1/14/2013

Lease-Back and Buy-Back Scams, the anomaly of non-disclosure of master deed

QUESTION: Hi John, Sorry we werent able to meet in the Phils when I was there last Xmas holidays. Anyways, I wanted to continue our conversation if you can represent my property for rental at The Gramercy Residences. However, CPI (Century Properties, ie, ) informed me that the leasing of the property is "exclusive" to them for 2 yrs based on a MAster Deed which I have not even saw. Is this legal? Even if this is in the Master Deed which I never had a chance to review nor approve of, can I contest this? I dont understand why they would restrict any of their unit owners to use other property managers if they cant assure that they will find a tenant for the unit. Appreciate your thoughts on this pls.

ANSWER: FULL DISCLOSURE during the sales process is one of the basic ethical standard in dealing with CONSUMERS and it appears CENTURY PROPERTIES fell short on this standard.

Next time, do not buy any product of any company that does not fully disclose information that is important to consumers such as the Master Deed of the Condominium Project. I never fall short of reminding you that in the Philippines, buying and investing in real estate is DANGEROUS -- you can read (full access without a fee) my blogs in Google Blogspot titled Real Estate Service Coach.

How dangerous is it? Hehehehe. Well, that Exclusive Lease Management Provision in the Master Deed is just tip of the iceberg of the anomaly, and I will call it LEASE-BACK ANOMALY. I have even seen a Master Deed fine print that says "whenever you want to resell your unit in the future, you can only resell it to the developer at ORIGINAL PRICE when you bought it" - I call it a BUY-BACK ANOMALY. The more stupid thing is, when they make their sales presentation, they dare call it INVESTMENT without a blink right in front of your face. I guess I don't have to elaborate this further. Blame it upon government, they give AWARDS to the culprits of these investment scams.

Are these investment scams legal? YES, in the Philippines, anything UNFAIR is legal as long as the government see your signature consenting and patronizing it. I hope you understand my situation and that I cannot save you from that pit hole that you entered in STUBBORNLY. My job as coach is PREVENTION, not cure.

Next time, if you are approached by a seller's agent, tell them frankly that you can receive their fliers and attend their sales presentation and project site visit but you will not sign any piece of paper until you get second opinion and recommendation of your EXCLUSIVE BUYER AGENT (EBA). If the EBA cannot detect an imminent risk in your acquisition, you need not pay the EBA. Without an EBA, no one will watch your back, no one will protect you in this investment-fraud-infested country.

I will enter this blog under the ANOMALY label. Further reading recommended is Commentary on "Calculating Return-On-Investment For Condo Units".


If there is anything else important that I forgot to include in this article, or if you experienced a real estate transaction that is anomalous, scam, fraudulent scheme that you want me to document and expose for others to be warned, or if you want to donate to the war chest of real estate consumer rights advocacy, please feel free to email me at JohnPetalcorin@Gmail.Com. If you want to comment about this article, there is a provision for this purpose that you can find below.
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