Avoiding Fraudulant Emlaks

[bobthenob]

I have read an article in the voice paper about the fraud within the property industry is thriving and what the solutions are.lt is a mixture of my views and what is printed by the voice.
The estate agents that swindle the foreigners through corrupt means have also tarnished the decent well respected estate agents as well.These fraudulent agents have got to be stopped before a crisis looms amongst the housing industry.
The wagging tongue has now been noticeable through Europe not to buy in Turkey,due to this corruption that is allowed a free passport to swindle the clients.There has been numerous articles in the English and lrish magazines to warn investors not to buy in Turkey.
But there is a glimmer of hope at last,where the British consul has taken action by making a visit to the chairman of the Didim estate agent association to stamp out this wicked practice..
One of the actions they will probably be taking is to print out brochures highlighting the do’s and don’t in Buying a property.
Here are some of the issues for the buyer to be aware of
1/Do not hand over any money until you have met the owner of the property and also before making the contract and signed.
2/After signing the contract,the parties involved should go to the title deeds office to put an annotation on the concerned area and a true value mortgage of the property.
3/The properties that have been bought by foreigners must be checked by the Army,to make sure they are not illegally built on military or restricted areas.
Some agents do not even apply for the checks,for the many reasons is they know it is illegal build or they have something to hide.So they will fob you off with feeble excuses for you to buy the property.lf this is the case,just walk away and have no dealings with them.
4/Remember also during the time of handing the money over to the builder and the estate agent without the title deeds as proof,is vulnerable to be sold to as many times as they like.The title deeds normally takes on average 3 to 4 months.Fraudulent practices are more active during this period of waiting for your deeds.lt gives them time to exploit more money,with excuses as to why the deeds are delayed.
5/Also remember on how you come over as,because they will look at this as a weakness and will exploit your kind honest behaviour as a another way to manipulate the mind in their favour.
6/According to what is stated in the voice paper.the only solution in preventing fraud to take hold.ls to have a new system in place,where the land registory carries out the work and not the military.This system should be completed soon,so that the work will not be carried out by the military.The tapu should take a matter of days and monitored,not a matter of months or even a few years in some cases
Also there is another option to eradicate this type of wickedness.The guilty in question should be held to account of their bad behaviour,which effects all of the property industry.
They should be heavily fined and all their assets to be confiscated and shared out equally to their victims.lf these swindlers know there is a law that serves harsh punishment,then they will think twice about delving in this sort of evil practice.
Corruption effects all of us,caused by the few where they effect the many in the community of people that has the makings of a deteriorating society.

[tintagel]

Every effort that aims to control & recitfy the appalling situation in Turkey (re: property fraud) is more than welcome, especially by it's many victims.

Main culprits are Emlaks, Lawyers, Builders & Translators, (helped in many ways by all the aiders & abettors! Mr & Mrs 'fix-it's'). To ever get to the root of the problem & Prevent rather than, trying to find a plaster, all the associated 'Official' offices of these so-called Professionals..... need to be properly co-ordinated with 'binding procedures' in place.

Emlaks - Many more Ilegal than Legal ones operating! How? Stop them, Close them Down!.

Lawyers - 2 fold solution:
1st step would be for the 'Honorary & Regular Consulates' to conduct a much more rigorous check on the individuals they 'allow' to be on various official websites. Although these websites publish a 'disclaimer', people, Do Think... that these people can be trusted!. Remove immediately any Lawyer who has a 'provable & legitimate' complaint laid against them. Liase with the Emlak association. Perhaps the British Embassy in Ankara could be more pro-active in setting the 'Criteria' to be used for the 'persons' inclusion on their Websites, ditto Turkish Embassy. At the moment, it's at the discretion of the individual Consulate.

Bar Association, should ensure a thorough investigation takes place with all complaints laid against Lawyers and reply to enquiries made of them! some feed-back would also be very welcome.

Builders - Must be a 'Legal & Insured' entity, ditto with Translators & associated bodies. They all have, so called 'Professional Bodies & Assc's', the rules & regs need to be tightened.

