Is it time to regulate maintenence companies

Mambosun


Joined: 27/05/2011
Posts: 112

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 10:50

Is it time to regulate maintenence companies in the TRNC as it seems that some of these companies have no experience in this field and simply subcontract the work out and just add 10% for themselves.They should be made to present their qualifications before they are allowed to set up a company and trade.Too many people are being ripped off by the bad companies and good companies are loosing custom to the cowboys

dalartokat


Joined: 14/04/2008
Posts: 734

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 11:07

Mambosun and how are you going to do that then?

brend


Joined: 20/01/2009
Posts: 149

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 11:15

This is why I want to find out who Blue Rain Trading are!!!

Our committee are in the process of hiring them and getting rid of our currant company and nobody seems to have heard of Blue Rain Trading

Brend

dalartokat


Joined: 14/04/2008
Posts: 734

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 11:21

Brend, I tried looking for you yesterday and tried all sorts of ways and putting in various options, but could not find anything at all relating. Are you sure you have the correct name/spelling etc. Why does the Committee not give the information toyou to find out who these people are?

Mambosun


Joined: 27/05/2011
Posts: 112

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 11:33

The goverment had a scheme a couple of years ago to clear out some of the estate agents something like this could be possible

brend


Joined: 20/01/2009
Posts: 149

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 11:36

dalartokat

I have e-mailed the committee and asked who they are and got the reply that Blue Rain will inform me as soon as possible???

Brend

Deniz1


Joined: 28/07/2009
Posts: 3829

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 13:32

Dont the committee have to ask all the property owners if they agree to the new company?

brend


Joined: 20/01/2009
Posts: 149

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 13:43

I also thought that was the case.

They apparantly have not even informed one of the committee members that there was going to be a vote!!!!

Brend

theparson


Joined: 28/05/2011
Posts: 129

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 13:58

The owners should decide who runs their complex based on the Committees findings.



Found the best way to go about it in the TRNC is to get 4 companies to tender, and then for the Committee to whittle it down to 2, and then send a report\tenders to all the owners with a 1 page precis of what seems the best option. Ask the owners to vote, and then sign-up with the one who wins the vote.

Appointing a company without any justification is a recipe for disaster.

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 14:02

Did anyone see the article in Cyprus Today? It really illustrates what people are up against. Laws will not change this, it demands the will to see justice, stop discrimination and nepotism.



A furious landlord who claims his tenant of five years has not paid a single penny in rent is being asked to cough up a four figure sum in taxes himself.



Robert Spaull said he was owed £12 000 by his Turkish tenant who refuses to budge and even changed the locks.



Mr Spaull, 50, who lives with his wife and two children in Lapta said not only was he losing out, but the government was missing out on the tax he would be paying on the one bedroomed flat in Girne.



However, finance minister, Ersin Tatar, who last month revealed a crackdown to recoup due rental taxes said, ‘It doesn’t make a difference if the rent is not paid. The law says you have to pay your tax.’

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 14:02

Mr Spaull, who is embroiled in a lengthy legal battle to evict the Turkish tenant, said, ‘I am not paying it. How can the Finance Minister say this when tax is based on an income of rent and I have not received any rent?



‘I will take this to the European Court of Human Rights if I have to, because this is ridiculous.’



Mr Spaull said, ‘Not only has the government lost tax on this, but he [the tenant] is subletting the apartment because I looked through the window and saw three mattresses. He is obviously doing it for a fee which he is not telling the government about, so the state is losing more tax revenue.



‘He has also been stealing water and electricity as we cut the water supply and the electricity.



‘He now demands electricity but I refuse to pay for it. I’ve asked Kibtek to put the meter in his own name.



‘I haven’t received a penny. He’s a crook, ‘ Mr Spaull added.

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 14:05

The father of five, a retired service manager for Land Rover dealership continued ‘I employed a solicitor, who said it could take over two years to get him out. This was nearly five years ago.



‘I am frustrated about the law in this country. There is no support from the courts or police. It’s a no win situation.’



There is also a risk that the tenant could quit the TRNC for Turkey without paying what he owes, even if the court was to order him to pay compensation to Mr Spaull.

