Before starting to discuss the activities of the housing society "Best Way", the reviews should be carefully considered, not only from those people who joined the LCD, but also from independent experts. At all times, especially in modern conditions of the global economic crisis, solving your own housing problem is such an important step that it is extremely dangerous to do it without comprehensive theoretical training. Therefore, it is best to start by studying, as they say now, materiel: concepts, terminology, legislative acts, and even the history of the issue.
What is cooperation and cooperation. Or what we are considering
When a person faces a specific task that requires a solution that he alone cannot cope with, relatives, friends and like-minded people come to the rescue. This is precisely how the cooperative movement arose in the eighteenth century - by the method of lengthy trial and error. The tasks for the cooperators in each case were different, but people united to solve them always voluntarily. This is the main sign of the cooperative movement. The principles of joint activity have not changed much over several centuries: housing cooperatives are built on the same conditions even today, as consumer cooperatives are in the eighteenth century in England. However, on what principles the construction of the Best Wei housing cooperative is based, the reviews are not silent, and we must admit that the differences are cardinal.
A somewhat earlier English version appeared the cooperative movement in France, its foundation was industrial, even earlier in Germany the first cooperatives of peasants and artisans were created. However, it was in England that the one closest to modern housing was born. And Russia, of course, did not stand aside: the path of cooperative construction brought us some experience over the 170 years of its existence, it was difficult and difficult - from the Decembrists in the Trans-Baikal Wilderness with their consumer cooperative to today's worries with subsequent joys or sorrows. In the Soviet Union, housing cooperatives existed, but in a very limited quantity, since the state itself was engaged in providing housing for the people, without giving property to property. Since the collapse of the USSR, the situation has changed dramatically, which is why such associations as the Best Way Housing Cooperative have gained wide opportunities for existence.
Reviews say that when joining any community of cooperators, you need to have an initial capital for a down payment, which is usually much more significant than the subsequent ones. The issue is either a loan taken at the bank, or enormous willpower, which makes it possible to accumulate funds for the purchase of a unit for future living space: after all, there are now so many unbelievable temptations that self-discipline is most often left only with memories. Judging by many reviews of the housing society "Best Way" (we will not say now that they are all very similar in rhetoric), it is proposed to make savings according to an individual schedule with the size of the first share contribution of more than ten thousand rubles. You can save as long as you like, depending on the strength of the desire to get your own home. Here you can already bring a number of negative reviews about the housing society "Best Way", but it’s better not to rush things.
This association declares incredibly low interest on allocated funds - from 0% to 2% (if the term is up to ten years). A package of documents in order to become a shareholder does not need to be collected, just a passport. The work of the LCD is positioned as transparent, since each shareholder has a personal account directly on the website of the housing cooperative. Negative reviews about "Best Way", however, deny all transparency. However, the above conditions of a prudent person should already be alerted, and even more alarmed by the proposed possibility of transferring his own share to any member of the cooperative or even to an outsider. And you can get fully paid housing anywhere in the country, regardless of geography. How is this possible? Strange, almost fabulous conditions. All this is very similar to financial organizations for quick loans of money, only it is not the client who receives them, but the subsidizing organization. So, the Best Way Housing Cooperative - is this a hoax?
"Fooled glad" and is this the case
Own square meters - is this not the main dream of the bulk of the modern population, no matter what country it lives in? Our state gives every citizen the right to realize this dream in accordance with the Constitution, laws have already been created and are regulated by which one can exercise his right. One of the ways to get property is to create a housing cooperative. These are now non-profit organizations that exist as a kind of consumer cooperative, where the Housing Code of the Russian Federation is strictly observed in providing members of the association with square meters. Housing cooperative "Best Way" is no exception. This organization also acts while strictly within the law.
Objects are bought in the same way or built with cooperative money, without the participation of credit institutions, where the percentage is usually too heavy. So, the cooperative gets housing almost twice as much. With a mortgage this will not work. This is the main advantage of any housing cooperative. This also includes the lack of intermediaries, which are as expensive as tax deductions. Housing cooperative "Best Way" offers additional and very attractive opportunities that a hundredfold increase the benefits of this choice. For example, the same offers with their help to accumulate money for a share contribution and buy real estate anywhere in the country.
Some offers look very tempting: for example, obtaining an apartment subject to a contribution of only a third of its actual cost. If the construction is shared, shareholders of the Best Way residential complex accept the property from the developer. Work is also underway with maternity capital, with subsidies for housing. A legal review is provided for each transaction. However, there is one peculiarity of work characteristic only for LCD "Best Way". Shareholders must be active. They are the ones who advance in line faster. What is the activity of shareholders? And the fact that they must constantly engage in the recruitment of new members in the cooperative "LCD" Best Way "." At this point, any sane person should already be wary.
