Western Sydney Property Group/ Bathla Investments Stanhope Gardens

Hi Guys

My Partner and I have recently invested in an off the plan property at Stanhope Gardens NSW and are extremely disturbed to read about the the recent allegations and investigations this company is undergoing.

Has anyone invested in Stanhope Gardens- have you had any feedback on the status of the property as there has been no movement on teh property for the last 6 months.

Your assistant is much appreciated.

Please see another thread on this topic. Stanhope Gardens is actually a suburb with good prospects (reputable companies are investing millions in this area) however Bathla Investments seems very concerning from what I have just read.

G'day Ar1429
,, Mate stay away from this Bhatla group people if you can,,,, The suburn Stanhope Gardens is nice, but bit overpriced, but If you are buying property from Bhatla,,, stop and don't do that unless you have exchanged contracts.. Mate the put the worse quality ever made in China,,, their property have numberous quality and structural issues down the line,, and they are only very friendly people when they are getting money from you, once your money is gone,,,,,, you are like a stranger to them,, they also sell property using agents,, and they are the owner of this agents,,,, and sell property under different names as well, so beware,, also their property do not appreciate in comparision with general market,,, and check out the quality yourself,, cheapest Boral bricks, low quality paints,,,, they say they put lot of inclusions,, but all are crap quality,,,,,,,,,to sqeez their own profit,,,, so Bottom line stay away,,, let me know if u need any techinical advice for them in particular,,,
Gd luck mate

Straight from the ASIC website:

11-81MR Property developer enters into enforceable undertaking providing compensation for vendor finance borrowers

Thursday 14 April 2011

ASIC has accepted an enforceable undertaking (EU) from a Toongabbie (NSW) based property developer, Mr Bhart Bhushan, and his company Universal Property Group Pty Ltd (UPG), following an investigation into alleged unconscionable conduct in connection with their lending practices.

As part of the EU, UPG and Mr Bhushan have agreed to a scheme whereby vendor finance borrowers – who were clients of UPG or Mr Bhushan – will be entitled to seek compensation if they believe they were victims of unconscionable conduct.

The compensation scheme will involve UPG and Mr Bhushan writing to clients and providing them with an opportunity to provide information in support of a compensation claim. UPG is also required to appoint an independent person - to be approved by ASIC - to consider any compensation claims that UPG has rejected.

UPG has operated a residential property development business from 1997, mostly in western Sydney. Mr Bhushan is the sole director and secretary of UPG.

From 2004 until mid-October 2009, UPG offered vendor finance to people who purchased property from UPG and associated entities. Mr Bhushan met with prospective purchasers and made oral inquiries about the person's income, assets, and liabilities. Mr Bhushan accepted the information he was given as true and accurate but neither he nor UPG took steps to independently verify the information provided by prospective purchasers about their financial situation.

Many of the purchasers were immigrants – from Sudan or the Philippines – who came from non-English speaking backgrounds.

UPG stopped offering vendor finance in October 2009.

ASIC's investigation identified concerns relating to the conduct of UPG and Mr Bhushan, including:
whether UPG made adequate inquiries as to the borrower's or any of the guarantor's financial situation;
UPG's reliance on the borrowers' assertions as to their financial situation and its failure to test or verify independently the borrowers' assertions as to their income, expenses, assets and liabilities;
whether the borrowers understood to a sufficient degree the terms and conditions of the vendor finance loan in circumstances where UPG knew or ought to have known that some borrowers had a poor understanding of spoken and written English and/or little financial acuity;
UPG's offer of vendor finance to some borrowers who were recipients of Centrelink benefits;
UPG's offer of vendor finance on promotional terms, including the offer of capped repayments, contributions to the borrower's first mortgage loan, and lump sum cash rebates.

Further details relating to the compensation scheme are contained in the EU, which is available from ASIC's website. ASIC accepted the EU as an alternative to commencing court proceedings.

ASIC acknowledges the assistance provided by the Mt Druitt & Area Community Legal Centre Inc in this matter.

Some Bathla/Universal Property Group properties are now being marketed as opportunities through Silverhall http://www.silverhall.com.au 

Hi AR1429,

May I know what negative feedback have you been reading about the group?
And should I really be worried before buying anything OTP from the group?

Appreciate your help.

cheers
s.

IF it's the group I am thinking of (the name sounds the same) I think you would be hard pressed to get finance - as there are numerous fraud alerts for them doing the rounds of institutions that you might need assistance from, with a particular warning about the brokers that 'suggest' them, and the 'valuers' they use. Think of how much weight you;ll lose by 'running a mile'.........

V8GHIA, so true mate they r same group,, non of the big 4 wanna lend them,,,, and the prices of <moderator: delete language> properties they build are overpriced as well,,,,, nearly $50K

Hi Guys
My advise to people who are planning to buy property, should never deal with any company that have  a connection with Bathla group (they have many sub agents that operate on their behalf). their dealing are totally un-professional and are not straight forward. In the end you will loose money and your peace of mind. Their house construction is also very poor and the after sale service is pathetic. They tend to not know you at all once the defect period of 2 / 3 months are over.
My personal experience has been very bad dealing with these guys. I am not sure how this company is operating here even after the fact that there are so many complains and irregularities against them.
DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THEIR SOMEWHAT CHEAPER PRICES AND GET SUCKED IN.

IF you look at the prices people pay for the properties from Bathla (most are around rooty hill, blacktown etc). They have a high instance of default and mortgagee sales. I would reccommend not purchasing NEW Bathla. If you can get one cheap as a mortgagee sale then its a good option cause their properties normally get repossessed within 1-2 years so you can still claim depreciation.

Bathla have been around for a while and are true sharks...

I have recently bought a property from Bathla group.so far I have not had any bad experience. Building work going smoothly. I will see once building is ready will provide more feedback here.

I guess I should not be surprised that people continue to purchase from Bathla Group and there associated companies, plenty of people still get sucked in by the Nigerian Scams. You only have yourself to blame if you do the research and see all the bad reviews about workmanship service and the ethics of these guys and you still go with them. Where does all there money go and what do they do for the local community that is good?