My Experience Buying A Camella Homes Property

On June 1, 2009, myself and my Filipina fiance, Ella purchased a home in

Sorrento, Philippines through Camella Properties, (a.k.a. Crown Communities,
Pampanga, Philippines. We paid P2,400,200 cash upfront for the Elaisa model blocl
20, lot 4.

I visited my new home several times, with Ella from June through October., and
watched as our house was being built. I chose to do business with Camella because
I liked the lot location. Camella Properties Business Director, Mr.Joseph Mahusay
upon my request, walked the property boundaries in my presence. When I asked him
in June who owned the property to the right of my lot, he said a family with kids
was due to move in there. The house was 10% completed and I thought it strange
that as late as as late as September, the house remained 10% complete and no work
was ever done on it.

In mid September, I learned that the house I had been monitoring was not actually
my house. The 10% completed house to the right was now mysteriously my house.
Something had gone very wrong. It sounded very fishy. I asked the help of Brygy.
Capt. Rafael Yabut and Gerry Santos to be present at a meeting with the general
manager of Camella Homes Pampanga. Much thanks to those brgy. Capt. by the way...

At a meeting on 9/23/09 at the company's satelite office at Mc. Arthur Highway San
Fernando, we were officially informed by Ms. Ma. Graciela Lopena and Mr. Joseph
Mahusay that they personally made a ”mistake on the lot number.” Through a
supposed error on the part of Camella, “my lot is apparently to the right (the
10% completed house).” They claimed they just recently discovered the error.
Really!! Hard to believe that professionals don't know their own business and they
would make a egregious mistake like that. As a businessman, this sounds like pure
fiction. Doesn't add up. If you believe that, you believe the Statue of Liberty is
made of green cheese!. What kind of trickster stuff were they up to?

Imagine my dismay., when I learned this. As I watch the two co-conspirators look
down, I knew that Camella flat out lied to me. Now the home I was expecting to
move into suddenly doesn't exist. A harsh reality is that when you pay Camella for
your home, they suddenly lose interest in you. From the back office to sales, they
are rude, unprofessional, appear like they are doing you a favor, and have no
respect. They hide the truth, and hide from the truth. When you add it all up,
it's a horrible and stressful experience. An experience that makes you feel really
uneasy.. In addition, they don't want to return the money. They want me to accept
the new property. Stress! Stress! I really despise these people.

After this experience I did some Internet research and discovered how other
Camella homeowners had also been lied to. SEE CAMELLA VS HOMEOWNERS
http://djsumaylo.wordpress.com/2009/05/02/camella-homes-vs-home-owners/#comment-
424. Here is one of the comments from the aforementioned link.

“Camella Homes,owned by Manny Villar and managed by his daughter, has the worst
service. They don’t act on the complaints of the home owners, which are 90% OFWs,
who paid millions of pesos for a 40 sq.m. House.” ---and one more follows
below---

“Our recently-purchased unit in Sienna Villas, Caloocan City is a mess… Looks like
constructed from rejected materials. I will be posting the pictures in the
internet soon and I will publish the links to messages boards and blogs.”
 We would have loved to have given praise to Camella and spread it to all our
contacts for a job well done, but well Camella wouldn't hear of it. The message
for us – caveat emptor!

As a member of 14 expat foreigner sites in the Philippines, I offer a closing

thought from my U.S./Mexican Expat colleague Santos on the subject: “Hello Mike,
this is Santos I met you on Wednesday at your fund raiser. You are 100percent
right about Camella homes. I bought a house and 4lots in Montana Vista Subdivison,
they build the homes with sub standard block and and lie, lie, lie to you about
repairing your home. If you write to Villar his office will reply that your
problem will be sent to their Manila office and nothing will be done. Warn every
Foreigner and OFW not to buy Camella formerly Crown Communities, they are
dishonest, all they will do is take your money-- ”