Purchased a property abroad....

SJP

Hi all

I hope i've posted this in the right place? If not please advise....

In 2007 we purchased a property off plan in Northern Morroco and paid 40% of the value. (we extended our home mortgage for this) Since then, work has stopped on the site due to new building laws, density issues and other things....

We have received sporadic emails from the people that own the site, however we dont know what is happening now....

We have been concerned for a while, however we need to do something as we're talking losing £35k if it all goes tits up....:(

So here goes.... What do we do??? We have tried emailing builders and got no response, we have emailed a couple of other people that we have found out have bought on the same site and they dont know anything either... Should we just take the contract straight to a solicitor for advice? If so, do we need a conveyancing solicitor???

Any help that you could give would be great, as we're really beginning to panic.....

Thanks in advance

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

SJP wrote: »

Should we just take the contract straight to a solicitor for advice? If so, do we need a conveyancing solicitor???

Any help that you could give would be great, as we're really beginning to panic.....

Thanks in advance

A UK based solicitor is not likely to be much help unless your transaction was with a UK company acting on behalf of the foreign builders.

I'd suggest you need to retain a Moroccan solicitor as soon as possible. Make sure they are specialists in property law. Get hold of the other parties who have bought and see if they want to share the costs. You may be able to find a Moroccan solicitor working in the UK, or a law firm with offices in both London and Morocco, but this could be a more expensive option than just working directly through a local solicitors firm in Morocco.

Do some proper research before selecting them, call the British Embassy in Morocco and see if they can point you in the right direction, contact the Moroccan Embassy in London and ask what rights you have and what the legal process is, search the web for others with similar experiences, post on the Expat websites to take advice from others who live there and ask for references to a good solicitor in Morocco, etc etc etc.

But most importantly, get on a plane and get yourself out there. Make contacts locally, seek advice from the Expat organisations, make friends with some Expats who know the ropes locally, gather as much knowledge about the local laws as you can. See if you can find a local guide/interpreter/"fixer" who can spend a day with you speaking to all the relevant local authorities to find out exactly whats happening, rather than relying on what the developers are telling you.

Doing business and resolving problems in the middle east/north africa is sadly often as much about who you know as what you know. It's rarely simple and it's often a very drawn out and complicated affair.

And you should set yourself a limit as to how much money you're prepared to spend chasing the 35K you're down so far. There's no point wasting another 20K to confirm you've lost 35K. Thats why it's important to do as much research as possible, and try to get others to share the costs.

I've done a fair bit of consulting work overseas, so if you want any more information or advice, feel free to PM me. I may be able to steer you round some of the more obvious pitfalls.

Good luck.

G_M

I asume before you signed the paperwork you familiarised yourself with Morrocan property law and the Morrocan property market. So you will be aware of the commitments the builders made to you, and how these should be enforced.

As advised above, a UK based solicitor will not know nearly as much as you about Morrocan property law, so go back to the solicitor you used in Morroco (or the UK based lawyer who specialises in Morrocan law if that's who you used). Since it was they who advised you on the original contract, it is they who you should turn to if the contract is not being performed.

SJP

Thanks for your help/advise....

I'll start with doing some googling and take it from there...

missile

Sorry to hear of your misfortune and I hope you are successful in recovering your money.

silvercar

I'm also in the process of buying off plan abroad. I wouldn't lay out a penny without engaging an overseas solicitor, verified by the embassy as qualified in property transactions, before signing anything!