‘This is all costing us a lot.’ Said Mr Spaull, who moved to the TRNC in 2004 from Banbury in Oxfordshire. He found the tenant through the Cyprus for Us Estate Agency which closed shortly afterwards.



‘I approached them to help me, but they said there was nothing they could do because they no longer exist,’ he said.

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 14:07

‘I have spoken to a lot of people who are in the same situation as me. I suspect there are hundreds of other cases where the culprits are not the landlords but the many unscrupulous Turkish illegal workers. He must be illegal because he has to prove residency to be able to work and he can’t prove that.’



Mr Tatar told Cyprus Today he could not comment on the case because proceedings are underway.

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 15:03

Getting back on track !!



Yes I am a firm supporter of regulation for M/C, on apartment/Villa complexes.



Owners should learn to always question obligations from both owner and M/C.



I think all who purchased a few years ago and just paid out willy nilly to all that M/C asked of them without questioning.



Now owners appear to be more on the ball and find out there obligations and question before they pay out willy nilly.



Thank goodness this has helped, together with the TRNC apartment law.



All told this is helping to get rid of some of the cowboy management companies that set there own rules did not have a clue on how to run sites and work on behalf of owners. clearly just hell bent on fleecing owners.



YES YES YES regulation is what is needed ASAP !!

Mambosun


Joined: 27/05/2011
Posts: 112

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 20:43

Well said Pipie i agree with you 200%.

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 20:49

But do you have faith that regulations will be introduced and be legally binding?

rosylee


Joined: 22/07/2010
Posts: 158

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 21:06

the parson is correct in what he is saying and it makes absolute sense.None would just accept an un-known company in the UK ,and certainly not part with any money without a thorough check,references and a TENDER stating what is to be done for the fees.A contract is then drawn up after approval from the committee who are the voice of the residents.

unfortunately, those who disagree with the majority vote tend to be non-payers...a vicious circle.

as I said to Brend yesterday...we work on most sites and have never come across this company.

CHECK WITH THE OFFICE OF FAIR TRADE to see who the director is,the registration number and the track record of the company.

I hope I don't hear that you have paid fees in advance and the "company " cannot be found (like the one I exposed offering 30% discount on fly screens ...took their money and left Cyprus)

Good Luck...dont forget us please if the site goes to tender .

Cheers.Janet & FAMILY (the NEW Mr FLY)

tomsteel


Joined: 22/06/2009
Posts: 482

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 22:07

Do you honestly believe a local maintenance company would be held by any contract in law here? Why would they be any different from banks, contractors, builders, developers, estate agents, advocates et al? The TRNC Government need to address this problem, but do not have the political will to do so.

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 22:17

Bradus.



If certain regulations were in place this would give confidence and protection to existing and new owners this would encourage more sales whch would lead to more local taxes going into the coffers of TRNC.



These regulations would also set guidelines assuring owners that all was in order for maintenance to be paid this in turn would turn the sites into more profit making for the site as well as the M/C.





More properties being sold would give more jobs to the locals in way of more manpower which would be needed to run the sites such as gardening, cleaning, electricians plumbers, painters/decorators. site managers etc. rubbish collecters, pool companies

An array of job opportunities.



So in a nutshell regulations could be a winner all around for all involved on complexes !!



But will the TRNC take note ??????

brend


Joined: 20/01/2009
Posts: 149

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 22:19

Blue Rain apparently are from Famagusta. Anybody over that way heard of them?? They are tendering very cheap if they are going to travel to do gardens and pool.

Brend

Bradus


Joined: 25/02/2007
Posts: 2641

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 22:36

I don't for one minute disagree with all you have said Pipie but as message 18 states this is unlikely to happen. Since when have this Government been interested in collecting taxes? Have they ever introduced a law to make deed transfer a legal requirement, despite the fact that if they were to do so, it would bring in millions of pounds in revenue?



There are lots of regulations in place regarding purchasing but have these brought confidence and protection? I would suggest the opposite, most people being very aware of the lack of implementation and injustice.



