3rd December 2008
Overseas property investors keen on taking advantage of declining prices to snap up bargains in emerging markets, especially in Bulgaria have been warned of the risk of being victims of property fraud.

This kind of fraud has been on the increase and is rife in new eastern European countries, especially those that have recently joined the European Union, according to the Sofia Echo.

The newspaper quotes David O'Donnell, who works in the legal sector as saying that a Bulgarian contract is "hardly worth the paper that it is printed on".

"Developers and real estate agents there have a more aggressive approach to property sales and our firm has dealt with hundreds of people who have encountered problems when buying property abroad," he warned.

"In some cases, buyers are signing contracts where the property is valued at much less than they are paying, in order to avoid more tax, at the behest of property agents."

Overseas property investors from the UK have been drawn to Bulgaria since it joined the European Union in 2007.



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