Fleecing the trusting few

May 19, 2011 Editorial

Scams are all too common because there are always people who need the things for which they will shell out money. One of these things is housing. For quite a few years now people have been losing money because they trusted one housing developer or the other.
Way back when, people desirous of owning their own homes were advised to form co-operatives. The group would then be assigned the house lots and from then they would determine how much money they would invest in the first instance to get the project going. Many self-help housing schemes now dot the country.
The new administration moved away from the co-operative-type housing projects because it appeared that people preferred to undertake their individual constructions. It did not help that some housing co-operatives had crooked people, some of who took whatever money was deposited and ran.
These days, the government allocates house lots both to private housing developers and to those who want to build their own homes. Most of the private developers would construct the homes and sell the finished products. Others would seek the help of the potential homeowner. They would advertise the houses and invite people to apply. The applicant would make cash deposits toward the construction and in time a finished house would be delivered.
Sadly though, it is here that the scam is perpetrated. People would advertise that they are private developers and invite people to make payments toward the homes that would be constructed. The promise is that the more money paid toward the home the faster would the house be provided.
This should be a signal that the so-called developer needs money before he can attempt to construct any home. This, then, is where the scam is perpetrated. More often than not, the person who proposes to collect money to effect the construction has no house lot.
He is clever, though. He would advertise in the newspapers, identifying land that is really owned by another developer. This other developer cannot take the time to check the advertisements so the scam goes undetected. In the end, those who harbour initial doubts would be taken to the land and the cash flows would begin.
It is a mystery that people who must work so hard for their money have not killed anyone. In one case, a so-called housing developer actually convinced people actually trotting out to them what was nothing but a Ponzi scheme. He fled the country when the police was called.
Now there is yet another. This individual actually collected money from overseas-based Guyanese; he collected money from people living right here in Guyana. In one case he actually threatened one of the local depositors who wanted a refund. He actually went to the young man’s home and caused the young man to avoid his own home.
Such scams happen because people have not grown accustomed to checking the veracity of claims by housing developers. In the first instance, the Ministry of Housing should know every potential housing developer. This is the agency that knows how every plot of land is allocated. Unless the so-called developer has a friend in the Housing Ministry such information on ownership would not be exposed.
Many people are of the view that anyone who approaches them with an offer of housing development is honest. The sad fact is that the laws do not really help the hapless. Perhaps if the penalty for defrauding people was at least ten years in jail, there would not have been so many housing scams.
The same thing happens with the sale of motor vehicles. Already there are those who sell defective vehicles as reconditioned vehicles. Then there are those who advertise themselves as importers of vehicles and could, in the same manner of the housing developer, offer one on one service. There are more than a few of these.
Meanwhile, hapless people continue to lose money. It was surprising that he police actually told those who were fleeced that their issue was a civil matter. This is the response of the police to the many reports of fraud. We are glad that they now hold an opposing view.

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Fleecing the trusting few

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