Bulgarian Dreams update

I have just read the report and the information on the situation prior to tonights show which indicated that there was possibly legal frameworks to follow. The thing I havn't read is if anyone has asked the Bulgarian government for help as it should be embarrasing for them to know what is happening. To allow a company into their country and then abuse their laws to defraud clients is something they should want to crack down on. Asking for the Bulgarian governments help for the group to take over from the present development company, I believe, would be a smart move as you all seem to be well organised and would be well respected by the government for showing a flaw in theire laws.Just don't use our government channels to do it go direct yourselves it will be less complicated and more direct. Dispute resolution, negotiation and mediation are my specialties and you just need to use your present position to it's best potential and advantage. All the best. Steve.

Just googled bulgarian dreams and it is coming up that due to the economic climate they have ceased trading.

Have just spent half an hour trying to find the website mentioned by the person who had lost 32,000 can anyone help. I believe it may have started with 'offplan'

For the attention of any Cedar Heights 3 owners -

There is an owners group for Cedar Heights 3 (Pamporovo) in existence. BBC blog rules prevent the contact email address being listed, but please enter 'Cedar Heights 3 owners group' into Google and check the results listed to track down the group.
Thanks

We have got £50k invested in the Bulgarian Dreams Waterside Quay development. Building work ceased many months ago and we heard excuse after excuse from Robert Jenkins until he eventually stopped responding. We are part of an action group and in the main are using a common solicitor. We are also in correspondence with the developer. Apart from the fact that Jenkins has failed to transfer our funds to the developer, he concealed the fact that our particular apartment wasn't even being built any more and rather than informing us of this, continued to request money from us for a further installment which we promptly paid. When we became aware of this fact and challenged him about it he became extremely arrogant and said that basically we didn't deserve to have him working on our behalf and that we should be grateful that he had managed to secure another apartmnet in the complex for us. When we said we didn't want the other apartment and that we wanted our money back he said that we would have to fight it through the Bulgarian courts ourselves. Jenkins even tried to convince us that he had sent us a letter advising us of the fact that our apartment was no longer being built and that we had agreed to accept the replacement apartment. When we told him we had never received any such letter and asked him to forward a copy of it to us, he responded by saying he couldn't send us a copy, as the person who had sent it out to us no longer worked for him. I again asked him for a copy, stating that he must surely still have the letter on his system, and he said he wasn't prepared to waste his time trying to locate a copy of the letter as it wasn't important. How is it possible, that a British citizen can run a company from London and mislead hundreds of people and get away with it.

I would also like the web address of the chap who has paid 32.ooo as the other p[erson its something offplan

[Note from Watchdog: The website is www.offplancollective.com, best regards, web team]

Bulgarian Dreams is an English Company, run by a British Director who ripped off mainly British Citizens. What does Bulgaria has got to do with that besides the fact that he was selling Bulgarian properties? I know a few people who bought properties in Bulgaria ( not with Robert Jenkin ) who are quite happy with what they got.

These people are complaining about losing their money but it sickens me that they tried to take advantage of a cheap property market in a poor nation. Wealthier foreign investors would make prices shoot up and the locals would not be able to afford property themselves. These people knew it was a risky venture but their greed was too much to resist. They have got what they deserve for being greedy. Get on with life and stop bleating on national TV about it.

I am one of the "greedy" people who apparently deserves to be ripped off. I would just like to respond to BigHandsOliverKhan, I'm not quite sure why you feel the need to respond in the way you have. The reason my family chose Bulgaria is because they visited it and loved it and was the place they wanted to retire too. Obviously it was more achievable for us to do this in Bulgaria however we did also look at Italy and a number of other options, Bulgaria was our favourite, NOT based on cost alone. If Bulgaria didn't want FOREIGN investors how come it is advertising all over the internet and trying to get as many foreign visitors as possible - because they are making money from tourists and ex-pats. It must be easy for you to say get on with life and stop bleating about it when you haven't potentially lost ALL of your life savings and may possibly lose much, much more - I hope you never have to go through watching your parents worry themselves sick because their retirement plans have been ruined by money grabbing scum like Robert Jenkin.

Oliver Kahn's comments will seem hard-hearted to most people. I would suspect that many people who invested in a property in Bulgaria may even have been doing so because they couldn't afford to get a foot on the housing ladder in somewhere like London - so accusations of greed seem cruel. I think if I had lost c.£50K I would be "bleating" about it too... but fortunately Mr Kahn obviously hasn't suffered such a misfortune.

