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Post by brianmcc on Jan 17, 2008 16:41:23 GMT 1
Hi All, I bought a place on Korcula 3 yrs ago and because of a lot of problems with my Lawyer not doing her job and looking for more money (Much higher than her original quotation)we have only now received our permission from the MFA, but the story doesn't end here ,she has now told us we have to pay her the extra monies before she will send us our permission or register us with the land registry. Does she have us over a barrel or can we register ourselves with the land registry. Thanks for any help or solutions, Brian
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Post by Carol on Jan 17, 2008 16:54:18 GMT 1
you can register yourself, but you need the permission to do so. Sorry, it looks like she's got you unless you can get another copy of the permission (and already have a notaried copy of your contract?)
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Post by splitska on Jan 17, 2008 22:35:45 GMT 1
Hi Brian, I would pay it if it isn't much. If it is too much I would report your solicitor to their law society or at least threaten to do so. However maybe she didn't quote for registering you as well as getting the approval.! Just a thought. I'm interested in your comment because I won't be surprised if my solicitor does the same to me !
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Post by brianmcc on Jan 17, 2008 23:54:21 GMT 1
Hi Carol and Splitska, I thought by doing my homework on Croatia property that my purchase would be smooth, but unfortunately you can't allow for a bad Lawyer. I new what to expect when purchasing , I new about the long wait for MFA and Moj approval, I asked my Lawyer for a full list of costs including Land registry fees. I paid her in full and also send the property purchase tax, so I thought everything was fine until I decided to get a Moj registration check carried out only to find she had not sent in all the correct documentation. When I confronted her with this she said that the MOJ was in the wrong and not her, she then changed her story to say that she hadn't received all the documents from the seller. At this stage I didn't know who to believe as the seller said he had sent in all the documents. The seller then sent me a document with the list of all the deeds and paperwork that had been sent to my Lawyer with my Lawyers acceptance signature on the bottom . When I sent a faxed copy of this to my Lawyer she replied by saying that she wasn't getting paid enough for all this hassle and sent me a bill for extras. I informed her that I would be writing to the Croatian law bar and would be sending all my findings, documentation and correspondence that I had with her . She suddenly changed her tune in her next e-mail and apologized for the slow Croatian system and explained that this is the way things work in Croatia. I answered her with a letter with the names of two other Croatian Lawyers who had represented clients who have also purchased in the same complex and had received permission within 1 year and not 3 years as in our case . This is the situation I now find myself in ,pay her an extra 500 euro or wait another life time for my deeds. I hope other members reading this don't thing I have a negative view on Croatia, I can honestly say it is one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen and have made some fantastic Croatian friends ,but I don't think much of its Lawyers!
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Post by Carol on Jan 18, 2008 9:25:41 GMT 1
There are good lawyers out there, but not many and you cannot rely on some notion of professional responsibility hoping to get by with the bad ones. Brianmcc and splitska I am sorry your lawyers have let you down. However, for future buyers I would recommend you find a lawyer by the following means:- 1. Ask someone you trust for a personal recommendation. (This should not be someone with a vested interest in the sale i.e. not the developer/ seller or the estate agent). 2. If that fails, ask other estate agents for recommendations. You'll quickly get a consensus view on who are the good ones. or 3. look on the British Embassy website where a list is published - but be wary of that option because there is at least one name on there that I would never use having already seen him in action for a clients of ours (who avoided the advice above).
One other piece of advice - get your agreement with your lawyer in writing i.e. what (s)he will do and how much (s)he will charge. Remember to ask her to affix her seal to this letter.
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Post by mirabelle on Jan 18, 2008 14:00:01 GMT 1
The law society in HR provides fixed set of fees that lawyers can charge. Make sure you let them know you are aware of it so they cannot rip you off.
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Post by pizzaandsalsa on Jan 21, 2008 11:23:34 GMT 1
Just want to add our own experience having just gone through the whole purchase process and Ministry application ourselves.
We found our lawyer through recommendation in this forum and we have been completely satisfied. Our Ministry approval came through in approx 2 months (submitted Oct 2007, granted Dec 2007), and I know through this forum of other people who have used this lawyer and have had their approval though very quickly. We had initially approached other lawyers who had warned us it might take 2-3 years, so we were very pleased with the speed.
From my experience it is ESSENTIAL that your lawyer knows exactly what is required with the application for Ministry approval, so he/she prepares ALL these documents in advance. Many delays with Ministry are due to the fact that information or documents are not correctly submitted or are missing, so make sure your lawyer knows and confirms to you that they have all the documents, which I think are: - notarised purchase contract - notarised copies of your passport (this can be done at any Notary’s office in Croatia for a few Kunas) - extract from Kataster/Land Registry - confirmation of zoning. This is very important and has to be written clearly in a specific way, initially our Opcina gave confirmation of zoning only for the land, not the house (which is sitting on the land), our lawyer rejected this letter and pressed Opcina and got another letter drafted, which included both the land and the house, as otherwise the lawyer knew from experience that the Ministry would not accept the initial letter and this would only delay things.
So the lawyer needs to be VERY familiar with the requirements from the Ministry. It is also essential that you lawyer keeps phoning the Ministry in Zagreb to check receipt of documents and how the application is processing.
As for costs, we asked our lawyer in advance to give costs for: - drafting of preliminary and final contracts, including all liaison with buyer or their solicitor - filing and obtainining Ministry approval - filing with Kataster and Land Registry and Tax office dealings
We were quoted (in advance) separately for each of the above, as a percentage of the purchase price. We paid in stages, as each part of the service was being provided. i.e. we did not pay the lawyer in advance for all the fees, and we did not give money to the lawyer to pay the 5% Tax.
Also I believe it is necessary for us as (future) property owners to be informed and not just rely on what “the lawyer” or “the agent” say. Read advice in this forum, search the internet, read Marty Westby’s book, it has a lot of information which we found very helpful. Hope this info helps other people like me who were looking for information.
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Post by Carol on Jan 21, 2008 11:30:53 GMT 1
Who was your lawyer?
BTW Completely agree that you should never give anyone except the tax office the 5% RETT, but maybe you need to pay someone for the work of liasing with the tax office.
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Post by pizzaandsalsa on Jan 21, 2008 11:37:50 GMT 1
Hi Carol will send you a PM
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Post by mirabelle on Jan 21, 2008 11:59:56 GMT 1
Pizzaandsalsa, Whereabouts are you?
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Post by pizzaandsalsa on Jan 21, 2008 12:18:05 GMT 1
London, UK, and we bought a house in Trogir/Ciovo.
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Post by splitska on Jan 21, 2008 22:46:34 GMT 1
pizzaandsalsa, well done it took me three and half years to get my approval and now I am buying my partner out so I have to start the whole process again. Can you please tell me the name of your lawyer also? Thanks (I'm in Dublin) but have a lawyer in Split.
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Post by pizzaandsalsa on Jan 21, 2008 23:55:37 GMT 1
Splitska, I have sent you a PM
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Post by splitska on Jan 22, 2008 0:54:40 GMT 1
Got it. Thanks agian
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Post by Frederick on Jan 22, 2008 10:18:01 GMT 1
Well after waiting 4 1/2 years we finally got permission for our house on Hvar yesterday. Is this a record ? Our lawyer said it would probably take another 2 years for the evaluators to come round so we shouldn't worry about the 5% for a while. Does this timeframe seem realistic ? I always find that they are much faster when they want something from you !
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