Dear Editor,
The change is Georgetown seems to have had little effect in several areas. My experience involved an execution sale of a property by a bank on the 12th November 2015 at the New Amsterdam High Court.
Inquiries from a marshal as to whether the auction was on, one day before a previous set date indicated it was off, produced no explanation, nor the date of the next sale. It was only after a lawyer’s clerk intervened and demanded to know the date that it was given (November 12).
On the 12th the owner on arriving to bid was greeted by the news that the bidding would start at $13M; it appears the intention was to scare her away as she had initially owed over $6,000,000 but it increased to $13,200,000 from judgement in 2008 to the present. Knowing bids start at zero we stayed on sensing something amiss. The bidding started about one hour later than prescribed. There were only two persons bidding ‒ the owner and another person who started at $1M. It went to $16,200,000 as the owner ceased at $16,000,000, so she lost.
A marshal told the owner (former) she would be allowed two weeks to stay on the property but got a cell phone call from the marshal about two-and-a-half hours later telling her that the other person did not turn up within the stipulated two hours with the 25% as required. This he said meant he had forfeited his bid and she could get it for $11,000,000. She went back to the court and enquired how was it possible to have it reduced. She said if that is possible she would not pay that amount but less, as the property had been valued at less.
It was almost 4 o’clock so they told her to return in the morning and she could have it for $11,000,000 or the other person would get it. She made enquiries from lawyers who told her they would have to do over the sale, so she did not go in the morning. All calls to the bank to be updated on what was transpiring were not responded to, not even texts.
She received further information about 9 o’clock the following day (13th) that if she did not go before 10’clock the other person would get the property. Some time after 11 o’clock she was told not to worry as the property had been sold, but that they could not reveal to whom and for how much. Someone at the bank subsequently answered stating that the property had been sold but they could not give details. Intervention from a lawyer revealed no sale had occurred.
This irregularity involving both private and public entities must be investigated. For over a week we were scouting everywhere to get the facts, until a lawyer told us they have stayed the sale. Lots of explanation is demanded.
Yours faithfully,
M Sookraj