We all know what the benefit to the TRNC would be if robust laws were introduced or more importantly adhered to. However time would suggest this ain't going to happen. Your interests are not the Governments unfortunately and encouraging Brits to buy or rent is way down on their list of priorities.

hodgeliz


Joined: 16/10/2010
Posts: 278

Message Posted:
28/09/2011 23:50

Bradus

the wise words of a truthful and thoughtful person, successive TRNC governments have for years been interested in lining there own pockets and the pockets of there friends and familys.

We know that things will change in time but so many people actually bought several propertys hoping to make a quick killing and the state of the world economys and the state of the TRNC have scuppered there get rich quick schemes, i'm sure there are a lot of genuine horror stories but some of it is brought on self inflicted message 19 is an investment gone wrong case in point.

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 00:10

erm !!! expand hodgeliz.

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 00:21

msg 10 Bradus wrote:

"However, finance minister, Ersin Tatar, who last month revealed a crackdown to recoup due rental taxes said, ‘It doesn’t make a difference if the rent is not paid. The law says you have to pay your tax."



The Finance Minister and of course the tax man says that but not the law. Income tax is paid on what you earn but VAT is different. Once you sell something you have to pay the VAT on it even though you sold it on credit and never managed to collect the money.



About twenty years ago I had a big fight over this with the tax man. My wife as an advocate undertook to collect the rents and pay the tax on behalf of a rich man living abroad. Some paid the rent late and we paid the tax on it only after we collected the rent. The tax man wanted the late penalty for the tax and I refused to pay. They refused to get the tax without the late payment. So I gave therm written notice about what happened and they phoned me to say "please bring the tax without the penalty ..

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 00:29

ctd.

The same thing happened for three consecutive months. On the third month I gave them notice to the effect that I will not go to the tax office twice every month and either they accept it first time or they will never get it.



They were very upset and they wanted to examine my personal accounts going back twelve years. I gave them the figures next day. They could not believe their eyes and the manager asked me how come I collected all the information so quickly? My answer was: "I knew that one day a silly civil servant with nothing better to do will ask for it and I was prepared for it" and I gave out a very loud laughter. That was the end of that and we became good friends. He reminds me of what I said everytime we meet and shows me as an example of not being afraid if you know what you are doing. That's life in TRNC.

ismet

rosylee


Joined: 22/07/2010
Posts: 158

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 07:33

BREND......we live near Famagusta......never heard of the company.Is it a "trading" name to throw you off the scent of who they really are??

We have never seen an ad' with this name.....how were they found and how have they come up with a tender at only half the previous price?what are their aims and objectives for the site? what are the contingency plans?what are they proposing for the year(I hope no one has signed for more than 1 year!!)

As owners,surely you all have copies of the agreement and the contract?

there is a lot of gray areas in this -unless I am seeing only half the picture.I appreciate not all can be shown in this forum.

do be careful.

Deniz1


Joined: 28/07/2009
Posts: 3829

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 08:40

Brend why not email FCC and ask them whats going on.

moxie


Joined: 23/05/2009
Posts: 969

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 09:03

maybe blue rain is the committee?????cheap is not the way to go !!!

sienna


Joined: 09/01/2009
Posts: 1627

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 09:25

I totally agree they should be regulated some of them are ripping owners off left right and centre and like idiots we pay them for doing it !!!



however, not all owners will agree on the way forward so therefore choosing an MC is always liked by some and hated by others and never the twain will meet so thats when the MC pray on the divide

the butler


Joined: 22/06/2007
Posts: 1958

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 10:05

The answer to all this, is to insist on having a fund managed site and then it is very difficult for the management company to rip anybody off. The fund is held by the committee and the management company only get paid on producing receipts. We have discovered there is a rip off culture here in the TRNC and you have to watch everyone. If you have tankered water delivered for pools, make sure you have meters fitted. Source your own light bulbs for communal lighting and pool lights etc., find your own electrician and plumber to do maintenance work. If you do all these things you will find you will save money.

