IRM goes bust............

IRM goes bust for 630 Million Euros, now thats a lot of balls...........


El Confidencial has reported that IRM (Investments in Mediterranean Resorts) filed voluntary bankruptcy creditors on October 9. 

The suspension of payment is due to the refusal of Sareb (the bad bank) to refinance at IRM, a company created in 2009 which owns the assets of Polaris World awarded to the banks. 

Sareb will get all assets of IRM, among them many lands or the Murcia Intercontinental Hotel, for resale. 

Polaris World is basically empty of content as creditor banks were awarded in 2010 with the good assets (mostly finished homes close to golf courses) that they managed to sell them at discounts of up 60%. 

See: http://haciendariquelmeblog.blogspot.com.es/2013/10/irm-presento-concurso-voluntario-de.html

The 'bad bank' force the contest for 630 million new owner of the houses of Polaris World

MRI Society was created in 2009 by Banco Popular, Banco de Valencia, CAM and Bankia to manage the assets that these banks were awarded their lot for the debts of Polaris

 

Thursday, October 10, 2013 | AFR

 El Intercontinental Mar Menor,

The Sareb (known as the 'bad bank'), has forced IRM (Investments in Mediterranean Resorts), which is the company which includes assets foreclosed by banks Polaris World present creditors voluntary bankruptcy with a debt of 630 million euros (of which Sareb has 309 million transferred by Bankia and Banco de Valencia). In addition, the company has equity loans 581 million.

As reported today the Confidential, the Sareb has taken this decision because it has priority in the collection For banks, so they will keep all the assets of the company, among which there are many soils, besides the Hotel Intercontinental.

According to information published on this website, IRM was created in 2009 to manage the assets that were awarded four financial (CAM, Bancaja, Banco de Valencia and Popular) in refinancing Polaris World to avoid the bankruptcy of this conglomerate companies in Murcia, icon of the housing bubble. These were the less liquid assets, ie mostly rural land in Alhama de Murcia, where he tried to install the proposed Paramount Park. With mergers in the financial sector, CAM was absorbed by Sabadell, Banco de Valencia Bancaja for La Caixa and Caja Madrid merged and five boxes to form Bankia. And in December last year, the debt of MRI with Bankia and Banco Valencia was transferred to the Sareb.

Following these movements, the IRM situation was as follows. Its capital, comprising equity loans, is divided into 164 million Sabadell, Bankia 144 million, 137 million Caixa (Banco de Valencia), 124 million and 12 Sareb Popular from Bankia (in theory, not business units were transferred). As for the debt, the bulk corresponds to the bad bank, 309 000 000 (167 from Banco de Valencia and Bankia 142), while Sabadell and Popular 185, 136.

MRI was negotiating an agreement to provide a solution to the assets of the company, but the duration of the process has led to its inability to meet its payment obligations. Popular and Sabadell refinance favored to have a chance to get their money in the future, but the competition has forced Sareb volunteer. This figure assumes that the company has four months to reach an agreement with its creditors, otherwise, competition will definitely normal creditors, the old default.

Share this news: http://www.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmurciaeconomia.com%2Fnot%2F19023%2Fel__banco_malo__fuerza_el_concurso_por_630_millones_de_la_nueva_propietaria_de_las_casas_de_polaris_world%2F&sandbox=1

Strange what goes around Nige

4th Oct IRM meeting update

From: Hilary, PP7
Sent: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 10:24
Subject: Workers Compound meeting

Hi

I can confirm that I went to the Catastro Office in Murcia on Friday and confirmed ownership of the various pieces of land around HRGR (the red and yellow areas on the map and outside the fence). With this information, we are due to meet with IRM and the HRGR Committee at the beginning of October, provisionally 4th of Oct (when all are available) to decide on the future of the Workers Compound.

I expect a final decision shortly after this date.

The problems (with the workers compound and the lakes) are now in hand, I welcome your photos and your updates as you do bring many possible problems to light early.  This is a good thing..... In the end, we all want to work together to protect our investments on our resort in the best way possible. 

Best regards

Hilary

Sept Status

Fantastic work a credit  to you so far!

We have never been involved in such a quagmire of "he said, she said" arguments that have got no closer and indeed will not get any closer to being solved to the benefit of either the offended sub communities, the HRGR main committee or indeed for the rest of the owners of the resort. Not until some fundamental key points are sorted out.

