NEED LEGAL ADVICE: PRO-FRIENDS DEVELOPER SOLD HOUSE WITHOUT CARPORT CONTRARY TO THEIR ADS THAT ALL HOUSES THEY SELL HAS CARPORTS AND STILL ASKING FOR CONTINOUS PAYMENT!!!!

Hello Dear Lawyers,
Thank you in advance po sa magbibigay ng advice. I stumbled on this page due to my desperation with my sister's problem with PRO-FRIENDS DEVELOPER. Last November 2018, my sister reserved a unit in one of Profriend's project in Cavite which is Lancaster New City in Alapan 2 Imus Cavite. My sister is an OFW working in London, so she is just communicating with her agent here in the Phils. The problem started when she decided to reserve a unit here in lancaster. Here goes her story.
  > Around November 2018, my sister reserved a READY FOR OCCUPANCY unit, sent the money via wired remittance. Location map that is available via Profriend's inventory was sent, it was a corner lot so she was glad. She already reviewed the map and it says that it was a corner lot indeed.
  > December 2018 my sister decided to flew back to Philippines to see the actual unit. But lancaster Management just showed the unit outside the car, told her shes NOT ALLOWED TO SEE THE HOUSE AND ENTER BECAUSE SHE'S NOT YET PAID THE FULL DOWNPAYMENT even she already paid a reservation fee of php10,000! (Crazy rules of a developer right? TSk tSk). The house that supposed to Brand New looks like a haunted house in actual. My sister saw that the carport area which is included in the package doesnt really look like a carport because of a very tiny space. More look like a BIKEPORT. She asked the officer who assisted them during the viewing why the carport was designed that way, not the way it was presented in the MAP. The officer said you may raise the complain with the management. My sister ask if she can park in front of the house because there is a Lapses on Developer's design of property. The officer said to make a request or complain.
  > Because my sister wanted to see the house inside and check if it is in good condition, she decided to pay the FULL DOWNPAYMENT WHICH COSTS AROUND PHP350,000!!! just to book again a schedule to see the inside of unit. MAYBE THE NEGATIVE FEEDBACK ABOUT LANCASTER THE WAY THEY GET MONEY FROM POOR CUSTOMERS ARE TRUE BECAUSE OF THEIR CRAZY RULES.Before she went back to London last December she settled the payment of full DP. After paying the ful DP, she got approved for 1st inspection of the house. The interior of the house is much horrible than outside, Paints are worn off, faucets and all fixtures are broken. Overall aspect, the house is very OLD. The officers promised they will fix it..
   > January - June 2018, my sister is paying the monthly amortization of the house which costs around PhP54,000. huge amount for a very Disgusting, Old, wornoff - (Supposed to be BRAND NEW HOUSE). up to now, her concern of CARPORT, HOUSE RENOVATION is still not DONE. PROFRIENDS STAFF ARE NOT COOPERATING, THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS USELESS, NO CALLS OR UPDATES TO PACIFY OR EVEN ADDRESS MY SISTER'S CONCERN OF CARPORT. Is there anybody here can help what we should do? We already went to their office, but they just sugar coated the issue,gave us false hopes. Next week will be July and my sister will again have to pay the amortization, but up to now she still dont know what she is paying for. PROFRIENDS IS NOT DOING ANYTHING ABOUT MY SISTER'S CONCERN, THEY JUST WANTED TO COLLECT THE MONEY FROM MY SISTER AND NOT GIVING HER A GOOD RESULT OR RESOLUTION. I HOPE THERE IS SOMEON IN THIS GROUP THAT CAN ENLIGHTEN ME. thanks in advance, sorry for the long vent out. God bless everyone

Hello po,

What your sister got is most likely a model house that was constructed early on and not maintained well.  Still, let's see how we can solve this.

Do you have complete paperwork? Who has it, and who is the Attorney-in-Fact?  
Did you keep receipts? Photos? Other documents? Letters?  

Compile everything you have. Make photocopies, sort by date. Photocopy everything.
Did your sister get any email at all from the developer?  Were her complaints documented? Was it in a letter or just verbal?  Were her complaints addressed in full? Partially? Have they done anything at all to comply with your sister's requests?  

Is that in-house financing?

So sorry for the many questions.  I suggest that she does not stop her payments. I know this may sound counter-intuitive BUT, in case of mediation at HLURB, you want to show that you have been complying with your end of the bargain, now they have to comply with theirs.  If your sister stops payments for 3 months AND the complaints are NOT documented, the developer can just cancel the purchase and we do not want that.  

So ok, let's see:
1. Compile and READ all documents, receipts, letters, etc.    (Sometimes we make mistakes too, as when a homeowner buys a 50sqm corner lot expecting a spacious carport, but parking though possible is going to be tight because of the actual space.)
2. If everything seems in order, go to HLURB and file a complaint. There is going to be an arbiter and a representative from both parties.  You have to be specific with your complaints - fix this, replace that, etc etc or should a refund be in order, ask for full refund.  Developers will not agree to refunds BUT what you want to show the arbiter is that based on the contract that your sister signed, that worn out house is what she's getting, and therefore this isn't what she paid for.

Good luck, hope this points you to some direction at least.

@betchay001

Thank you heaps for your reply .

Do you have complete paperwork? Who has it, and who is the Attorney-in-Fact?  
Did you keep receipts? Photos? Other documents? Letters?  
>>>> Yes, we all have photos taken, before and after. We are really disappointed with Developer's lousy work. Honestly we already done 4 inspections but up to now the house is still not pleasant to see as a Brand new, they just re touch the paint but not NEAT, you can see it even you are not a pro! I dont know if this Developer has a good contractor, it looks like "Nababoy na Pagkakapiintura, may patse patse at di namasilyahan"
>>>> My other sister is the Attorney-in-Fact, all receipts are kept from reservation fee up to the full downpayment. Monthly amortizations done thru Post dated checks,and monthy paid up.


Compile everything you have. Make photocopies, sort by date. Photocopy everything.
Did your sister get any email at all from the developer?  Were her complaints documented? Was it in a letter or just verbal?  Were her complaints addressed in full? Partially? Have they done anything at all to comply with your sister's requests?  
>>>>> My sister got an email, but the emails just says, they will heads up the concern to the higher management. They are telling that always in the email, no RESOLUTION, just that for 6 freaking months.

Is that in-house financing?

So sorry for the many questions.  I suggest that she does not stop her payments. I know this may sound counter-intuitive BUT, in case of mediation at HLURB, you want to show that you have been complying with your end of the bargain, now they have to comply with theirs.  If your sister stops payments for 3 months AND the complaints are NOT documented, the developer can just cancel the purchase and we do not want that.  

So ok, let's see:
1. Compile and READ all documents, receipts, letters, etc.    (Sometimes we make mistakes too, as when a homeowner buys a 50sqm corner lot expecting a spacious carport, but parking though possible is going to be tight because of the actual space.)
2. If everything seems in order, go to HLURB and file a complaint. There is going to be an arbiter and a representative from both parties.  You have to be specific with your complaints - fix this, replace that, etc etc or should a refund be in order, ask for full refund.  Developers will not agree to refunds BUT what you want to show the arbiter is that based on the contract that your sister signed, that worn out house is what she's getting, and therefore this isn't what she paid for.

Good luck, hope this points you to some direction at least.[/quote]

The legal remedy is to file a complaint at HLURB

Hello po,

Tanong lang po, Anu po ba ang court mediation nag file po kasi ng ejectment sabi skin baka kaya pa sa court mediation. Anu po ba ibig sabihin nun? need ko pa po ba ng Atty?