Turkish Living Forums - Has anybody used this lawyer?

27th October 2005, 21:25	#1
dale New Member	Has anybody used this lawyer? We are currently in the process of buying a property (off-plan) from Niverna International, in the Belek area. We have communicated with a lawyer named Kevin Hood who, up to now, has been extremely helpful and forthcoming. We are however concerned about the wide discrepancy between his projected costs and other quotations we have received via these forums. Has anybody used this lawyer? If we are getting good service for our money we have no complaints but we would also like to know if this charge is excessive - before we send our hard earned cash to someone we don't know!! The price quoted for conveyancing is £980 and obviously there are additional costs, for example, Notary/Translation = £200, Notary in UK £100, Land Registry fee £100 and last but definitely not least Property Transfer - the costs are escalating!!! Thank you to everyone who warmly welcomed us to the TLF. Last edited by dale : 27th October 2005 at 21:26. Reason: Typo

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27th October 2005, 21:44	#2
juco Senior Member	Re: Has anybody used this lawyer? I am sure someone will give you more detailed information but last year I paid lawyer £140 and translator/notary £80. The Lawyer was B***** useless (in my opinion) but he did not cause us any grief or extra cost. The conveyancing in my opinion was simply putting a few details on a sheet of paper and give us a copy this was taken from a PC using a template and just filling in a few costs, I dont think for a minute he did any serious searching or checking on our belhalf. After all that he forgot to send our (and others) applications off for the Tapus including a block of 70 apartments anyhow thats all been sorted. I have also heard (but check it out) that there is not the same comeback if the lawyer screws up as there is in the UK. There are additional costs but the Lawyer should be able to give you a total for all (with breakdown) and also a justification of what the £900 is paying for . Last edited by juco : 27th October 2005 at 21:48.

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27th October 2005, 21:58	#3
dale New Member	Re: Has anybody used this lawyer? Thanks juco

27th October 2005, 22:54	#4
Marc Senior Member	Re: Has anybody used this lawyer? Dale, there will be other experts around to explain in more detail, infact if you do a bit of searching on the site you'll find the info you need. but the Turkish Lawyers really dont need to do a huge amount as most of the info is readily available in 2 offices so the searches are effortless and direct. I wouldnt expect anymore than £200 charge for conveyancing with the normal stuff extra i.e. Notary/translation £60 (we paid) POA if needed £60 etc remember this is what the estate agent is getting their 3% for so all these costs are included in the 3%!!! unless you havent spelled out the full story and there are additional complications i'd say this guy is on the make!!

28th October 2005, 08:23	#5
bryn No Active Member	Re: Has anybody used this lawyer? Dale is this lawyer in the Uk or Turkey because he is charging UK Prices. İf you are paying 100 for the notary document in the UK and then TWİCE as much to have it translated dont you think you are being had???

28th October 2005, 08:35

mushtaq

Administrator

Re: Has anybody used this lawyer?

I found this post about Kevin Hood from an old forum which is now closed, it was posted by Garry Carr who used to run the forum. I have no idea of the original source or the authenticity of the information, so please use your own judgement.

KH = Kevin Hood, JB = John Howells, JB = Jonathon Bowker

Quote:

