The following e-mail demonstrates another form of the non-delivery problem. Since I still receive many e-mails on the topic, I will continue writing about it in order to warn foreigners to be more careful when they deal with sellers, developers, lawyers and other professionals in the overseas property market. The e-mail is as follows: “I am writing to seek your help and possible intervention with regard to a property my wife and I bought in Kadriye, Antalya. This property was purchased from a developer in April 2006. Monies were paid on the due dates. Earlier Mr. Developer told us that he had put the plot in someone else’s name so as to avoid paying some local tax. We trusted the developer and followed him. Under the contract the property title should have been given to us in September 2006. In February/March 2007, my wife waited in Turkey for 5 weeks without getting the title. Each time we were told that there has been ‘a problem,’ and then in September 2007 we were informed, for the very first time, that the title was still owned by Mr. Title-owner (not the seller/developer, but somebody else) who asked for 50,000 euros to sign over the title. This we could not do because we had already paid this amount to Mr. Developer. We did not realize at the time that in fact we were being blackmailed. In any event, we did not have that sort of money with us, and in addition, the government had put a temporary stop on the issuance of property titles to foreign nationals. My wife returned to Turkey in July and again still no property title. Following this, Mr. Title-owner informed me that he was in Turkey, that he wanted to know when the 50,000 euros would be paid and that he had waited long enough and needed the money. I referred him to a lawyer we had appointed to deal with this matter. Mr. Title-owner spoke to the lawyer and then sent me a text message in which he stated that unless I paid him 50,000 euros he would sell our villa. My wife and I were very concerned, so I immediately transferred 50,000 euros to our lawyer, and on Monday, Aug. 25, a meeting was arranged between Mr. Title-owner and my wife at our lawyer’s office. It was at this meeting that Mr. Title-owner was to receive 50,000 euros in exchange for signing over the property title to my wife. As previously stated, we had already paid this amount to Mr. Developer in September 2006, but we could not risk losing our villa, so we had to agree to pay again. Having agreed to this initially, Mr. Title-owner started to ask for interest, and then he decided he actually wanted us to pay him 170,000 euros, which is the sum that we have already paid to the builder -- Mr. Developer. Of course, we could not do this, and our lawyer is attempting to take further action. This is extremely bad publicity for this area, and it is terrible that foreigners are not able to buy safely in Kadriye and enjoy all that the area has to offer. For us what was meant to be a happy adventure has turned into a nightmare due to what we see as the criminal and unscrupulous activities of Mr. Developer and Mr. Title-owner.”This is a terrible situation. I do not want to blame anyone or create an environment of distrust for buyers, developers or sellers, but one should be very careful when he does business, purchases a property or hires a lawyer. Please do not forget to check your seller, developer and lawyer’s credentials. Do not hesitate to ask for references from former clients. Credentials and references are always important and should give you an idea about the quality of service the professional you have hired provides.
I will give some legal advice on this matter in my next column.
NOTE: Berk Çektir is a licensed attorney at law and available to answer questions on the legal aspects of living in Turkey. Send enquiries to b.cektir@todayszaman.com. The names of the readers are disclosed only upon written approval of the sender.
DISCLAIMER: The information provided here is intended to give basic legal information. You should get legal assistance from a licensed attorney at law while conducting legal transactions and not just rely on the information in this corner.
