*Media make new scam accusations

Three articles by respected property journalists this weekend hint at a number of scams targeting property owners, buyers and industry professionals.

Two of the articles focus on Cyprus where agents and entrepreneurs are turning their attentions to helping owners either get out of sale contracts or obtain proper title deeds.

Following a Global edge article on Thursday last week, respected journalist Nigel Howarth accuses the same AIPP member of being an “ambulance chaser” and publishes a letter from Roxborough Investments alleging money is being taken from property owners for legal services without the person in question having proper legal qualifications.

A related article appears in the Cyprus Mail discussing the legitimacy of services that purport to help property owners obtain missing title deeds.

Three property firms - BuySell, Fotos Pittadjis and City Living – are charging owners between 1000 and 4000 Euros to help them obtain proper title documentation.

The biggest operation is being run by the island’s biggest brokerage BuySell who expect to handle 200 applications and have a 70 strong team in place to process them. The service involves the services of civil engineers, lawyers and accountants to check properties and legal and financial documentation.

Whilst there are many situations where the service should speed up applications, the potential controversy lies in circumstances where it is unlikely that legal wrangling will help “owners” obtain their deeds. The most common is the situation where a buyer has bought property on land mortgaged by the developer. Unless the mortgage is repaid, it is extremely unlikely the deeds will be released, says the author.

The article uses the word “scam” but it seems an unfair accusation given BuySell are charging €1000 upfront and €3000 on delivery and promise to pay all legal costs. Providing BuySell clearly assess each case before taking any money (which they have a commercial incentive to do), it seems to be both a good service and excellent commercial opportunity. It is a shame that a number of less scrupulous operators are mudding the waters.

Finally, an article by renowned British property journalist Graham Norwood details situations where more sophisticated scammers go after people in the industry.

The article mainly covers old ground. A version of Captain Harry making enquiries from generic Google mail addresses, only to ask for money at the last minute due to a legal or tax complication.

The article also discusses scammers posing as landlords on classified sites like Gum Tree in order to obtain deposits. Finally, there is an interesting anecdote about high-class burglars convincing the owner of the world’s most expensive apartments that they are genuine buyers when they were in face on a reconnaissance mission.

Scams are always a favourite topic for tabloid journalists and there always seems to be rich picking in the overseas property industry. Unfortunately, the default position for anyone working in our industry is "don't trust anyone until they provide themselves otherwise".

Source: Global edge

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