Complaints of shareholders immediately become clear that they can’t get any housing. Most likely, these people were not active enough. Mention is also made of cases in which the share has been fully paid, and the shareholder and his family have long lived in the square meters received, and the ownership is still not registered in the Best Way residential complex. The responses of the cooperative workers next to each such complaint refute the foregoing, but, nevertheless, the very appearance of such accusations should already be alarming. The bank can issue large amounts of credit, the cooperative - no. Typically, the mortgage as a down payment is the amount of 30% of the total value of this property. All housing cooperatives are forced to take more - from 50%. But this is not Best Way LCD. The reviews state that he is ahead of the rest - both banks and other cooperatives, because he offers more favorable conditions to his investors.
Real estate without a bank - is it real?
Acquires real estate for Best Share LCD for shareholders with certain guarantees. For example, a guarantee of compliance with the Civil Code and Housing, existing throughout the Russian Federation, as well as under the control of the state and the general meeting of shareholders. Actually, the unit account is located in the Sberbank of the Russian Federation, as stated on the cooperative’s website. This is actually not the case. He is not there. The site even says about close cooperation and presentations held in the offices of Sberbank. Wishful thinking is valid. This is not the only inaccuracy: at the bottom of the main page is a certificate from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which it never issued.
In addition, the return of all shares is guaranteed - 100%. However, the former investors of the Housing Cooperative "Best Way" from Ufa in the reviews write slightly different. The first entry fee (2,000 euros!) And membership fees of 1,000 rubles, which are paid monthly, are not returned to the person who decided to leave the cooperative. If the monthly payment is overdue, tangible penalties are accrued, plus another 1000 rubles. But this is not the most surprising.
Having received the desired living space, a member of the cooperative will not be the owner until the debt is fully repaid, this apartment or house is decorated at the Best Wei Housing Cooperative. In Ufa, as well as in other cities, very often payments are designed for ten years. What will happen if the union does not live up to this happy moment? At any time, the owner - the housing society "Best Way" (in Irkutsk, Ufa or any other city - there is one charter) can evict the shareholder by selling or renting this apartment or house.
The shareholder does not own the living space, a lot of money has been invested, and it is problematic to return it from the organization that has ceased to exist. Moreover, to take ownership of the incompletely paid property if all payments are made out as payment for the lease (and this is the case everywhere). Even if payments are made in full, all state fees are not paid at all by the Best Way Housing Cooperative in Moscow or Ufa, St. Petersburg or Irkutsk. Attention: otherwise, if payments are not made in full, fees are also paid by the shareholder.
The toolkit of this cooperative’s work is also interesting: no one else uses network marketing methods, but here they are the basis. A shareholder, at the same time as joining, becomes a consultant and marketer studying and promoting the services of a cooperative. It is due to these business qualities that his turn for housing will not stand still. Do not bring new members - do not get anything. The charter of the housing society "Best Way" does not allow the dissolution of the cooperative, if at least one of its members is against it. However, organizations of this type must cease to exist sooner or later, because the construction of a pyramid cannot be infinite. And in case of collapse, the unit contributions will not be returned. Those who entered the cooperative later than others will be especially affected. The legislation of the Russian Federation provides for the return of shares, but are these laws always implemented?
Lawyers reviews about LCD "Best Way"
In addition to numerous discussions of the activities of this cooperative in the social networks VKontakte and Facebook (the names of the groups are “talking”: “There are no scammers and pyramids!”), There are a lot of professional assessments from lawyers and economists on the Internet. Anatoly Filippenkov, President of the Union of Small and Medium Enterprises of the Sverdlovsk Region, speaks of an increase in the number of fraud in this area.
He argues that rates at 2 or 6% per annum at this time simply cannot be either in a commercial organization or in a non-profit organization, and also warns that it is necessary to be careful about “free cheese”, since this is probably a mousetrap. And LCD "Best Way", the charter of which provides for a constant increase in the number of shareholders, has all the signs of a financial pyramid. Its success depends directly on how many people they manage to recruit, because the "common boiler" must be constantly replenished, otherwise people will get tired of waiting. And the explosion can happen at any stage. That is why commercial real estate is better to acquire in other ways.
