Maytas Hill County - Membership drive

I am very thankful to the associations EC for their diligent efforts of educating political leaders of our sorry situation. I would not have been able to do anything on my own from US. I became a member of the owner’s association few weeks back. The membership drive is picking up steam. By becoming a member the owners show their support and also get to express opinions. The association will have more leverage if it represents majority of the owners. This is the least anyone can do. It’s a very small amount when compared to our original investment. There may be concerns due to which some people are reluctant in becoming a member. I'll try to argue why everyone should still become a member. Concern 1: Thinking of canceling the purchase If I understand the sale agreement, there is a clause somewhere which says that you’ll get your money back after six months and that too only if your unit is resold. Otherwise your money is stuck. Reality check - Maytas don’t have funds, how do you expect them to pay? Therefore, in order to get your money back, you still want this project to fructify. Actually, owners may be in a better position to sell their own units than Maytas. Why would Maytas sell a unit up for resale when there have unsold inventory? In any case, would anyone buy if there’s no construction progress? Would you buy in such a situation? Concern 2: Unit is complete (or almost) Your villa or bungalow may be close to completion. However, each unit will reach its deserved value only if the whole township is built as promised. A strong reason, besides Satyam nexus, for purchasing a unit for most owners was the township concept. Wasn't it? Concern 3. I can do a better job than the association can That’s great. You have an excellent clout. Again, your interest aligns very well with those of the other owners. Everyone wants the township to be complete to get real value out of their units. It’s in our own interest to share our connections and reach our ultimate goal. Even after becoming a member, you may still continue with your own efforts. Concern 4: I want to wait before becoming a member Time is of utmost essence and we need to act now. This is not a movie show or a gambling table where you can just wait before making a bet. You are not legally bound in anyway after becoming a member. Concern 4: This is a lost cause No, this is not a lost cause. It may be a long haul but we will SUCCEED. We will get our units. We need to be persistent. Now is the time to show your support.

Maytas Hill County - Media coverage of the owner's protest

There was a decent media coverage for the owner's protest on June 7th. Here are a few links:

Hindu

Business Standard

Economic Times

Deccan Chronicle

Sakshi

Mail Today

YouTube

Efforts of Maytas Hill County Owner's association

The owner's association made some great efforts to garner media attention. On June 7th, hundreds of owners attended a meeting organized by the Owners Association. Invitations were sent out to quite a few journalists, who later published articles in major Indian news papers.

Gathering attention is just one step. The next major milestone would be to gather political support from local leaders. The legal option is not ruled out yet - but legal battle drags on for years.

Maytas collected most of the money from customers and has stopped construction for the past 6 months. There is no progress whatsoever on Maytas hill county project from the management. A weekly newsletter is sent out to all the owners with no 'real' updates.

As a team, the owners are trying to make the responsible parties aware of the current situation. No one know who can save the owners from such a situation.

Maytas Hill county - future in limbo

I bought an apartment in the Maytas Hill County development in Hyderabad. The features of the project included a self-contained gated community comprised of professionals, a whole new 'walk to work' lifestyle and an IT related SEZ, schools, hospitals, clubhouse, community centre, etc. I invested in this development due to Satyam name and I ended investing my lifetime savings.

The MHC management diverted most of the funds into other real-estate projects. They claim that they don’t have any money. There has been no worthwhile progress since the Satyam scam broke in January 2009. The promoters have virtually closed down operations, sacked most of their employees, disposed of assets and are lying low. FYI, the project was supposed to be completed in Sep 2008.

Moreover, instead of showing some remorse and earnestly restarting construction, the Maytas management is playing hard to get and keep giving vague and evasive responses to the queries raised by home owners. This was supposed to be a one-of-a-kind of project. Now, I guess it is!

I can’t explain how painful it is to even imagine the prospect of your lifetime savings evaporating in front of your eyes. There are just over thousand other investors just like me. Close to 400 owners have formed an owner’s association and are trying to confront the Maytas management. The association has been doing a tremendous job and I hope the association can successfully apply just enough pressure on the Maytas management to finish the project. I’m still optimistic as I have always been.

Cheers!