First and foremost we believe now that everyone agrees that phase 7 has been dealt an injustice which was put in place by Polaris initially and then added to by the HRGR committee at that time and subsequent committees

 
The present HRGR and others prior have tried what they thought was best for them and phase 7 but never really tackled the problem instead ,smoke screened the problem each time because as they thought "it was the best place to put the contractors" , and the easiest resolution. Now however the Resort committee  realise that they must listen to not just Sub presidents but owners as well because we are all or should be equals..

 
It goes without saying that every one involved realises that there must be a time scale to the accomplishment of our problem. It has been clearly set out in e mails from the points that have to be discussed and implemented. HOWEVER, no discussion or problem solving can be done between two warring factions. Something or one has to give in order that matters move forward. 

 
Away from the mud slinging there has been through private and other e mails thought provoking  problems concerning the whole resort and that of the golf course.Without communication from both sides the resort will suffer.  Compromise is necessary for the benefit of all. We have on phase 7 offered an agenda to move forward .The Resort president and committee will not communicate and have offered no terms for change other an remove the threat of court action . We are prepared to do that providing that we know we have the full attention of the resort Committee  and that they agree to a time scale of restitution .Total restitution .

 

Now that the PP7 has achieved so much in such a short time,surely now all sides will listen and work together to make our site a friendly place to be as the golf course is in so much trouble ,

 

In our blocks we have the whole of the 2nd and 3rd floors that can see directly onto the building site.The ground floor residents cannot see to the back but are still subjected to the noise filth and smells as are we all.

 

We personally hope that others on the committee will take this on board so that we can all get back to a more informed courteous HR Resort.

 

If not then the President and Committee have to change in order to represent all owners that have an equal voice and an equal right in what is right and wrong at HRGR. So far one PP has fell on their sword as they did not have the full backing of their phase SCPs. Now we have a PP who supports our actions and time will tell what the next outcomes will be

 

Status to be updated 18th Sept 2013

Water Analysis proof requested

Following IRM's direct email reply to the HRGR Association, we have requested further clarification and additional information concerning the water in the lakes. We have asked that they send to us detail documentation of the analysis of the lake water content samples which show the appropriate stamps and certification that verifies that they have appropriate approval within the law. We have also requested to learn when the lakes will be refilled and the quality of water to be used in keeping with the environmental impact study dated 17 August 2005. We also await a response from STV on these matters,a summary of the chemicals used in the resort as previously requested to the community administrators by our phase president and ourselves and confirmation of adherence to the Environmental Impact Study. Finally, in case there is ongoing confusion on the proposed wall to the area known as the workers compound, then as this is local authority land then it will need their stamped formal authority. We will formally object shortly to the local council that this area, being used as a rubbish dump and workers area, does not have the necessary legal infrastructure or planning permission and should therefore be closed down. We are available to meet in person with IRM if required to review this information and the proposed next steps.

2 HRGR Blogs..........

For the record there are 2 HRGR Blogs

Hacienda Riqueleme Blog and HRGR Blog these can be seen at
http://haciendariquelmeblog.blogspot.co.uk/
http://hrgrblog.blogspot.co.uk/

There are also a number of other key blogs, forums and websites hence PR is not required

Some owners do not get it

It appears that some owners do not get it

Lack of water in lakes

= dead environment
= no golfers
= no renters
= PROBLEMS !

Lunatics

It now appears that if any of the HRGR owners or even elected Sub Community Presidents raise a viewpoint then they are classed as lunatics even when matters have been raised with the committee and community administrators and no response has been forthcoming.

Does really sum up the culture and lack of moderation by the powers that be!

STV Chemicals

Following the recent statement, the chemicals comment relate to the pictures of the communities gardeners spraying throughout the resort.

Perhaps the Committee needs to satisfy itself that the chemicals are in keeping with good local practice and are not affecting the local wildlife.

We acknowledge IRM's and the Committees recent statement::

To all owners:

Following recent environmental issues raised firstly by the committee and subsequently by a well-publicised small group of owners regarding the HR Golf Course and its chemical usage and storage, below is a statement from IRM, the Golf Course owners, in response to those claims.

For the sake of clarity, the state of the golf course and the lakes is not within the remit of your committee or Resortalia although, of course, we do maintain communications between IRM and ourselves on the basis that what is good for HR is also good for IRM and vice versa.  

