Apologies if comments seemed provocative & I can see how that would be. We were hired in a professional capacity by a fee paying client to provide an upto date valueation for a registered local surveyor, rental estimate, resale value & independant view on progress. Some of the findings are simply public knowledge & put peoples minds at rest once shared, hence the posting. We can talk off line anyway about working together if appropriate, but I just wanted to make sure people are clear on our motivations. It is not to throw stones, but simply to share what we find, by having an office 2km from the development.

Regards

Damian

you mention that you managed to get a 5% discount on your rose garden apartment - please can i ask how you went about achieving this?

this is in response to fiji's message in Jan

Thanks

If you still need help & the developer can't help, look me up & I'll talk you through the process used in Bucharest. It may help.

Regards

I have just received an email from J&A solicitors advising me that the developer is in breach of contract
for delay in building.
Has anyone else received same email?
Need to know what to do next.
Have not heard from PS re this matter.

Hi Barbie.

I have recieved an email also this morning, and have been trying to comprehend the consequences for myself (as the buyer) and developer, and what my next step should be.

My take on the email was the developer has not met his obilagation to deliver by due date, hence we entitled to late payments or can cancel our contract and recieve our deposit back.

The BIG question is what happens if the developer does not honour the above, The buyer will then need to take the developer to court. The solicitors will handle the above matter, BUT will charge extra. How much extra.

I am VERY surprised myself that PS have not broken the news to us earlier, surely at their level they must have been aware of this a lot earlier.

Also Why have PS not tried to address this with the developer since we all purchased these units on their recommendation and through them, AND we paid PS a handsome fee for this.

Can someone from PS clarify where they stand now that thier recommendation has gone pear shaped, and exactly what our fee entitles us to.

Regards Ashy

As I understand Corona, like many projects in Romania, is late due to the general problem of Romanian banks being slow to release finance - often the banks want to tie the release of finance to making new sales, which are not happening because the banks are not lending very widely- quite the chicken and the egg.

The developer has invoked a grace period based on delays by subcontractors and bad weather in 2008, which was probably true but contractually the developer should have provided evidence of this. The reason for doing this is probably to delay the start of the period when penalties will be payable. Maybe you can ask J&A about this.

Claiming back any deposit in Romania is problematic for a number of reasons:

1. Litigation procedure in Romania tolerates many devices by a defendant so that you can be kept out of your money for a long time.

2. Many contracts heavily favour the developer and do not offer an exit route.

3. You will have to pay for a lawyer and stamp duty to initiate a case with the stamp duty being assessed based on the amount of the claim. Even if you win, the developer will appeal because this will prevent the decision of the first court from being enforceable.

Romanian lawyers are fond of the joke:

Q: What's the difference between a good lawyer and a bad lawyer?
A: A bad lawyer makes your case drag on for years. A good lawyer makes it last even longer

4. the developers know about 1., 2 and 3.

5. the developers who have progressed their developments, have no money, in the current economic climate, to pay refunds as ongoing sales are weak and the Romanian banks are unlikely to let them use funds in this way.

In these circumstances, developers, buyers and agents need to ensure real transparency about the status of the project (J&A perhaps can go on site and provide photos) and to identify a realistic way forward bearing in mind that the availability of mortgage finance remains a sticky issue - other developers, for example, are offering to push back the final instalment date to allow time for mortgage markets to improve but for instalment payments to be made in the meantime.

Thanks Shape, that was very informative.
I hope PS can come up trumps and start negotiations on our behalf.

now we have some progress from PS, I would be interested to know if all investors are going for the option for PS to renegotiate on our behalf?

Hi

Thanks for your inputs in this thread. I am going to ad my latest news from the developer as I think it might be helpful for some of you.

As you probably know, Romanian Banks resumed financing about 2-3 months ago. I called directly to the developer 2 weeks ago and told me that they are still negotiating with the bank in order to get finance for continuing working on the project. They have been negotiating already for 2-3 months now. The Project Manager told me that he believes that they will arrive to an agreement with the bank in about 1 month. He also told me that once they get the money and negotiate with the constructor, the completion time will be 3 months or so since they start working again on the building.

If anybody has heard a different story I would appreciate your inputs.

I have also some pictures taken a couple of months ago so if anybody wants them just let me know.

Thanks and best regards,

Joseph

Hi

Thanks for your inputs in this thread. I am going to add my latest news from the developer as I think it might be helpful for some of you.

As you probably know, Romanian Banks resumed financing about 2-3 months ago. I called directly to the developer 2 weeks ago and told me that they are still negotiating with the bank in order to get finance for continuing working on the project. They have been negotiating already for 2-3 months now. The Project Manager told me that he believes that they will arrive to an agreement with the bank in about 1 month. He also told me that once they get the money and negotiate with the constructor, the completion time will be 3 months or so since they start working again on the building.

If anybody has heard a different story I would appreciate your inputs.

I have also some pictures taken a couple of months ago so if anybody wants them just let me know.

Thanks and best regards,

Joseph