Why is the cooperative so deadly interest rate? In fact - not like that. In order to understand this, you just need to study the loan conditions in much more detail. These numbers - 0% or 2% - are an excellent way to lure the gullible. In reality, it is much higher, because in addition to the contribution (which is 35% minimum of the value of the property), each participant pays 11,000 rubles a month (in some branches - 12,000): ten of them are a share contribution, and 1000 or 2000 are membership fees).
The housing estate cooperative "Best Way" still does not know when it will transfer the property to the shareholder, but it has already been using the money from the very beginning and does not deduct any interest for this use. Literally all lawyers, independent of the cooperative’s activities, say the same thing: this scheme of acquiring housing can be fraudulent for shareholders, since it is likely that the pyramid will fall apart even if the organizers of the cooperative do not evaporate in an unknown place, taking the money accumulated in a folding , from the general cash desk.
What do shareholders say in reviews?
First of all, the conditions are listed under which membership in the Best Way Housing Cooperative is possible. In Irkutsk, the reviews on the city forum did this most fully. The points:
- Any citizen who is over 16 years old can join a cooperative.
- You need a passport.
- Choose your desired property.
- Pay an entry fee of 2,000 euros.
- Pay 35% or 50% of the cost of the selected object.
The remaining amount will add a cooperative. The rate will depend on the contribution made: if paid 35% of the cost, it is 6% per annum, if paid 50% - 2% per annum. (The Irkutsk representative of the cooperative apparently did not say anything about the rate of 0%.)
- Then, monthly share contributions are paid - at least 10,000 rubles, and membership fees - 1,000 rubles.
- All invested money is accumulated in a single account, in the "common boiler", until the amount allows you to buy property in turn. Typically, members of a cooperative expect from six months to a year.
- The selected object is acquired as the owner of the housing society "Best Way".
- After 10 years, the shareholder pays the debt to the cooperative, but begins to use the property much earlier.
- With the repayment of the debt, the property will be issued to the shareholder in the property, not earlier.
Negative reviews about the Best Way Housing Cooperative (St. Petersburg) are for the most part presented by lawyers who were attracted to the discussion by buyers of housing space who were not well versed in housing legislation and who were looking for the most budgetary and least risky way. Negative is much less than positive reviews, which, however, are very similar to custom-made, "fake" ones. Oddly enough, the reviews of lawyers say the same thing, although they examine the phenomenon from many different angles. The conclusions, however, are the same. According to all experts, the project seems extremely attractive, but you need to remember that all such schemes are only a product of the crisis and are filled with significant financial risks.
What do strangers write in reviews
A lot of reviews from realtors from different cities, and these are experienced people who themselves are looking for real estate transactions. However, it can be seen from the reviews that with the Best Way housing cooperative they most often fail to make deals. They write from Tomsk that no one helped them choose an object, they did it on their own with difficulty, then paid 2,000 euros of a membership fee, in January 2018 they concluded an agreement after making 35% of the cost of the chosen housing. Then the wait began. Six months later, advice came from "experienced" members of the cooperative: the line can be bought for 130,000 rubles, which was done. However, so far the turn has not moved, and there is no transparency with this question, as well as specifics in the answers to the questions.
Reviews from St. Petersburg were written with bitter humor, where the cooperative’s activity is called legalized taking of money: the company exists on contributions, makes no profit on anything, only redistributes the contributions of shareholders from the bottom up - is it not a pyramid?
"I wonder what will happen if depositors at the lower level run out?" - Ask Muscovites studying ways to buy real estate. - "But this is sure to someday have to happen! What will the following apartments be bought for?" And they draw parallels with the mortgage, which exists within the framework of the law, but the Best Way housing cooperative is a hoax, it works as if by law, but without any framework. No specifics, only promises.
In Yekaterinburg laid out all the grounds for mistrust literally on the shelves:
- There must be documents for the purchase of land. They are not here. The course of work should be clear, for this a video camera is usually placed online. This is not there either. There is also no way to check the construction site in person.
- , - . .
- When selling, it is necessary to be guided by Federal Law 214, as all large construction companies do.
- When buying from a consumer, property should appear. If this does not happen, then there was no purchase. And if the mortgage is encumbered property, then the Best Way Housing Cooperative is a promise of property after the purchase. Without an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate in the name of the buyer of property there can be no property. And this means that there was no purchase.
Co-operative housing or housing funded?
Many reviews raise the question: why is the company called a housing cooperative, and works according to all the rules of another type of cooperative association - a housing funded society? According to FZ-349, in a housing cooperative, all its members participate in the acquisition and maintenance of an apartment building. According to FZ-215, the housing savings cooperative provides for voluntary pooling of unit contributions to meet the needs of shareholders in residential premises.
