Property-deal-in-Poland-fail-ripped off

As any one in Poland, been in this situation,
and what was the correct action you took.
apart from the what this guy actions were

thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/53494,Jersey-killer-lost-everything-in-property-deal-in-Poland

not me, but there was enough of it going on 10-20yrs ago.

it could be one of the reasons some folk wait longer before buying. they like to see it before they pay.

yes of course, hundred of off plan property buyers were screwed by mafia developers from 2004 up until now ( have you never heard of Leopard SA and Bud Mar Investment in Krakow?) they got the buyers money and never built the promised flats or tremendously increased the prices which were supposed to be warranteed to buyers)

The Polish goverment is not protecting consumers at all. Polish Justice is a joke when it should defend victims and not predators like developers.

it means endless legal fights and those who do not have money to get lawyers to defend their rights lost and are loosing everything without beeing able to do anything.

Typically the developers show beautiful layout of the Real estate projects and great web site, they make you pay intallments with the signature of a notary act which is crap but looks offical and buyers think they are protected but then the developer is not obliged to build anything really or will take ages to complete the project and will not agree to sign the final act of purchase unless the clients pay extra money!

I have Polish friends who bought a house with Bud Mar Investment paid 700 000 zl in Myslenice in 2007 , all they got was 4 walls on the ground!

She and her husband fought in court but gave up and agreed to pay extra money because Polish justice did not defend them.

So it is important to avoid buying off plan property in Poland until there are laws preventing dishonest developers to abuse clients.
I believe things will improve but i don't know when, never heard of a developer who was put in jail for years and had to pay back the abused clients.

The Jersey Polish murderer should have turned his anger against his developer instead of killing his whole family.
So yes, how can Polish Justice allow that people can loose all their money savings to Polish mafia developers?

The fact that they were buying off-plan in a poor EU country, driven by greed (I think we all know that anyone stupid enough to buy off-plan from abroad was driven by greed) means they deserve to lose their cash. I've seen several contracts in such a case - and they were worthless. People frequently signed without even reading them, let alone understanding Poland - all they could think about was the promised rental yield. The same happens all over the the world - fools and their money are soon parted.


Why should people be protected from their own stupidity? The Polish legal system is there to use - but (as often happened) if you signed a contract which gives power to the developer, more fool you.


If you can afford to buy a flat, you can afford legal fees. Sorry, but those without money weren't stupid enough to invest in paper and plans.


Again - that's the stupidity of the buyer. I wouldn't buy a property in a foreign country (not even Germany!) without knowing how the system works there. If you're stupid enough to sign paperwork that you don't understand - again - more fool you.


So - they were stupid enough to hand over 700k without anything physical existing? Are they mad?


If it was legal, they've got no-one to blame but themselves. However, buying off-plan is lunacy in *any* country, not just Poland.


You do realise that 99% of such cases are caused by greed and stupidity?

At the end of the day, smart people invest in physical things, not plans and ideas.

I am not speaking about real estate speculators or financiers buying to resale properties and make mega profits, i am speaking about normal buyers who buy something pay for it and are beeing screwed ,if it is their own fault ok , it is the law of the jungle ,ok but then what is Polish Justice and Justice in general for ?

Aren't the stupid Madoff investors eventually refunded and taken care off and the old crook in jail forever?

No ,buying an off plan property is not lunacy everywhere.

Come on, would you really buy a property in a country of which you knew nothing, on the basis of a nice website and shiny plans?

The same nonsense happened in Spain - and - even in the UK.

I tend to agree, but, with certain reservations.
A 10% deposit should give you the choice of plot/apartment with a guarantee of a fixed/final price, set out in a pre-contract.
Deposits should be kept in an "escrow" account and should not be available for the developers use.
If the internal layout of the property is going to be altered to suit the buyer, a further deposit of 20% should be paid on completion of same.

The final payment should be released to the developer on production of the Completion/legalization, certificate (given on condition that all the structure/outbuildings/parking/play areas etc. have been constructed and are to size specified) issued by the local authourity.

(as with most legal documents in Poland, the is a 14 day waiting period after the document is signed but any decent developer would wait until

there is no chance of the document being revoked.

I use these conditions on my projects here in Poland, so there is no way a buyer can lose money or not receive what they have paid for.

I felt obliged to write this post before Milky spouts his usual rubbish about all developers being the sum of the earth.

Extreemly common in Spain, not heard of it in the UK - got examples?

In Spain, the banks gave guarantee that the deposit money would be safe. They refused to uphold teh guarantees and gave the money to the developers, this was a political decision to steal from foreigners to try to save the Spanish economy. Illegal? yes. Will the Spanish legal system help? no.

Poland is about to demand escrow accounts to protect consumers. After what happened in Spain, I would say buying off-plan is total lunacy, everywhere. Do not buy off plan.

Could you provide a link to this information? To "Save" the Spanish economy?, Spain has only been reported as having problems in the past year? How many people, have been buy property, off-plan, in Spain recently? I was not even aware that they were carrying on building. The reason Spains banks are in trouble is because of the money they lent to developers.

It was my impression that the problems with the developers in Spain was not to do with failure to build, it was that they built on land which did not have planning permission. The government then insisted that these houses were demolished. Apparently, the local "mayors" were giving permissions for bribe money, when they never had the authourity to do so.