however it was late in the evening of our last night ,we had 3 upset children with us ( it was meant to have been a holiday) and we just wanted to leave with something.

We stood by both the original contract and waiver.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
14/11/2009 16:52

I find it hard to comment because I do not have a clear picture. As far as I understood, initially you paid £1000 deposit for a place but you did not sign the contract or make the initial payment in time. Hence the developer used his right and confiscated your deposit. Then yo had a new contract for another place and up to date you paid a substantial amount but for some reason now you want your money back. The developer promised to pay back your money but nothing forthcoming. However the developer wants you to deregister the contract.

If I have understood it correctly as explained above, my advice to you is not to deregister until you get cash and in return hand over the papers signed by you for deregistration. Otherwise you may have to sue the developer in order to try and get back your money or part of it. Why throw away your ace card? I do not understand how your advocate comes into the picture about him being personally responsible. It sounds like some kind of set up.

Sorry but without indepth knowledge I cannot say anything for certain.

ismet

Hector


Joined: 26/08/2008
Posts: 2352

Message Posted:
14/11/2009 19:36

"Sorry but without indepth knowledge I cannot say anything for certain"



Exactly.

Nasist60


Joined: 06/03/2008
Posts: 35

Message Posted:
15/11/2009 10:46

In Nov05 we paid £5k and signed a contract for the villa.In July06 we paid 2nd instalment.In May08 we paid 3rd (total of about £100k).In Aug08(3 years after signing the contract)on our hol to Cyprus we visited the Villa to see progress and also went to Santa Fe - during that visit they announced they had resold the villa but we could have another on a different development. ( we were advised that due to popularity that development had sold out indeed Umit (a Santa Fe director has also purchased a villa there at the top of the development) Completion was way out of contract but I was aware of labour issues in Cyprus so had not made a fuss. To ensure anyone reading this is clear we did not want to pull out hence our visit to see progress however we were faced with not having the villa we wanted and so therefore wanted our money back.We could have gone to court but were advised not to as it would have been a drawn out affair and there were a number of rumours that S.Fe were going bankrupt

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
15/11/2009 17:35

nasist60,

I am utterly confused. In the first message you wrote: " under duress we had to sign a waiver contract whereby we were due to receive our funds back."

So forget what happened in the middle. What does your so called "waiver contract" say? You have to go by that, whatever it says. What did you agree to exactly in your second contract?

ismet

Nasist60


Joined: 06/03/2008
Posts: 35

Message Posted:
16/11/2009 09:22

Our original had clauses that meant we were laible to costs since the villa had not been finished within the specified time line - they just laughed at this when it was mentioned.They then subsequentallly cancelled our contract.The waiver stated we would receive 'full' refund on the dates in that contract however we did not receive the funds on those daya in nearly all cases it took over a month for the cheques to clear - our uk bank advised the problem lay with the bank in Cyprus.We also suffered costs reagrding these cheques - as a result the waiver in my opinion has not been met to the letter and is therefore void.The funds in our account now do not match the full return of money detailed in the contract.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
16/11/2009 09:55

Nasis60 (msg.9)

If you deposit a cheque with a bank in another country (different to the one where it is drawn), it is quite normal to wait for one month for clearence. I accept cheques drawn on a bank in UK and when I deposit them here in Cyprus I have to wait for one month. Most banks also charge a service charge. I have an arrangement with Turk Bankasi and thus I escape those charges but that is exceptional.

In my opinion you have no grounds to complain about. Thus you should allow your contract to be deregistered forthwith, otherwise you will be liable for court expenses. If your advocate stood as guarantor for you (very unwise for an advocate to do so), then he will be liable for those costs as well. It is not fair for you to risk the goodwill of your advocate like that.

ismet

stingrayno1


Joined: 03/02/2009
Posts: 58

Message Posted:
16/11/2009 10:47

hi nassist 60.did you know we have a santafe homeowners website run by the owners alongside marian stokes.we have 89 members at present.we have regular meetings with santafe and have so far assisted in getting mortgages cleared,completing sites and getting refunds for turtle bay customers by monthly payments.

if you want to join you have to email me for an invite at nstather@aol.com .

regards

nick

Nasist60


Joined: 06/03/2008
Posts: 35

Message Posted:
17/11/2009 00:40

Ismet



As you appear to be taking an interest in this post I have typed up a summary of all the events together with associated timelines .If you send me you mail address I will forward to you. Thanks



Nick



I have mailed you re your invite. - Thanks

Nasist60


Joined: 06/03/2008
Posts: 35

Message Posted:
17/11/2009 00:59

I have just found a previous thread that I posted where John who posts under 'hds.trnc' actually went to meet Umit ( Santa Fe Director) and I quote comments re my earlier posts :-



1)'Hello as promised, Ive spoken Umit and drawn his attention to the 44 inclusion. He continues in his agreement of what you have said



2)John

Thanks for your help in trying to resolve this however it appears even Umit is not answering the questions I have asked.As you have mentioned twice in earlier posts Umit is ''in agreement with everything I have said previously'' including agreeing that we had to sign a contract under duress !!' and that there was no reason for our contract be terminated if we were good enough for another to be offered !!!!! That in itself is a damning indictment of their business principles !!



I find it astounding that when I call into question the business ethics of Santa Fe that Umit Erdogan ( Chairman) actually agrees with me !!!!

breezyboy


Joined: 14/05/2007
Posts: 1179

Message Posted:
17/11/2009 18:09

I bought from a developer who has caused me a lot of problems which are not yet over.

In the last 4 years I consoled myself by remembering when the developer mentioned here sent a young boy to take us around their sites. He finished by introducing us to the board in their office.

The music from a Dylan tune floated around the room.

" Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right" !

God, that was a close shave!