Dear Sirs, I am addressing you on behalf of INVERSIONES EN RESORTS MEDITERRÁNEOS, S.L, (IRM) corporation which owns the golf course situated in Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort (HRGR), and in response to your request for information on the products used for the conservation and, in particular, about the reason why some fish have been found dead in the lakes as well as our compliance regarding the applicable environmental regulations. In this regard and  all though we have already been in contact with  Resortalia, SLP in his capacity as the community management company  for HRGR owners to give appropriate explanations, we would like to inform you that the products used in the cleaning and maintenance of the golf course are plant strengtheners that are related to the nutritional family ,  thus resulting environmentally friendly, complying in any case all environmental requirements required by the current  legislation, and being handled and delivered with absolute diligence by the responsible personnel, observing precautions even greater than those that  are required by the safety data sheet of each product. Therefore, we should exclude the cause of the appearance of dead fish in the lake due to poisoning or water contamination by these compounds. Moreover, as already indicated to Resortalia, SLP, this is because when the level of water falls as a result of field irrigation, some fish are caught on the area where the vegetation remains temporarily above the water level until the lake is refilled and die from lack of oxygen, and come to the surface once it reaches its original water level. In any case, we assure you that IRM performs its activity with a strict compliance with the current environmental regulations, and complying as you already know with the Environmental Impact Statement of July 14, 2005 (DIA). Similarly, IRM, carries out and duly delivers each year to the General office of Environmental Quality, the Annual Environmental Statement that is requested both by the Article 2 of said DIA as by the Article 133 of the Law 4/2009, of Integrated Environmental Protection of the Region of Murcia and also undergoes every three years an Environmental Audit contained in Article 4 of the EIS. Finally, indicate to you that we remain as usual at your disposal for any clarification or request for additional information concerning those products, their composition, safety data sheets and use, as well as our performance of the applicable environmental regulations. Sincerely,  IRM

The Committee of the Community of Owners of Hacienda Riquelme 

From the president:

Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort - Presidents Newsletter

Regrettably, this newsletter is going to concentrate on some of our financial challenges.

Cash flow
Because of the decrease in revenue due to the increase in debtors (PW being by far the largest) we are generating substantially less cash than was forecast. Accordingly, we have embarked on an austerity program and are only spending on existing contracts plus essential repairs to maintain our security and infrastructure. Although we budgeted for 100,000? for long term repairs and renewals, our cash flow means we would be ?unwise? to consider committing to expense when we cannot be sure that we will receive all our budgeted revenue.

Holidaymakers
June, July and August are the months when those owners who rent their apartments seek to optimize their revenue so that HR resembles a holiday resort.

Unfortunately, too many holidaymakers are attracted by some of the extremely low rentals that can be had here but who do not understand that apart from the golf course, there is little else to do. If the holidaymaker does not have access to a hire car, their options are decidedly limited.

We have already had a serious incident when one of a group of teenagers renting a second floor apartment apparently tried to jump off the apartment wall. He failed to walk away from his misguided attempt. This same group had earlier been smashing glass on to the road and had an altercation with our security.

If you rent, please make sure that your tenants understand the limitations of our facilities. HR was designed as a 5* golf resort and is just not suitable as a general holiday resort.

Our owners and renters must also appreciate that they have no rights to enter the golf course area, which includes the buggy paths unless they are actually playing the course. Any unauthorised person who is on the golf course is trespassing and there at their own risk. If they, or worse, their child, are hit by a golf ball, they would not be covered by insurance and the golfer would have no liability for the injury.

Phase 7 storage area
Owners on Phase 7 are understandably upset about how the storage area is being used by contractors which causes them varying degrees of nuisance depending on their position. Successive committees have recognized this and endeavored to improve matters for Phase 7 but, regrettably have had little success. It would appear that some Phase 7 owners believe that the committee does not care about this issue but nothing could be further from the truth.

The problem lies with the issue that there is nowhere else for our contractors to use that is remotely as effective as the storage area. The alternative areas for contractors to use are both outside our perimeter so would need to be secured before they could be used. One of these areas is adjacent to the pump house to the left of the road to Sucina and the other is outside our security fence opposite the end of Phase 6. We understand that both these areas are owned by PW or IRM so the golf course machinery could be moved to these areas but our gardeners would have no right to use these areas. This would mean that we have nowhere for our gardeners to base themselves.