Mambosun


Joined: 27/05/2011
Posts: 112

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 10:19

Yes Sienna how right you are, we British (well some of us) are our own worst enemies, you get committees on sites that are there purely because they are friends of the maintenance companies, tenders are ignored and so is the standard of work carried out which obviously causes ill feeling and divides, the people that withold their maintenance payments, because they know illegalities are happening are branded trouble makers or just non-payers, many of these non-payers have sought legal advice and have been told to withold their payments until the rules are obeyed and tenders sought. As you say sienna they obviously prey on the ignorant holiday user , who quite rightly just want an easy life??

brend


Joined: 20/01/2009
Posts: 149

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 12:48

Moxie

message 28

That is my feeling.

Brend

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 18:05

Mambosun.



You are sooooooooooo correct. It was rumoured that a M/C paid a developer as much as

£ 20,000 for the privilidge to manage a complex and also rumoured that an investor paid the same M/C back dated maintenance in way of free apartment.



Not only do some M/C (NOT ALL ) manage without clear transparency to all owners they profiteer so much from managing the site.



The butler very good advice you have posted I will pass this on to owners who are self managing !! cheers.

Mambosun


Joined: 27/05/2011
Posts: 112

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 20:52

Pipie why is it so corrupt out there, we could all live so happily if people just wanted a living and did a proper job getting it, greed sad isn't it, such a beautiful country ruined by the greedy.

0maintenance


Joined: 22/09/2010
Posts: 2179

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 21:09

Msg 1 is quite a funny post actually .



If you cannot regulate builders and lawyers how would you propose to regulate maintenance companies .

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
29/09/2011 22:27

Again Mambosun you are soooooooooo right !! Greed, and the fact that some (not all ) M/C think that they can run complexes by treating owners like they rent and do not own, owners need to look at their rights, ensure owners are in the driving seat so to speak !!



Until owners insist on running the complexes then most apartment owners (not all ) will continue to be fleeced !!

johndp


Joined: 08/09/2009
Posts: 497

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 09:32

Pipie message 33

You are a very vindictive and lying person. let us get one thing clear here you are once again having a go at Glencoe and my stepfather in particular you put out half truths inuendo and lies, and have done for several years now.

Let me give everyone on here the facts now.

You said

*It was rumoured that a M/C paid a developer as much as £ 20,000 for the privilidge to manage a complex*

My dads company Glencoe paid £18000, to the developers OS-IN as twelve months rent for three shops beside the Kings bar, an office and facilities on the site, and workers accommodation consisting of 8 rooms and shower blocks - fact NOT AS YOU PUT IT FOR THE PRIVELEGE TO RUN A SITE.



You said also in mess 33

*also rumoured that an investor paid the same M/C back dated maintenance in way of free apartment.*

My father did a deal with an investor who could not pay his maintenance to buy a property from him at a mutually acceptable price there was no 'free apartment'

Cont

johndp


Joined: 08/09/2009
Posts: 497

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 09:41

In fact we have been landed with an unwanted apartment that my father paid £45k (actual price was to have been £59k) for on a complex that should be one of the leading lights in the area, but has been held back by a continuous tirade from you on this board such as your message 33.

A long way from being a *free apartment* wouldnt you agree ? or does you twisted logic think a payment of £45k constitutes a free apartment ?

As long as you continue with these dirty and underhand attacks things will never improve and more and more people are now wakening up to the fact that they should have listened to what was being said over two years ago by Glencoe and the warnings they were sending out.



YOUR RUMOURS HAVE HAD IT - period

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 09:43

johndp.



I take it maintenance is being paid on all of these purchases then ?

johndp


Joined: 08/09/2009
Posts: 497

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 09:53

What the hell are you blethering on about woman - have you got a screw loose ?

*all of these purchases*

My maintenance on our apartment has always been paid timeously, to the legitimate m/c



and I now hope that all the decent people who read this forum can finally see just how twisted pipie really is by her message 33 and my replies in messages 37/38

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 10:04

Johndp.



You have kindly informed me that your Dad ( Glencoe ) rented Glencoe paid £18000, to the developers OS-IN as twelve months rent for three shops beside the Kings bar, an office and facilities on the site !!



