Dozens of people contacted the #PasaEnLaCalle campaign team at El Comercio to share their stories about real estate scams after a report was published about homeowners left helpless by companies’ silence.

Author: Francesca Raffo

Source: El Comercio

In the last 20 days, the #PasaEnLaCalle campaign at El Comercio received nearly 10 complaints from people living in uncertainty after paying the down payment or even the full cost of an apartment in Surquillo and then not receiving any response from the real estate company Avitar, with whom they had made the deal.

This is the case of Diego Alva, who had paid nearly 20,000 soles when the company stopped responding. He was quite worried because he had a contract with clauses that benefited the company if he stopped paying, but he didn’t want to continue paying amid the uncertainty.

They saved for more than 10 years to buy an apartment and now live in uncertainty due to a real estate company’s silence.

The lack of communication, delays in starting construction, and contracts made those who had invested in Avitar’s Homu and Atom projects start to worry. Adding to this uncertainty, the bank financing the Homu project backed out.

Like its clients, El Comercio tried to contact the company in various ways, but it was impossible. Only after the report was published on Tuesday did Avitar send a statement to its clients apologizing for the lack of communication and indicating that the Homu project would be financed by BCP and that they were making the necessary arrangements to start the project. Felix Medina, Avitar’s general manager, has also met with some clients.

Despite the meetings and new communication, some clients remain uncertain. Aurora, who preferred not to give her last name, explains that she no longer wants to continue with the project and has requested her money back as soon as possible.

“In the meeting, I told him to give me my money back; I want to recover something, but to give it to me within a month. He [Felix] told me: the thing is, we don’t have liquidity, and they are waiting for the new developer taking on the project 100% [Conservi] to start selling to generate income and have a way to repay several owners who have opted out,” she stated.

Avalanche of Cases

Since the report was published days ago, several people have contacted #PasaEnLaCalle with very similar cases. The common denominator was the same: contracts that only favor the company, and clients are forced to pay periodically even though the company does not respond.