In Oct of I entered into an agreement to purchase a lot in Buena Vista one of Paragon's developments in Miramar, Costa Rica.
According to this agreement, the developer was obligated to complete the infrastructure within 18 months of contract date. That means the infrastructure should have been completed in March.
On March 04, Adrian Duke, one of Paragon's Hollywood florida corporate employees, advised me in writing that the infrastructure would not be completed until September.
On April 3, I sent a letter via certified mail to Mr Bill Gale, the chairman of the board requesting a full refund of my deposit of $ 35,900 since they failed to comply with the terms of the contract.
On April 11 I received a response with a stamped signature from Esteban Soto -President denying my refund based upon the fact that I had not given them written notice of my intent to cancel within the 180 days of the actual agreement - an irrelivent issue in this case.
Mr. Soto failed to acknowledge the clause in the agreement relative to the developer's obligation to perform in regard to infrastructure completion timeframe.
I decided to hire an attorney to take care of this case since I envisioned Paragon would use every possible means of avoiding, delaying or refusing to return my deposit based upon the fact that I personally know people who have waited 6-9 months to get their deposits back.
My attorney sent a letter on April 21 to Mr. Esteban Soto pointing out that the contract explicitly states in item #3 that" INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ROADS AND ELECTRICITY WILL BE IN PLACE WITHIN 18 MONTHS
FROM THE DATE OF THE AGREEMENT."
The attorney also stated that " a search of the public records revealed that there had been no filings whatsoever concerning the solicitation and sales made of the properties in the United states and specifically
in the State of Florida. As a result of the foregoing, the transaction from its inception was and currently is in violation of applicable Federal and Florida laws."
Simply put, the contract is not worth the paper it is printed on and on that merit alone I am rightfuly due my deposit.
Demand was made for the refund to occur within a specific time period but Paragon never responded to the demand.
Additional phone calls were made to try to reach Mr Bill Gale.
Instead, the attorney was always relayed to Joan Cass at the Hollywood office. She listened to the attorney's demand and stated she would forward it to their legal department - (another delay tactic?)
Subsequent to the conversation with Joan Cass,
On May 5, a letter was sent to Ms. Cass reiterating this demand for the deposit refund and the fact the Paragon has been soliciting property sales in the state of Florida without the proper authorization.
Since that time there has been absolutely no response.
Mr Gale has continually refused all phone calls and Joan Cass always insisted on taking a message for Mr Gale and that he was ":'not available".
Mr Gale has left me no other choice but for my attorney to file an appropriate action.
Many other deposit holders who are still waiting for refunds have readily agreed to join in my filing of a class action suit against Paragon Properties.
A complaint may also be filed with the florida bar related to the florida attorney Mr. Charles Neustein who acted as the escrow agent on Paragon's transactions.
Several US, Florida, Canadian as well as Costa Rican newspapers would love to get an exclusive story on Paragon's business dealings. Some of these papers were aware of many allegations that had surfaced as far back as 2005.
They may be curious what is going on 3 years later. Were the rumors of 2005 now the reality of 2008?
Would they feel a duty to let the public know?
Wether these papers find out is really a matter of how fast this refund is expedited.
The old motto "let the buyer beware" could not be more fitting in this case.
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