Could I ask did Glencoe pay any maintenance during that period ?

hodgeliz


Joined: 16/10/2010
Posts: 278

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 12:26

What has that got to do with anything, glencoes been of the place for over 2 years, you dont half try to keep things going dont you pipie, is it anything to do with you what deal was done with the developers, who incidentally still owns the site, or did that escape your notice.

johndp


Joined: 08/09/2009
Posts: 497

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 12:51

Mambosun,

I take many of your points and they are very relevant, however there are two sides to every debate and there are also people out there who do not / did not rip people off, my fathers company being one of them on TQB, my father tried very hard to get TQB up to an acceptable standard while pouring his own money in to pay staff wages and partners salaries, he lost a considerable sum while trying to pull 'owners' identities together and trying to get people to pay their fair share eg; £48 a month maintenance while they were trying to landscape and get the place up and running.

They had four pools up and working in the first 6 months on site, much of the place was planted and membrane and gravel were put down in many places, plants which were planted are currently flourishing, rock features and landscaping were put in place, compare that with what Lynx acchieved in two plus years and I think you will have your answer as to who acchieved what.

All of this done

Cont

johndp


Joined: 08/09/2009
Posts: 497

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 12:57

All of this done with under 40 out of 127 people/apartments paying £48 a month, a figure incidentally that Lynx upped immediately to £59 a month.

And all of this acchieved while pipie and a handful of troublemakers (or people who wanted things their way or no way) were bombarding them with questions that should have been directed at developers, no wonder my father said enough was enough, and to this day pipie is still at it, but many are now wishing that he was still there

How that woman can allude that he was ripping people off is beyond me quite frankly.

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 14:19

Getting back on track here !! A real must for regulation as we all can see !!

oliveoil


Joined: 16/03/2008
Posts: 58

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 15:51

Deflecting from the truth again Anita, just your style isnt it, just you take it off track on mess 33 when it suits your lyes then ask for it back on , not good enough the truth must really wrankle with you, dont worry we all see through you now, the sooner you sell the better.



This is one of your posts of 3 years ago

PIPIE





Joined: 05/01/2008

Posts: 5020



Message Posted:

03/03/2009 15:41

Reply Message 85 of 108 in Discussion







breezyboy .



That is your view , certainly not mine .







Carbotec .



The sheer mention of a committee to some managements companies/developers would call for the need of a dictionary , then they would fall of there chair , faced with a committee , negotiations , owners participation , this would affect there dictatorship , beleive me some will do all in there power to put committees off , but it has to come into fruition one day , can't wait !!!!!!



Are you claiming now as you did in Jan 2008

Cont

oliveoil


Joined: 16/03/2008
Posts: 58

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 15:54

In Jan 2008 that glencoe didnt try to get proactive owners to start a committee, if so you are a liar because my partner was asked as was Stuart Taylor and Graham Dorrell, e-mail available for you to see any time you want.

oliveoil


Joined: 16/03/2008
Posts: 58

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 15:56

Sorry should read 2009 not 2008 to avoid anybody jumping out of the fry pan into the fire

Pipie


Joined: 05/01/2008
Posts: 5499

Message Posted:
30/09/2011 17:16

oliveoil. ( another multiple ID )



Not interested moved on thank goodness !!

micklark


Joined: 18/06/2011
Posts: 75

Message Posted:
01/10/2011 08:10

What is it with you pipie, I just cannot figure you out, sometimes, not often, you seem quite intelligent then other times you cannot string a sentence together without multiple spelling mistakes, if someone disagrees with you or your point of view you cannot debate but bring things down to a slanging match or you accuse them of multiple ID as you did with me.

You post things and say you will get back with answers but dont, you never answer a direct question, you talk about rumours, for example it was rumoured, post 33

I think you are a gossip who uses the word 'rumour' to make up stories to fit what you want things to be, and to portray other people in a bad light.

When JohnP answered your 'rumour' statement in post33 with rational and sensible explanations, you never acknowledged them as true or untrue, that to me portrays the cowardly acts of a gossip or rumourmonger and this needs to be addressed by the forum managers.

Mambosun


Joined: 27/05/2011
Posts: 112

Message Posted:
03/10/2011 14:07

Thanks for all your input on this subject, i fear this subject will never be regulated as toooo many people are making toooooo much money!!