News Archive: legal issues

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24, 2010 October:

NZ letting agent sentenced to house detention

A Christchurch real estate agent has been sentenced to home detention for lying to a client about the sale of his house...

21, 2010 October:

Rich pickings for burglars

As the clocks go back on Sunday October 31st, the cover of darkness can prove all too tempting for the opportunist thief. Halifax Home Insurance recommends homeowners take steps to make life more difficult for the would-be burglar...

18, 2010 October:

Slow courts not doing landlords any favours

Landlord Action is spearheading a campaign to improve the current tenant eviction system: ‘Rebalancing the law'...

13, 2010 October:

Homeowners warned to beware property fraudsters

Conveyancing solicitors and Land Registry want the public to be aware how fraudsters are targeting the properties of both individuals and companies...

07, 2010 October:

Russian and Cypriot presidents discuss investment and tourism

A surge of Russian investment and tourism in Cyprus led to a visit from President Dmitry Medvedev for the signing of agreements between the two governments...

06, 2010 October:

Help for Turkish property buyers

Unfamiliarity with the property laws and processes in Turkey has resulted in nightmare situations for foreign owners...

04, 2010 October:

Businessman charged in $225m property scheme

A California businessman has been charged with fraud and money laundering stemming from a $225 million Ponzi scheme involving investments in rehabilitated "scratch and dent" real estate...

Bulgarian PM outraged by global draining of state treasury

Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, told his ministers that thousands of agencies and offices abroad are draining the State treasury...

30, 2010 September:

Scam targets UK online banking

A network used to harvest online banking details has been exposed in the UK...

U.N. hopeful of Cyprus deal to heal

The United Nations expressed hope that a deal on the divided island of Cyprus is to be negotiated by the end of the year...

Property scam ties Cyprus with Greek criminal ring

Evidence linking Cyprus to an allegedly active criminal ring in Greece has come to light...

29, 2010 September:

$6 billion freeze in a Cyprus court

$6 billion worth of Russian assets have been frozen in a court in Cyprus...

28, 2010 September:

Quebec real-estate investment scam

An alleged investment scam carried out by three Gatineau men is said to have defrauded 150 people from across Canada of millions of dollars...

False signatures suspected in 3000 Bulgarian property deals

Investigations into more than 3000 municipal property transactions in Sofia signed between 2006 and 2008 are being carried out due to suspected fraudulent signatures of its former mayor...

27, 2010 September:

Spanish real estate assessor on trial

A specially extended hall in the Málaga Ciudad de la Justicia is holding the case surrounding Marbella's real estate assessor, Juan Antonio Roca today...

New restrictions for Chinese developers

Chinese developers are to be prevented from land banking by new restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Land and Resources, it was announced today...

24, 2010 September:

Beach crackdown in Perth

The mayor responsible for Australia's famous Bondi Beach says she backs a Council clampdown at Perth's Cottesloe Beach, which would see beachgoers fined up to $500 for a range of offences including flying kites, using oversized umbrellas or digging holes...

Landlord licensing fails tenants

The lack of regulation of landlords is leaving tenants exposed across the UK, according to the Association of Residential Lettings Agents (ARLA)...

16, 2010 September:

Police force reduce property burglary

Radio Tactics Ltd has announced that police in Devon and Cornwall have successfully reduced property crime rates by 80 per cent...

09, 2010 September:

Property conman is jailed

A tenant who faked his identity when renting through Knight Frank has been jailed for three years after he went on to pose as its owner and sold the property...

31, 2010 August:

Share and share alike?

A cautionary tale which may spark a legal review of residential property ownership by unmarried couples...

24, 2010 August:

FBI to 'welcome criminals home'

The Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), dubbed Britain's FBI, is sending officers to ports and airports to ‘welcome' known criminals home from overseas...

11, 2010 August:

Mortgage fraud on the up

According to KPMG's fraud barometer, mortgage fraud soared in the first six months of 2010 - reaching a 22-year high...

29, 2010 July:

Better protection for Gulf investors

According to a new poll conducted by Arabian Business, more than 70 per cent of investors are adamant that better protection is desperately needed for international buyers investing in the Gulf region...

26, 2010 July:

Conveyancing confusion causing chaos

According to new research, us Brits are suffering from a worrying new affliction - confusion - we are scratching our heads and shrugging our shoulders over the basics of conveyancing, (the legal process of transferring property ownership) so just what can be done about it?...

22, 2010 July:

New code protects off-plan investors

Property investors buying homes ‘off plan' have new safeguards for their cash under the recently released Consumer Code for Home Builders...

15, 2010 July:

US Govt launches challenge to Arizona's law

The US government has launched a legal challenge to Arizona's controversial new immigration law which allows police to challenge anyone they suspect does not have a valid visa and is due to take effect later this month...

