Open letter to Public Opinion from Grupo López-Rosa

LOPEZ ROSA GROUP CALLS FOR MORE REGULATIONS FOR LOT DEVELOPMENTS IN YUCATAN

The partners of Grupo López Rosa & Asociados, through their co-general directors, Yucatecan businessman Luis Carlos LÓPEZ SÁNCHEZ and his partner, European businessman Gianni Vincenzo René ROSA, call on the authorities to accelerate the process of regulation and the issuance of strict norms for the real estate industry in general, and in particular for lot developments in Yucatan.

As has been denounced on numerous occasions, the Yucatecan lot industry is full of irregularities, which “in the best case are omissions or shortcuts to due procedure” but in many other cases “are situations of possible fraud, whether deliberate or due to the developer's incompetence”. For example, in the areas of Telchac and Santa Clara, there are developments that, while they have divisions (although not always), are located in areas incompatible with real estate development, as established in the POETCY (Program for the ecological ordering of the coastal territory of the State of Yucatan).

Additionally, we are concerned about the case of developments that have a value proposition impossible to deliver due to their low marketing price and their distant delivery times, coupled with a high inflationary risk. In certain cases, it seems that the developer “charges their profit first” and then will deliver “whatever they can with the remaining money”. That is why we call on the State Congress to legislate to regulate pre-sales and give them the seriousness they deserve, establishing, for example, the obligation to grant a bond to be able to pre-sell. Neither the State, nor the clients, nor the serious developers benefit from a scandal over developments not being delivered when a mechanism as simple as a bond could have prevented it.

Also, we must be concerned about the pre-sale of developments in areas where there is no access to the properties and where the most basic services required by a community cannot be provided by the municipalities, such as public transportation, garbage collection, and public security.

• In certain cases, it seems that the developer “charges their profit first” and then will deliver “whatever they can with the remaining money”.
• We call on the State Congress to legislate to regulate pre-sales and give them the seriousness they deserve, establishing, for example, the obligation to grant a bond to be able to pre-sell.
• It would be important for the municipality to review the congruence of the development with federal, state, and POETCY regulations, where applicable, before granting divisions.

Finally, we would like to point the attention on the following points:

• A call to the various municipal authorities to rethink their processes of authorizing real estate developments to prevent deliberate fraud and/or incompetence. In particular, it would be important for the municipality to review the congruence of the development with federal, state, and POETCY regulations, where applicable, before granting divisions and/or condominium regimes. Likewise, in the unfortunate absence of municipal urban development plans (PDUs), we invite municipal authorities to ask themselves “with common sense” whether they will have the capacity to provide basic services in the areas in question, before granting such permits.
• A call to the State Government to promote legislation to standardize the process of granting permits for promoting, pre-selling, and establishing real estate developments, without violating municipal sovereignty. This is already the case in other States where, in addition to municipal authorizations, consents from the State and/or the federation are required to offer real estate developments. We want to emphasize that we are very much in favor of asking developers who pre-sell to provide a performance bond to guarantee the delivery of what is promised.
• A call to lot developers to respect the laws and consider from their conception how their developments, in addition to generating economic profits, will positively impact their surroundings.

We conclude by positively acknowledging the awareness-raising work done by INMDUT with municipal authorities, society, and developers. However, we regret that, in many municipalities, these recommendations have not been integrated into the development authorization process and that numerous lot sellers have not “gotten on board”. Yucatan deserves clear laws and regulations that protect the heritage of the thousands of families and investors who trust in the State each year, that take care of its environment in general, particularly its beaches and reserves, as well as help to preserve the confidence with which one can invest in the real estate market without fear of being defrauded.

Responsible for the publication:
Grupo López Rosa & Asociados

Source: Diario de Yucatan