Homebuyers Beware!
We had an email from John Pattison saying, “Something for your web site that may link me with other buyers of the same development:
“Not a new case, just another victim of Uz Bay Investments (Alpan Uz & Mustafa Baykan) handled badly by Unwin Estates.
Site Ref: Alpan Uz & Mustafa Baykan – Develi, Esentepe
Koçan (Registration) Nos: 15442
Plot Nos: 252/13/2 and 252/14
Sheet plan number: X111.15.E2
Out of 21 plots 19 were actually started which tells me the original intention was to fulfil the contracts the company entered into. However, 4 years on, with 19 properties partially built and 2 remaining as virgin ground, in a strange way I feel quite lucky that I’ve only paid one stage payment for my untouched plot whereas others have made 2 or 3 payments and still have very little to show for their money.
At first sight, the 3 bed villas with pool in Esentepe seemed like a great idea 4 years ago but due to a dispute between the partners Alpan Uz and Mustafa Baykan in Uz Bay Investments we all stand to lose our money. Buyers paid money to Unwin Estates but allegedly that money was paid only to Alpan Uz and nothing went to Mustafa Baykan. This is what I understand to have caused Mustafa Baykan to take legal action against his partner Alpan Uz and what caused progress on the development to halt indefinitely.
Unwin Estates hasn’t responded to my enquiries, Alpan Uz has answered my numerous phone calls only twice in a year and I have never had any contact details for Mustafa Baykan until recently when I met other buyers on the site.
I now have had a lot of information concerning the site directly from Mustafa Baykan and from other buyers even if Alpan Uz and Mark Unwin continue to ignore my requests for information. I have been told that Alpan Uz has moved all his assets into his mother’s name to avoid claims against him although he allegedly continues to spend heavily on building his own new villa. He is rumoured to have spent £100,000 on marble tiles following a big spend of ornate windows. If this is true, it doesn’t sound fair that someone with a debt to 21 customers and who is unlikely to finish the villas he is contracted to build, should be spending so much money on his own property whilst apparently leaving his customers out of pocket by something in the region of £ 950,000.
Contractually the buyers are entitled to £500/month compensation after 3 months delay and this equates to £ 346,500. In theory this would reduce the price of each villa by about 18% if there was any chance enforcing this. If Mustafa Baykan wins the case against Alpan Uz he is quoted as saying he wants to increase the price regardless of the contract that binds him to finish at the stated price.
Apparently Mark Unwin isn’t entirely blameless in all this. He is alleged to have invoiced a buyer (maybe more than one) for the 2nd and 3rd stage payment before the property was even at that stage and then subsequently didn’t forward that money to the development Uz Bay Investments or personally to Mustafa Baykan or Alpan Uz. In any other country that would count as fraud and I’m sure that buyers will consider his actions as amounting to as much.
Some buyers have placed a court injunction on their plot because they cannot put an injunction on plots subjected to other contracts. Injunctions are helpful in making sure Alpan Uz or even Mustafa Baykan cannot sell them again but they are limited to a time period so need to be renewed indefinitely if they are to be affective.
If all 21 buyers joined forces and put an injunction on the entire site we are protected but still haven’t got our villas. I’ve propose that we go ahead with a joint injunction but also the buyers bring this to court in an attempt to seize the land we’ve jointly already paid for. If successful we’ll continue with another builder under my project management or that of an elected group of buyers with relevant skills.
If that isn’t possible under local law the only way of recovering money is not by throwing more money at the ineffective legal system but by using debt collectors. Legal or not it would be able to recovery money disguised as mother’s assets whereas as a legal claim may or may not win but either way we wouldn’t be paid because Alpan has no assets of his own. Mustafa also has no other assets but as of this time he legally owns the land out money is attached to. The first court battle between the partners went in favour of Mustafa and he was awarded his land back.
For any buyers of these properties that want to contact me use info@johnpattison.co.uk Or call me on +971 55 942 4433″
Dominic Freeman on 
David Waters on 
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ptepike on
Hi,
I am involved in something similar and wondered if you could offer any advice. We put down a deposit of £20,000 on the East coast Resdience with Crown Estates aka C and T Construction aka Tekjen. The complex shoudl have been completed nearly 2 years ago. Apparently the partners have fallen out and assests have been frozen. We were contacted in June with the offer of a more expensive apt in another part of the island. Not interested and would like the deposit returned. Do you have any contact details of organizations or people we could contact to help.
Thanks so much
Marc
Hi Marc,
There is little or nothing you can do in the short term. You can go to http://www.homebuyerspressuregroup.net and join the thousands in your situation but what you thought you were buying with your £20,000 does not belong to you or, by the sounds of it, the builders. I assume your “contract writer and paper pusher” has washed their hands of the whole affair and had not explained that you should not have paid anything over to the builder until you had permission to purchase and or that you should have used the £20,000 deposit (placed in a safe account to show your good intentions) to transfer the land title deeds into your name. You bought a contract and a paper-pushing service, not a villa.
Read the article again, John Pattison has been trying for 4 years. People like Aga Buyers Action Group (who have been trying even longer) suggest that the only way forward is to make a noise and to visibly protest – something which other organisations seem to disapprove of. What we need is a few Americans to be ripped off, they’d show us how to get things sorted.
Thanks for info. I’ll contact this organization.
We have set a provisional date mid October for another London protest, we will reveal the actual date as soon as plans are finalised. Again all will be welcome
EAST COAST DEVELOPMENT
Hello Marc
Im in exactly the same situation as you – £20k out of pocket and offered the same more expensive apartments which i have declined. I am in the process of making contact with as many ECD investors as possible in order to try and formulate a plan.
Therefore, please feel free to contact me pb@q1tum.co.uk
Thanks Paul
Thanks Paul. Will be in contact. Is anybody else aware of any other places that we can find other buyers – various forums for example?
It apears that there are may people in a similar situation and realistically some of us will lose everything we have paid out. The problems I’m particularly interested in are those that have a common factor: Unwin Estates, Alpan Uz or Mustafa Baykan.
Many people who bought into the same development as I did have already been down the legal route and got nowhere. I have a debt collector ready and willing to recover the money I’ve paid at a cost, so there is a reasonable chance that I could recover a fair chunk of the money.
I cannot divulge this information in public but anyone interested in recovering their money (hidden in mother’s name etc) please get in touch – 00971 55 942 4433.
I for one am not prepared to see a developer hide his assets in his mother name to avoid his contractual obligations. If I don’t get a fair deal heads will roll.
Mustafa Baykan seems quite genuine but is not capable of finishing the project alone. Alpan Uz is very capable of finishing alone but may prefer to take the money already paid under false pretences and not complete. And as far as Mark Unwin is concerned, according to the Cyprus Mail, a European arrest warrent has been issued “by a Greek Cypriot couple against estate agent Mark Unwin.”