Some interesting background reading:
Http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article601007. Ece
Http://usacomplaints.com/reports/0/290/RipOff0290232.htm
My Story: My lengthy and painful experience with MRI has thankfully ended today, and whilst I have learnt my lesson, it has been unfortunately and expensive one although could have been made much more expensive.
Following a MRI sales expo at Lords Cricket Ground, my investment partner and I were convinced to attend an inspection trip to Sunny Beach, Bulgaria. Guaranteed rentals as high as 10% and "probable" capital growth of 30% per annum were amongst the biggest selling points that enticed us to sign up for the trip.in addition, mortgage finance for 70% loan to value, was "guaranteed", according to MRI representatives.
To date, the sales expo and sales reps, accommodation and transport seemed to support the image MRI was trying to portray. As such we concluded to buy 2 apartments and pay an initial deposit.
We were introduced to "independent" law firm, Legal Independence and the sales rep even left the room for us to converse with the lawyers, showing just how "independent" they were. The balance of our deposits was paid upon our return to the UK. The problems arose when the property, Crown Fort, in St Vlas, Bulgaria was due for completion and finance had to be arranged.
CFP Mortgage Brokers was introduced to us and after having paid the1000 EUR "Membership fee". The appropriate forms were officially translated and couriered off the CFP. After many back-and-forth emails, we discovered that after months of communication the application was not even sent to any banks. Many excuses of miscommunication proceeded, until we were told our CFP consultant had left. The process re-started with a new consultant who subsequently left 1 month later. The process was repeated with the new consultant new and again no action was taken. Again, we were not alone in our frustration of poor and incompetent service providers, as selected by MRI.
When we complained to service manager Gillian Beeby we were told that because of our miscommunication they had not sent in the application. How infuriating. Because of their incompetence we were now at risk of losing our properties. Communication from Legal Independence lawyer, Orlin Denkov, was sporadic at best, and when he did reply to our questions, it was often a blank email. After waiting weeks for a response we tried to call his office, where he was never available o come to the phone.
By this time, completion had passed and investors who had taken possession were definitely not getting guaranteed rentals, if anything at all. With the credit crisis now in full swing things were looking bleak, at best. The kind developers, via Orlin at Legal Independence, were now willing to offer us a financing deal, if we paid a further cash deposit up to 50% of the purchase price and repaid the balance over 5,7, or 10 years with different interest rates. Our questions to Orlin Denkov with regards to these offers were returned after several weeks of waiting and usually not at all.
In Dec we were approached by a MRI sales rep, Amy Boyton, who wished to offer us the "opportunity of a lifetime". MRI, being the saints they are, was willing to recognise the investments we lost in Crown Fort and wanted to give us discounts in properties in the Aspen ski resort of Bansko, Bulgaria. Seeing as were “negligent” in not completing on Crown Fort, like many others, MRI now wanted to help us, by offering us properties they themselves had developed, and discounting them by the value of the deposits we had paid.
Apparently, the CEO was keeping these properties for the lucrative rental income, but wanted to show their customers how much they care. Of course, she couldn't put this info in an email as they didn't want us forwarding on this incredible offer to other clients and that we receiving favourable treatment. We decided to entertain this idea as we had put down a significant investment already and maybe this might be worthwhile in recovering some of it.
According to Amy's information, the December rental period was fully booked and the upcoming Women's Skiing World Cup would assure great Feb/Mar rentals. This contrasted the information my good friend relayed, saying that his Bansko apartment had rented a grand total of 4 days in 2008.
When pressed for her to provide evidence of this "fully booked" December period, she countered that she only do so if I wasn;t wsting her time. This comment was strange in light of the 20minute sales call she was busy executing.
It was only after the countless phone calls and increasingly pressurised sales call that I decided to research MRI on consumer forum websites, and found the above links. Somehow Mr MacAnthony & Co did not seem like the kind of people who wished to look after my interests.
Through this research and complaints from other investors, I have learnt that:
- Many people have experienced the same “boiler room” sales tactics and lies - MRI now blame rogue developers for problems incurred when they claimed on dealing with reputable developers at sales expos - Darragh MaCanthony has resigned from National Federation of Property Professionals (NFOPP) because his poor conduct - MRI have rebranded in Cyprus due to reputational risk and removal from NFOPP - Aspen Ski Resort may have been illegally remortgaged, yet was being aggressively remarketed to MRI clients - Aspen ski resort was initially marketed as a frontline golf development when in fact it was not - Clients who completed at Aspen had not yet received keys 6 months after completion - Clients have claimed CFP have passed on mortgage application personal financial details to MRI - MRI continue to use Legal Independence as their lawyers recommended to clients
Even if nothing can be done, hopefully this will help others from being duped. Please pass this on to as many people so that may avoid these sharks and the pitfalls that come with dealing with them.
DupedLondon
United Kingdom
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