Moving these operations will involve costs which, eventually, would be passed through to us ? either in increased golf course costs or increases in gardeners? costs. For these reasons, the majority of the committee has not been supportive of the idea to force the contractors to move although we have tried to have the contractors reduce the nuisance of the storage area and to reduce its adverse visual impact.

Some owners on Phase 7 have now had enough and are taking matters in to their own hands by initiating legal action to have the contractors removed. The majority of the committee is not prepared to support the action because they believe that such an action would not be in the best interests of the HR community as a whole.

We should also have a concern that the golf course is owned by a consortium of banks who have no choice but to take a tough commercial line. They have already told us that they are making a loss on the HR course with no sign of an improvement until they can source cheap water. We need to be mindful that if we push them in to a corner they could choose to close the course. I have had the benefit of being in communication with IRM so have a very real fear that this could well be their response so have this comment to say to the good folks on Phase 7: ?Be careful what you wish for?

Nigel Bradbury
President,
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort

For the record.................

Due to the following article http://translate.google.com/translate?depth=1&hl=en&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&sl=es&tl=en&u=http://www.laverdad.es/murcia/v/20130503/murcia/concentracion-trabajadores-hacienda-riquelme-20130503.html

“Workers at  Hacienda Riquelme golf course, situated on the road from Avileses (Sucina), with immediate effect reemployed 6 workers who have been laid off.

CCOO reported that the goal is "that the company Selprats SL is to negotiate working conditions, especially in regard to occupational safety and environment."

For the union, "fire workers who have promoted elections candidates CCOO union is a violation of fundamental rights that we are not willing to allow. " CCOO recalls that "we will fight for every possible means that there are no such situations."

This may well affect the temporary facilities that are supplied for the workers in the workers compound.

The new company, according to the union, manages golf courses Mar Menor Golf Resort, Las Terrazas de la Torre, Condado de Alhama Golf Resort, La Torre Golf Resort, El Valle Golf Resort and Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort (the old Polaris) “

We proposed that any improvements in the working conditions of the IRM employees should not mean purpose built new facilities being built within the current compound. Instead we suggested using the existing empty facilities within the newly built town centre at HRGR and allowing the golf course to use the empty land next to the town centre kitchens. Workers could also use the existing car park facilities. In NO WAY does this say that the temporary old supermarket, wooden hut bar or other areas previously used without planning permsiion should be used,

In addition, all roads within the resort are publicly adopted roads hence any equipment used by the Community or the golf course need to be approved and regulated for use on these roads

An owners feedback

I have to beg to differ with regards to it not having an environmental impact. It doesn't matter whether the lakes are man-made or not. You only have to look at the impact that a small pond has when installed in a domestic garden. The flora and fauna that had established itself here since the lakes were constructed was significant and most of that has now gone.

There is less wild life now attracted and the eyesore that is left is unacceptable. If I had want to look at a volcanic landscape I would have bought a property in Tenerife!

Personally I don't believe that the legal action being taken has got anything to do with it and I also don't think that Lucinda and her following have case. The land where the workers store there machinery etc., isn't even owned by us. There are several areas of council owned land on the resort and they could pretty much do what they like with it !

The photos sent out by Nigel of the proposed fencing is ridiculous and wouldn't do anything to obscure the area from affected phase VII apartments other than those on the ground floor. STV would be better off spending some time moving everything to the back of the area, tidying it up and landscaping around it.

If IRM took their heads out of the 'bunkers' they would see what a fantastic course Riquelme is. If as Ken suggested, they filled the lakes in, leaving a depth of about three or four feet, the visual impact would return, the golf course would have its water hazards, the wildlife would return and the golfers would enjoy their rounds too.

There would be a one off cost to do this but then the ongoing costs would reduce dramatically.

It's not rocket science - they just don't get it.

I also bought off plan, because of the lake views. I chose my apartment after having to move plots because of the three missing buildings issue, costing me another €20K because it was a prerequisite that I had lake views. I think that perhaps we should start a petition (possibly electronically) to send to IRM. One lone voice isn't enough, it needs everybody to kick up a stink. Sitting back, saying 'oh well, that's the way it is', isn't going to get any results.

Am I angry about this, damned right I am. It's scandalous and they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it - perhaps we should sue IRM collectively or at least issue a denuncia as shot across the bows !