Last September we made a decision to buy a property and to find a suitable solicitor...Tapo website looked very professional and we asked for a quote..JB said if we go ahead KH would represent us.. as he is registered with Turkish British Chamber Of Commerce and claimed to represent Channel4 television on the "I want that house" programme.. JB sent his brochure which looked very good and we felt our money was safe and secure and we wouldnt have any problems,we believed our interest and money instalments were safeguarded while the property was being built,i spoke to JB and KH who asked for £1000 up front,we said no way we will pay £500 now and the rest on completion... we planned our trip and JB was aware of our visit and had promised to carry out searches,but somehow this was never done,he already had exscuses.... we met in a resort and went to the Notary and gave Power of attorney... we asked what legal matters would he deal with,and what would we have to do with our agent... He couldnt answer very vague and rude.. we then went to meet our agent JB was very rude to him and insulted him quite fiercly,we said to JB have some respect for our agent and please treat him with dignity,this was not good working practices between us and we knew things were a mess.... We spoke in detail with other people who had brought on the same development... we were amazed at how far advanced they were on the legal side of things,we had to question JB..he then produced a site visit report on search,but before you can have it please send me another £500 we believed he was legitimate and being fooish we paid it... after a few more weeks still nothing was happening and asked JB and KH where was our contract..by now we had paid even more instalments on our apartment,after more email KH replied in a very offhand manner as we had told him not to upset our agent we had put ourselves in a very difficult position after more email i had to beg KH to draw up a standard contract which we could present KH didnt want to do this,we then had email from JB saying to the effect...of course you must have a contract and please in future send all mail to me as i am no longer associated with KH,can you imagine how we felt... i phoned JB and asked who was our solicitor.. he muttered undr his breath John Howells and continued talking about the contract..

Kevin Hood is not a solicitor..he is a translator representing a turkish law company...he has since been sacked and is also being sued by the company for various offences... Jonathon Bowker is trying hard to sell a business in the fethiye area with the promise of land and houses... i am told he is very uneasy and needs money quickly for obvious reasons it seems.....

The apartment and the people concerned in this story were left out of pocket... there property was around 8-10 weeks late due to the 3 muskateers... and today they dont know if the original contract that was drawn up was really a contract at all.....

The person concerned contacted them and asked for a refund and travel expenses to be refunded... JB offered after a lot of deliberation £500 to which they accepted...as they couldnt be bothered to fight against this any longer,it has cost them dearly...it could have been worse in the long term
they could have lost everything...

Again this highlights the dangers that i keep warning people about,use a reputable company who understand the legal side of the business...otherwise it could be you suffering next...and believe me there are people out there offering the glam and the glitz of being very professional and to you they look very good...but remember they are not there for there conveniance...they are there for your money and i know a few inflating prices beyond belief.... happy house hunting people....

This story was sent to me in email format..i have removed a lot from it to hide areas,names,and identity to the person or persons concerned....

I am making people aware of what has happened...and have never had or wish to associate myself with the company or persons the allegations are made against,as this is a free forum of speech,people are entitled to do just that...and british law allows such freedom.......

Just a final reminder to you all...the hourly charges from this group
are £150 per hour...for there services...

Garry Carr

28th October 2005, 09:04	#7
bryn No Active Member	Re: Has anybody used this lawyer? There is more on the company mentioned above on another website. stating that one of the companies involved was dissolved due to failure to submit accounts in UK

28th October 2005, 15:40

holidayworld

Who Can We Can.

Re: Has anybody used this lawyer?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dale

We are currently in the process of buying a property (off-plan) from Niverna International, in the Belek area. We have communicated with a lawyer named Kevin Hood who, up to now, has been extremely helpful and forthcoming. We are however concerned about the wide discrepancy between his projected costs and other quotations we have received via these forums. Has anybody used this lawyer? If we are getting good service for our money we have no complaints but we would also like to know if this charge is excessive - before we send our hard earned cash to someone we don't know!! The price quoted for conveyancing is £980 and obviously there are additional costs, for example, Notary/Translation = £200, Notary in UK £100, Land Registry fee £100 and last but definitely not least Property Transfer - the costs are escalating!!!

Thank you to everyone who warmly welcomed us to the TLF.

Hi Nice to see you on the forum first, right if you are buying off-plan then why are you paying £980 unless I'm missing something there you should not have to pay anything, Notary should be about £50 to £150 top's Lawyer £200 to £300 top's not sure how much your Land registry is here in Fethiye it's around £400.
If you are noth there to do all the paperwork have you given power of attorney to the lawyer or some one??? extra fee's
Did you have an Agent who sold you the property off-plan??? extra fee's