Re Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners / Vista Fractional Scam / Fraud / Rip Off
I would like to ensure unsuspecting sellers are not duped by Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners. There is nothing reputable about these companies their business ethics are virtually nonexistent. Do not make the mistake of departing with your money for the promise of a sale which will not materialise. I would like to warn you of my experiences to date with this company.
I am an owner in the Aspen Golf development in Bansko Bulgaria, and was approached in September with an offer to purchase my apartment by Vista Capital UK Limited (company registration number 06953263) who claim to specialise in fractional ownership purchases. To proceed I was required to sign a Pre-Sales Agreement which specified a fully refundable engagement fee of EUR 1,497 to be paid by the seller. Vista Capital are affiliated with Fractional Legal Partners Limited (company registration number 06981531), to whom I made payment of the requested engagement fee on 29th October. I paid the GBP equivalent, which amounted to 1,344.84. The Right of Sale Contract was finalised and signed on 23rd November. The provision relating to the engagement fee stipulated that the fee was refundable on completion of the sale or termination of the agreement. The term of the agreement was for a maximum of 6 months - valid until 23rd May following which my engagement fee was refundable should Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners have failed to complete on the sale.
Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners were unable to complete within the stipulated 6 month period. Communication proved exceptionally difficult as phone lines are very seldom answered and emails are seldom responded to. I finally agreed an extension to the initial contract in August. The terms of this extension included 2 clauses:
The terms of the extension are as follows: 1) That seller will receive regular updates from the agent, inn (sp) regards to the situation of the sale approximately every 4 weeks - irrespective of whether progress has been made. 2) The 1,497 engagement fee is protected and should there be no evidence of a completion date at the end of the extension - you will be entitled to a full refund without penalty.'
The extension was valid until 31st October. As neither of these clauses was adhered to, and as communication proved just about impossible, I emailed my intent to terminate and the request for refund of my engagement fee on 23rd October.
I then received an email from Vista Capital on 29th October (2 days prior to expiry of the contract extension), with the incorporation certificate of the fractional company supposedly purchasing the property attached. I believe this was purely a ploy to buy time as the incorporation of the company was dated 28th October. There was still no indication of a completion date or any explanation as to why the updates agreed within the extension had not been provided.
I was finally called by David Wilson of Vista Capital on 02nd November and advised that there had been problems with their telephone service provider and that everything was set up to allow for completion of the sale. I advised him that I considered Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners to be in breach of the terms of our contract extension and that unless a further extension was agreed, I was entitled to my engagement fee back. He assured me a further extension would be drafted and sent through to me for my approval. This was never received.
On 8th November I was copied on an email from David Cavendish of Fractional Legal Partners to a Bulgarian lawyer, ostensibly to arrange for completion of the sale with my Bulgarian lawyer. Fractional Legal Partners lawyer contacted my lawyer but did not have any understanding of the details of the sale. I found it extremely alarming that the Bulgarian lawyer appointed by Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners was not aware of the details or process, considering these companies claim to be experts in fractional ownership with a large number of these sales taking place in Bulgaria.
I sent a few chaser emails to Vista Capital / Fractional Legal partners advising that things could not progress without their input, and advising that I required the further contract extension. These emails have remained unanswered, as have the numerous daily calls I have made to their offices.
My latest email of 24th November advised Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners that their lack of response has rendered it impossible to complete on the sale and as they have not furnished a further extension to contract, they are in breach of our agreement and I require repayment of my engagement fee. As experience made it clear I was highly unlikely to receive any form of response, I advised that should I not have heard back by Friday 25th November I would be contacting the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. Needless to say, I have yet to hear nothing further from Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners.
Following months of more and more sporadic communication, and no current means of soliciting a response from Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners either telephonically or written, I am left with no doubt that their intent is to defraud me of my engagement fee. I provided details of my dealings with Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners to Action Fraud (UK) on 29th November and was provided with a crime reference number. I understand that the details will be passed on to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau for further investigation. I intend to post my account on appropriate bulletin boards to ensure I warn as wide an audience as possible. Should you or anyone you know have been approached by Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners, please be very circumspect.
The individuals I have had principal contact with at Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners are:
David Cavendish
David Wilson
James Spence
Louise Spencer
Candice Hurdle
I believe Vista Capital also operate under the name Vista Fractional (company registration number 07379554). Website links are:
Www.vistacapital.co.uk/
Www.fractionallegalpartners.co.uk/
Www.vistafractional.co.uk/
On checking Companies House records, I also note that both Vista Capital UK and Fractional Legal Partners have applied to be struck off the register (without any record of accounts having ever been filed), whilst Vista Fractional has been recently incorporated (17/09) - presumably to continue scamming people.
I have kept a record of previous correspondence with Vista Capital / Fractional Legal Partners and am happy to provide further detail should anyone require it. I will be seeking appropriate recourse against these companies. Should anyone have had similar experiences to mine, I am very willing to compare experiences and further a mutual resolution to the problem. Please feel free to message me.
I will of course provide an update in the unlikely event that Vista Capital decide to repay my engagement fee.
Regards,
Anthony (James)
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