Illegal Sale of Apartments Being Investigated
The administration of the National Mortgage Bank is investigating five reports of the illegal sale of apartments in the Urban Renewal Project in Curundú. The manager of the BHN, Rafael Guardia, said if this anomaly is found the apartment owner will be cited with a verbal reprimand in the first instance, and for repeat offenses they will automatically lose the benefit of the housing solution. "These are apartments whose cost is subsidized by the State with $35,000 dollars, and therefore they cannot be transferred for a profit," said Guardia. Each apartment has a market value of $50,000 dollars, of which the Curundú residents have to pay $15,000 dollars. In order to guarantee that the owners make regular payments for the apartments, the BHN will install a new branch exclusive to the area in the apartment complex, and they will use the "cold tap" system, in which agency officials will visit homes weekly to collect payments. (Panama America)
Editor's Comment: When the government built these apartments the residents had to sign a whole bunch of paperwork saying they would live there and use the apartments as their primary residence. These apartments cannot be sold or transferred, at least until after they have been paid completely paid off. Basically, this is a "gift" of $35,000 dollars from the government. Is anyone surprised that some "juega vivos" are trying to find a way to sell the apartments to someone else in order to make some money? It's not going to work.