In the agreement on membership in the housing society "Best Way" more than one paragraph is completely copied precisely from FZ-215. Does this not mean that the company functions as not just a housing, but a housing funded cooperative? However, the State Register does not mention a housing funded cooperative with this name. The Internet raises a lot of such uncomfortable questions that it is impossible to block even the same positive reviews. The fact is that “funded” is not just a word; such a cooperative differs from housing in completely different rules. For example, you need to enter information into the State Register of Legal Entities about everyone who has applied to join this organization, and only after this procedure can he be considered a shareholder.
Inconvenient questions
The entrance fee, which is supposedly not for accumulation, but supposedly for promotion and advertising, as well as membership fees, must be paid monthly, even if the person has already received an apartment, raise extremely unpleasant questions for the founders of the housing complex and spoil the almost idyllic picture of membership in the cooperative they created. And there are tons of questions. For example, how did it happen that a contribution of 35% of the cost of housing (and this is often millions of rubles!) Is not a guarantee of obtaining the desired property? A man languidly waits for the line until the right amount of money accumulates in the "common boiler". Moreover, one must be an "active shareholder", otherwise the line will not advance. And even if it moves up to the moment of receiving the apartment, the property will be issued to the cooperative as the owner.
It is ridiculous to read that the employees of this company do not make a purchase for the rightful owner just because they protect it from paying taxes. But they don’t save from a monthly membership fee of 1,000 or 2,000 rubles! It is such a scheme that shows that the cooperative will be the real manager and owner of this property. That is, he is free to ask for the release of housing at any time in order to sell it, mortgage it, lease it out. And until the promised registration of ownership, the cooperative member still has to wait about ten years. This is a very long time, anything can happen.
How not to suspect fraud, if at every step employees of the company admit it in one concentration or another? As already mentioned, the LCD "Best Way" is not a partner of Sberbank of Russia and the logo was used on its website without permission, as the copyright holder made an official statement. It should be noted that many not-too-tidy companies use this maneuver: they strengthen their reputation against the background of the country's largest bank. But in this case, the focus failed, and the bank defended its own interests so as not to mislead its customers. Unauthorized use of the logo of Sberbank of Russia on the website of LCD "Best Way" was stopped and was accompanied by an official press statement.
Associated activities
LCD "Best Way" has additional offers to its shareholders. For example, the company said it was collaborating with several not-so-well-known investment companies, which made it possible for members of a cooperative not only to get a profitable home, but also to make good money. It is mentioned Hermes Managemet Ltd. This company, in the name of each member of the cooperative, opens an account with a bank in Austria, where you can transfer funds that are earned by attracting new members to Best Way at 25% per annum, and payments are fully made in foreign currency. Is it necessary to clarify that deposits with similar profitability cannot exist in Austria at all, as all the interviewed participants in the financial market claim. How can I open a deposit in a bank abroad without personally being present? After all, you must provide all the data on the origin of the funds.
Professionals in the financial market are more than confident that the Best Way housing cooperative is full of signs of a typical financial pyramid. And the most important sign is the condition for acquiring housing for one member due to the availability of contributions from others, who, in turn, will wait for replenishment of finances from new ones that have just joined the cooperative. And this flow must be continuous. The so-called "bonus" scheme is also inherent in all pyramids, without exception, when participants, attracting new members, receive interest from their entry fee (in this case, 240 euros).
Conclusions: how not to remain without housing and without money
Attorney Dmitry Lebedev believes that the acquisition of all real estate only from accredited developers is also suspicious, as it is a certain scheme. When the pyramid collapses, the cooperative will conduct the calculation of the real estate that it bought. So, you have to take it away from those who did not manage to pay off to the end. Who succeeded - well done, but the lion's share of contracts was concluded for ten years, and there are only four cooperatives. The documentation was said above, it will not be able to confirm in any way that the residential complex owes something to someone: contributions are made out in the form of rent for the apartment in which the shareholder lives. Judging by the sales transaction, the owner is a cooperative, not a contributor living in the apartment.
Many experts also say that usually the goal of such organizations is to collect large sums of the maximum number of members. The prospect is this: when a favorable moment arrives, the cooperative ceases to exist. Management on the run, taking all the money, shareholders are left without an apartment and without money. The schemes implemented by the cooperative are almost perfect for such a scenario. The organization does not offer risk protection to shareholders.