Cyprus Property, THE DEEDS FIASCO, Www Buysell Com [13+]

Sunday, June 21, 2009

A&G PROPERTY Wise Development Ltd (A&G), the company operating the Froiber brand in Cyprus, will be liquidated on 17 July !

One clue to the company’s demise lies in the way that treats its customers. Some of them, like Colin Smith, former war correspondent for The Observer newspaper and author of history books such as Singapore Burning, got his title deed a mere five years after taking possession of his Froiber flat in June 2003.

Others have not been so lucky. Maria (not her real name) signed an agreement with A&G in April 2000 to buy a property in a Froiber block of nine flats. She took possession in August 2000, and has an official statement of account proving that all outstanding amounts had been paid.

Having finally lost patience after years’ worth of empty promises from Andreou regarding their title deeds, Maria and the eight other flat-owners – who had also paid in full – consulted a lawyer in December 2008.

The lawyer established that title deeds for all nine flats had been issued in December 2008 in Andreou’s name and he was promptly informed that if he did not proceed immediately to transferring the title deeds, he would be taken to court.

In mid-December 2008, Andreou sent a letter to each flat-owner, claiming insurance, sewerage, Immovable Property Tax – which was not payable on Maria’s flat, as its value was below €100,000 – and Transfer Tax for the period 2000-08. Despite the fact that the amount claimed was excessive, the lawyer advised Maria and the others to pay anyway, if it meant getting their title deeds.

They did so on February 2 2009. The Sunday Mail has a copy of Andreou’s written commitment on February 4 that, since “all of the flat-owners have paid the amount due on each flat”, he would transfer the title deeds to all of the flat-owners “within three weeks of today’s date”.

The lawyer obtained an execution order from Nicosia Court on the basis of Andreou’s written commitment, to be carried out on April 3. A&G failed to attend the Land Registry on the date set by the court. Instead, Maria and the others each received another copy of the bill for outstanding taxes, this time with a note saying: “The above amounts have been paid off. There remains a balance of €5,000 to cover the company’s administration costs, which must be paid on the day the transfer is effected.”

Maria has now sued Andreou for non-performance of his various commitments. The writ was registered with Nicosia Court last month, but will only be heard on 17 September, in other words, two months after the court order to liquidate A&G is executed.

Maria said she had learned through a legal acquaintance of Andreou’s own lawyer that the developer had not paid any of the state taxes he had collected from her building’s residents. Andreou’s lawyer is reported to have said: “Tell them to light a candle, make a votive offering and pray that he pays the taxes so that they can get their deeds.”


Today, the Froiber website (www.froiber.com) is the internet equivalent of a deserted office containing a pile of unopened mail. Clicking on the links “Homes for Sale”, “Apartment Find”, “Real Estate Leads” and “Apartment Lease”, one gets the message: “We were unable to find results for your search term”.


the prospects are grim for many who decide to purchase a new home from a developer.

Cyprus is treating citizens like Maria with a degree of cynicism that borders on contempt.