09, 2010 July:

Title deeds law delayed in Cyprus

Property owners and potential owners in Cyprus are facing a series of gloomy news as attempts to sort out the island's long running title deeds disputes are delayed and an expected recovery in the real estate market is failing to materialise...

25, 2010 June:

Florida owners lose sand claims

The owners of waterfront properties in Florida have lost their legal claim that sand being brought in to shore up sea defences has deprived them of exclusive beach access and is a violation of their rights...

22, 2010 June:

Naples Cardinal: property corruption scandal

Cardinal Crescenzo Sepe, Archbishop of Naples, is to be investigated over his alleged part in a corrupt property deal. The Cardinal was, until 2006, head of the Vatican's Department for Foreign Missions and in that capacity he would have had had access to a great deal of money and an impressive property portfolio...

21, 2010 June:

Andaman Island tours 'flout Indian law'

'Human safaris' threaten the future of the Jarawa tribe in the Andaman Islands...

18, 2010 June:

Florida hoteliers urged to use BP

As the first clumps of tar from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill began washing up on Florida's beaches, the state's governor, Charlie Crist, this week encouraged affected hoteliers to claim compensation from BP...

07, 2010 June:

Prosecution of the Pod

Drivers are being warned that they could be prosecuted if caught using their iPod while driving...

20, 2010 May:

Bank of Mum & Dad: Declaration of Trust

With house prices out of the reach for most first time buyers and banks still reluctant to lend, many are turning to the ‘bank of mum and dad' for a loan or gift for a deposit to them to help get on the housing ladder...

13, 2010 May:

Hope for Spain's ‘illegal' owners

Various moves are being announced in Spain that give hope to many British owners whose property has been declared illegal and face demolition...

31, 2010 March:

Financial records landlords should keep

Landlords and property investors often have difficulty in proving how much they earn and expenses claimed to HM Revenue and Customs. To help make those claims stick and pay less tax, here's a list of financial records every property business should keep...

22, 2010 March:

How to register land as a village green

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in R (Lewis) v Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council in the UK, which will make it increasingly difficult for land owners to defeat applications for registration as a village green...

15, 2010 March:

Marbella: the big clean up

In the 15 years since Jesús Gil was elected mayor and tore up the existing planning regulations (PGOU) until the corruption was uncovered in 2006, some 18,000 properties had been built illegally in Marbella.

05, 2010 March:

Cyprus: Estate agents law changed

The Interior Ministry of Cyprus has submitted a new draft law to Parliament which is designed to open the doors to European estate agents wishing to practice in Cyprus.

26, 2010 February:

Solicitors demand end to agent 'bribes'

More and more solicitors are speaking out against their colleagues who effectively ‘bribe' estate agent to give them conveyancing work by paying them referral fees...

24, 2010 February:

OFT Vs Foxtons: case continues

The OFT has secured a final High Court order against Foxtons Ltd preventing it from using certain terms concerning sales and commissions in its letting agreements with consumer landlords...

19, 2010 February:

Property fraud Brit extradited

A Thailand court has agreed to extradite a Briton to the UAE to face charges of embezzling $150m dollars from a property company in Dubai, despite having no formal extradition treaty with the Arab state...

18, 2010 February:

Property firm wins landmark case against buyer

In a legal battle very typical of the property market downturn, an Irish property company has emerged victorious after a buyer tried to retrieve the deposit he put down on a luxury apartment...

04, 2010 February:

Criminal gangs target landlords

Landlords' properties are being targeted by criminal gangs as a cover for illegal activity, according to the National Landlords Association (NLA), the leading representative body for private-residential landlords in the UK...

22, 2010 January:

Courts ‘must defend' householders

It is vital that the courts should uphold the right of householders to defend their families and homes to the fullest extent against criminals...

14, 2010 January:

Deposit scandal rages on in UK

The developing scandal of misappropriated tenants' deposits has exposed landlords to millions of pounds of liability...

12, 2010 January:

Landlords on course with deposit protection

The Deposit Protection Service (DPS) is confident that more landlords than ever are complying with tenancy deposit legislation, with over 200 new landlords registering every day...

07, 2010 January:

Landmark case against investor

In what has been described as a "landmark" ruling by newspaper The Mail, a judge has awarded damages of over £130,000 to a property developer after an unnamed buy-to-let investor pulled out of a deal to buy two flats in a Plymouth city centre new-build...

14, 2009 December:

Development deadlock? It's good to talk

A survey into problems with unviable planning permissions by leading law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner has highlighted an apparently elusive truth: that local authorities may be more willing to help developers overcome seemingly intractable viability problems than previously thought...