WE have received the following letter from Roxburgh Investments, which is a firm that specialises in alternative investment strategies and property consultancy.
Without Prejudice
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
Mr David Pollard
Fine & Country
If you have purchased a property in Cyprus over the last three years you may have recently received a letter from Mr David Pollard of Fine & Country. Upon first reading the letter is very concerning and has led to our office receiving a large number of calls from worried clients, agents and other interested parties.
Mr Pollard has made a number of statements with regard to construction sites, title deeds, banking and re-saleability of property. It should be noted that Mr Pollard does not work for and is not CEO of Fine & Country Cyprus. Fine & Country, who are a reputable brand in the European real estate market, have confirmed to us that they have cancelled Mr Pollard’s agency and contract for non-payment of fees. Fine & Country are not engaged in the mediation and litigation services offered by Mr Pollard and wish to distance themselves from the recent letters and emails sent using their logo without consent. Fine & Country no longer have any offices or agents in Cyprus.
Our representatives in Paphos visited the offices of Mr Pollard at 13 – 15 Queens Gardens, Tomb of the Kings Road, Paphos to interview him with regard to his actions only to discover that the premises have been vacated. Local enquiries lead us to believe that the office was abandoned some time ago.
Mr Pollard is looking to review people’s purchases and in the event of establishing some kind of issue or problem go on to help remedy the situation. This is obviously a commercial venture and he is looking to take fees from clients for his services. Mr Pollard is not a lawyer, surveyor, accountant, IFA or other suitably qualified professional to carry out such work. If you have any concerns with regard to any aspect of any property purchase, please do not engage the services of an ambulance chaser. If after discussion with your agent and any developer in question you still have any outstanding questions please ensure that you engage the services of an independent fully qualified and registered lawyer in the country where you purchased the property.
We trust that you find this information useful.
Jamie Dewar.
For Roxburgh Investments.
The British High Commission publishes a list of local lawyers who are able to give advice in English to British nationals for the convenience of enquirers.
With regard to our “comments†there would seem to be some break-down in communication between Fine & Country and Mr Pollard. No doubt the current relationship and the circumstances surrounding the demise of the contract between Pollard and Fine & Country will become evident during the forthcoming court hearing.
The offices to which Mr Pollard refers are indeed branded as “Between Friends†and “Universal Vacations Realtyâ€Â, however, they are also emblazoned with the Fine & Country logo which Mr Pollard has claimed to be CEO of in Cyprus. Again we can only assume that all will become clear at court.
As agents and advisers with interests in many areas of Europe our attitude is simple and transparent in that we will support our client throughout the process from initial purchase, delivery, rental and eventual disposal. We consider our relationships with our clients to be long term and ensure that we keep them up to date with all aspects and advise wherever and however necessary.
Indeed throughout the demise of various entities such as ROP UK, ROP UK Aftercare, Bridge Homes and the huge changes in lending practice by Alpha Bank we have constantly been in communication with our clients providing them with factual information and advice.
We are more than happy for any of our dealings to be scrutinized on an independent basis such is the confidence in our service and would always recommend that if a client’s query is not satisfactorily answered by ourselves, the developer or any other party such as the lender, then they should seek quality independent advice in the country of purchase rather than subscribe to an ambulance chasing model that is based on some kind of previous personal grievance.
We await with interest the result of the Court hearing in Cyprus against Mr Pollard.
Oh dear,
I have just received the following email from Deborah Nurse at Alpha Panareti:
This information letter is to update those Alpha Panareti clients who may have bought a property through Mr David Pollard as an agent or who may have been contacted by him for any other reason.
If you are not concerned about this, we apologise for disturbing you in this way, but we have no way of knowing who may be affected.
Please be advised that today, Tuesday 28th June 2011, a Court Order has been granted by the courts in Paphos to Alpha Panareti Public Ltd, requiring Mr David Pollard, his staff, Universal Vacations Realty Inc and Fine & Country to appear before that court to explain their actions in connection with various letters, e-mails and Internet postings concerning the working methods of Alpha Panareti, the status of its developments, the general investment situation in Cyprus and the methods used to find private contact information for Alpha Panareti clients.
The Court has issued this Order in the absence of Mr Pollard, who was invited to appear. However, over a period of several weeks he has deliberately evaded the service of the summons papers at his permanent residential address here in Cyprus with the collusion of his staff, in order to avoid doing so. (He no longer has an office in Paphos.)
As it has been impossible to serve Mr Pollard personally (and privately) with the papers, the Court Order will now be posted publicly by officials of the Court, requiring the named parties to appear before them or to be held in contempt of Court.
We therefore suggest that any clients who may have paid fees to Mr Pollard for various services may wish to check on his ability to deliver on them. He has no qualifications in Cyprus that would make his advice admissible under Cyprus Law, in that he is not registered as a Lawyer, a Chartered Surveyor, Civil Engineer, Valuer or Architect.
Alpha Panareti is very sad to have had to take this action, but we have been left no choice in the matter.
Sincerely
Andreas Ioannou
Question for David Pollard.
I am confused can you explain please.
As an estate agent who sold Alpha Panareti houses and flats you would have received sales commission, true?
Now you are “helping” people who bought Alpha Panareti properties to rid themselves of the problem, and charging them for that help, true?
As you were paid a commission for selling Alpha Panareti property don’t you think you should be helping those buyers who bought through yourself rather than trying to profit from their misery?
Don’t you have ANY morals or scruples?
Well let’s just hope that Mr Pollard’s “pro bone” (we assume he means pro bono publico) work is of a higher standard than either his command of the English language, law or indeed mathematics.
The comments made by Roxburgh Investments is wrong for the following reasons. The Fine & Country license will be terminated at the end of this month (June) by mutual consent due to the poor state of the Cyprus property market. From July onwards we revert back to the trading sytle of our holding company which is Universal vacations Realty Ltd. Established in 1986. The offices on Tomb of the Kings Road belong to “Between Friends” developers from which we successfully marketed the Latchi Panorama development which is now completed and occupied. One of the few success stories in recent years. I am an estate agent with over 26 years experience and was involved with the original marketing of Alpha Panareti properties and therefore bring a wealth of experience to the table. We use qualified Cyprus lawyers when required and now have over one hundred cases running. Our costs are emminently reasonable and we offer a free evalution before taking a case on. We also offer a free service if financial circumstances dictate it and currently have some 15 pro bone cases running. In conclusion if Roxburgh Investments wich to help their clients they should refund the 8% commission they were paid.
Thanks for the alert.
Is this another con artist who has exported themselves into the wider European Community to peddle their brand of blame culture litigation which is the cause of such high insurance premiums in America and Britain. Parasitic para legal actions is one way to describe it.
One worrying aspect however, as indicated by the wording in the letter, is that it would have been OK for this individual to continue plying his trade as long as he had paid his fees (presumably membership or management fees).
As Robert Briggs comments – Who can you trust? Not too many in Cyprus it would appear. By comparison it makes Lagos and Port Harcourt in Nigeria appear to be paragons of virtue.
Who can you trust?