Well!, that;s my pennyworth,

PS: It would also be invaluable if the Authorities Police actually started treating these thefts as crimes! & start prosecuting them for fraud.

[Guz1]

I would add to Tintagel's suggestions:

Professional bodies such as emlaks' and lawyer's associations should establish a fund that could be used to reimburse people defrauded by their members. Such a fund would ensure more stringent self regulation.

[SuperBogs]

Originally Posted by Guz1

I would add to Tintagel's suggestions:

Professional bodies such as emlaks' and lawyer's associations should establish a fund that could be used to reimburse people defrauded by their members. Such a fund would ensure more stringent self regulation.

Possibly an insurance policy each emlak would have to have that is government controled so there is a lesser chance of corruption.

Biker Bob

[heidi]

A good post but I have to add something.
The government bought out a regulation. A set of exams for registered agents. You had to do the classes and sit the exams before you were legal and qualified. What they don't do is check who is practicing without this licence and us as British are sometimes too embarressed to ask for qualifications.
Every customer I have I show our legal certificates on the wall and tell them to ask other agents they may see, for the same, but inevatably a lot don't.
The official badge should look like an ID card on a blue silk material to hang around the neck. Ours hangs from the shelf in the office. If this is not on display then they do not have one, as it is illegal not to display it.
Please ask what federation the agents are affiliated to before buying and do ask for proof. After all the Turkish are blunt enough in their dealings so don't be afraid to stand up for yourself.

[lynne]

Very true Heidi......The same here in Bodrum region
We have the badge on the blue silk cord and the certificate from Bodrum Emlak Federation hanging up in the office.
The courses and the diplomas were to stamp out people that set up office without qualifications. Trouble is some are still working uncertified.
Unfortunately doubt if a non turkish person would know about them or would be able to read or recognize them
Lynne

[bobthenob]

Originally Posted by heidi

A good post but I have to add something.
The government bought out a regulation. A set of exams for registered agents. You had to do the classes and sit the exams before you were legal and qualified. What they don't do is check who is practicing without this licence and us as British are sometimes too embarressed to ask for qualifications.
Every customer I have I show our legal certificates on the wall and tell them to ask other agents they may see, for the same, but inevatably a lot don't.
The official badge should look like an ID card on a blue silk material to hang around the neck. Ours hangs from the shelf in the office. If this is not on display then they do not have one, as it is illegal not to display it.
Please ask what federation the agents are affiliated to before buying and do ask for proof. After all the Turkish are blunt enough in their dealings so don't be afraid to stand up for yourself.

Some of these estate agents fraudulantly claim they are legally qualified by displaying their so called certificate on the wall.
But what l have found,from what other Turkish locals have told me was,they find a way of altering the certificate before they photo copy it[how they do this,l have no idea]
lf they refuse to give out the infomation your asking them.Then l do think it's best to report this agent to the Didim estate association,so they can be investigated.

l know for sure when the question is ask in what federation they are affiliated with,they will come up with some lie to cover themselves.
When l see these certificates on display,they mean nothing to me,until l have positive proof they are genuine

[alan]

how do you know if a milltary check has been done .and we should do a poll to see how many have a tapu

[Bill & Linda]

I think everybody will find this interesting,last year we were ripped off for over 30,000 pounds this is with a proper contract, THE PINK BOND that a lot of people are given by estate agents, lawyers,and others, we now find out that the pink bond is worthlesss!! i will explain, they say that because the bond is a contract between two people it is civil matter not a criminal one so all you can do is send in bailiffs etc.So this means that an emlak or builder can sell many off plan properties,or any property, give every body the wonderful pink bond, transfer all the money into a obscure family members bank account,sell their house, car etc and RENT, and they cannot be touched!!! because you have nothing that can be taken by the bailiffs. At the moment the paper work is with a higher court to see if this can be changed but does not look good. Now because these wonderful bonds are given to virtually everbody i am warning everybody out there to be very carefull.

[SuperBogs]

Are your refering to what they call a Senat cheque....not sure if I spelled that correctly

Biker Bob