Has Mr Kahn considered that the properties would have been HOLIDAY VILLAS (providing jobs in shops etc for local people) not residential housing for local Bulgarians. His comments show a bizarre logic and ill-conceived reasoning that may perhaps be motivated by a chipiness towards "better off" people than him.

I completely understand what the guys are going through as I have found myself in the same position, having lost approximately £35k on properties in Bansko, Bulgaria. Although Bulgarian Dreams were marketing in Bansko, I decided to go with the bigger (and supposedly more reputable) [Company details removed]. Different agent, same outcome! Legally the way forward is a minefield for the reasons you have highlighted, however lodging complaints with the industry accrediting agencies may be worth a shot. After months of perseverance I (with the help of several other parties) have had [them] thrown out of the NAEA & NFOPP in the UK and the CEI in Europe. With only the FIABCI left to afford them any credibility whatsoever, hopefully [they] will be forced to look at less deceitful trading practices in future. I should also point out that we are just the tip of the iceberg, I'm aware of many others in exactly the same boat as Chris, Tim and myself. Why should Bulgarian Dreams and [company details removed] be able to prosper from other peoples misery?

Really interested in what Badgersrntus has written. Would like the details of how to go about this to get our developer *** out of harms way to prevent others falling in the way that we have. Have now joined offplan site as mentioned on watchdog - well worth a visit

I also wanted to say thank you so much to Watchdog for featuring this story. We, like so many others were looking to buy somewhere we really liked. Having visited Spain and France we just loved Bulgaria and looked forward to spending holidays there.
From the comments on the show about how Mr Jenkin had been in touch and was not happy - it sounds like the Watchdog team have experienced the way Mr Jenkin speaks to people as we all have in the last two years.
I am stunned, like many others that, the co ownership of the agent and developer was so interlinked (No reference to Inerlink BG I'm sure!). But when we brought all the companies were of good standing.
I can understand why Mr Jenkin or his wife would not want to discuss individual cases on air - it would take weeks, maybe years.
Thanks Watchdog for helping to raise awareness! It was only a few months ago that they were still selling properties so at least people should be less likely to fall into this trap. Keep up the good work!

Thank you Watchdog for raising the profile of this sad story. We purchased a one bed apartment in Bansko from B Dreams in 2005 (Cedar Lodge 1, Developer Eurobild). It was six months behind schedule, luckily we got compensation, but no mains electricity or water (temporary supply to date), no completrion certificate (article 16) to date so legally can not rent it. Illegally used by [details removed by Moderator] without our permission by gaining access via B Dreams Management company. I have made many complaints, seen the Mayor of Bankso, sought advice from Bulgarian Embassy and Trading Standards, but no joy. Took legal advice from a Bulgarian Lawyer, said there was a good case, but would cost thousands and take 3 to 4 years. B Dreams say they are blameless as Robert and Simon Jenkins say that they are just agents, and have nothing to do with Developers. They hide behind a cumbersome bureaucratic Bulgarian machinery, and we cannot see a way out of this situation. We just hope that someone from the Bulgarian authorities takes note, provide some realistic solutions via a helpline (as there certainly is'nt an after sales service from B Dreams). Bulgaria is now part of the EU, surely there must some mechanism to address problems like this.

Thanks to BBC Watchdog for exposing Bulgarian Dreams and Robert Jenkins to the wider public. We are owners in Cedar Lodge I: We completed in 2005 in accordance with our contract, the build was 6 months late, the development was not fully completed i.e other facilities sold with package being incomplete, and with only temporary water and electricity supplies. To date we still do not have Article 16 and therefore legally unable to sell or rent. There has been no support or after sales service from BG/Robert Jenkins who simply advised us to take our complaints up with the developer - obviously knowing how difficult and bureaucratic it is to succeed, whilst behind the scenes BG/Robert Jenkins have continued to operate with impunity regardless of the numerous complaints and the financial consequences of their clients. Surely they have a case to answer under Bulgarian or EU Law?

This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.

Re: Waterside Quay, Balchik. I would like to join the interest group for the above property. I am one of the "purchasers" - upyourtree47 please get in touch with me. I am worried about the delay in completion but have heard the property may be ready in July. Has anyone else heard anything? If so please post.