Empire East Property land holdings no license to sell? Adriatico Gardens wants to be stopped?

The story...

...whilst under orders from HLURB not to, the developer continues to sell, to advertise, and to collect amortisation payments from buyers who it has illegally sold units to.  The developer has not been issued with a License to Sell for the majority of the development,a new one is required from HLURB.  The developer needs to obtain a Certificate of Registration from HLURB.  It also has to get Advertisement approval from HLURB.  It also has to get Development Plan approval, again for the majority of the project.  Basically, the project is being sold and developed without HLURB approval, yet HLURB is the government agency who is responsible for land development and use within the Philippines... (subject for verification)
source: bigwig-empirebeast.blogspot.com 

The same issue was also reported in TV5.
To view the report in TV5, please click this link: TV5 Aksyon Balita

Then Last November 4, 2011 a newspaper reported that another project of Empire East Properties is being asked to stop its construction for environmental issues/violations.  Here's the clip from Manila Standard today:

What is the significance of all these issues to other buyers of Empire East like us from Xavier Hills?

Well with all the issues confronting Empire East from all of its existing condominium it is not surprising that they allowed us to sell and occupy our units without the necessary permits from City Hall.  It is their habit in my opinion to violate the law.  Why do they do that?  Well, bad habits are hard to stop, its like an addiction that needs rehabilitation.  

If you want to know why Empire East land Holdings Condominium is not safe click here

If you want to know why Empire East Land Holdings is not a good choice, please click here


To discover more issues ignored by Empire East land Holdings, please click here

 

 

Empire East issues

The elevators that we use do not have the permit to operate issued by the QC Engineer's Office.

The four towers of Xavier Hills condo have no Fire safety inspection certificate from the Bureau of Fire. For details please click this link:  Safety

For these violations, penalties have been cited in the recommendations issued by the Bureau of Fire but the big question remains, who is going to pay the penalty, will they get it from our association dues?  Empire East has no response yet to this issue.


The absence of safety certificates is not exclusive to Xavier Hills, Green Hills Garden Square were issued and given safety certificates even before the building was finished.  When an investigation was conducted through the requests of the owners, 21 violations in the fire code were found.  Cambridge village also shares the same issue on safety.

The cost and purchase of 12 cctv's in our condo reached P420,000.00

The cost on the rehabilitation of mail boxes reached P200,000.00

The rehabilitation of the playground had been included as one of the reasons for the increase in the association dues effective January 2010. Sad to say no rehabilitation is done as of this date.

It was reported in TV5 that Empire East Property Land Holdings has no License to Sell or Certificate of Registration for their project in Cambridge Village.  A reflection on the habit of Empire East to ignore the law.  For full details of the story please click this link: Empire Beast. 
To view the report in TV5, please click this link: TV5 Aksyon Balita

If you want to know why Empire East Land Holdings is not a good choice, please click here

Other issues from other projects: (subject for verification)
..., this village (Cambridge) is not peaceful, because there is no drainage, the the buildings here are designed for a maximum of 3 storey building, yet when the developer saw that their prohibited merchandize saleable they increased the hieght to 12 storey without the knowledge of the HLUrb, for which this developer has penalized P578,000. Just recently, the HLURB has penalized again Empire East the amount of P272,000.00. Now I am preparing the criminal complaint for violation of Articles 315, 171, 172, and 173 of the Revised Penal Code. and violation of Section 39 of the provisions of P.D. 957... source: Cambridge Village Home Owners FB account
 

Good and bad points about Empire East Land Holdings Condominium

Somebody tells me that I am ranting too much about the condo that I purchase from Empire East Land Holdings.  This is not all about ranting, this is also about getting their attention and make them solve or address the issues that the residents have been complaining since day 1.  I let 5 yeast pass before I create this blog but even up to now I do not see that Empire is really serious in providing us a safe and good community parallel to those words that they use in their marketing.

To balance this blog below are some of the good points that I can enumerate about our condo.
1.  Good Location.  Thank you Empire East for building a condo in New Manila.
2.  The price is very reasonable.  I can only speak for my unit and this does not apply to recent projects of Empire which is not so reasonable anymore.
3. Accessibility, our condo is near LRT station.
4.  We have a pool yipeee!

What about the other side of the coin

If you want to know why Empire East land Holdings Condominium is not safe click here

If you want to know why Empire East Land Holdings condominium is not a good choice please click here

If you want to know why Empire East land Holdings Condominium is not safe click here

If you want to know why Empire East Land Holdings condominium is not a good choice please click here

Garbage room

If you want to know how unsafe Empire East Land condominium is please click here


If you want to know the poor quality of Empire East Land condominium please click here

As of June 2011 Oceanic has not created any significant change to improve the cleanliness and maintenance of our condo. They are only good in making promises and making commitments but when in comes to effective actions and implementations of solutions Oceanic is definitely poor. Yes they feel like they are doing their job but they do not know the meaning of quality job.

Last week I received an e-mail from a concerned unit owner from tower 3. He was complaining about the garbage rooms. Last night, June 25, 2011, I decided to check our garbage rooms and behold, it verified everything that was said in the email.

Here's the email that I received from one of the tenants that best describes what I saw that night.

"Will anything be done about the "garbage room"? It is grossly unsanitary and a dangerous health risk. The room is a breeding ground for germs and viruses with all the filthy, sticky floor and all sorts of solid and wet waste! Twice I saw cockroaches creeping from the garbage room to the adjoining rooms (too bad --- but why wait for these to enter our own units!).

To expose ourself by entering that smelly, garbage-filled room everytime to throw waste immediately exposes anyone to air-born viruses. Imagine if that room is left open as it always it, situated beside a heavy human traffic area of the elevator. It is a glamorized garbage pit! Hello dengue, H1N1, influenza everytime anyone passes the elevator!!!!! How insensitive of the Adminstration and developer to willfully expose us to such a health hazard. Oh, what should one expect anyway --- they don't personally live in this low cost tenement they have turned our homes into. Why should they bother --- they seem to have cowed to content with what it feels are the "basics" of our living."
-

To Oceanic and Empire, Me hiya pa ba kayo? How can you make us stay in an unsafe and unsanitary condominium?

None of the garbage rooms in tower 2 are kept close. Everything is open, exposing the tenants from all germs coming from the garbage room. If something smelly is thrown inside, the smell is all over the hall way. A nice scent to greet any tenant coming out of the elevator.

For proofs please click the pictures below:

(Empire East land Holdings)

(Empire East land Holdings)

If you want to know how unsafe Empire East Land condominium is please click here


If you want to know the poor quality of Empire East Land condominium please click here

 

(Empire East land Holdings)

 

(Empire East land Holdings)

(Empire East land Holdings)

If you want to know how unsafe Empire East Land condominium is please click here


If you want to know the poor quality of Empire East Land condominium please click here
 

(Empire East land Holdings)

(Empire East land Holdings)

If you want to know how unsafe Empire East Land condominium is please click here


If you want to know the poor quality of Empire East Land condominium please click here

Bonus pictures.

The leak at the 16th floor has been there for years already. Oceanic repairs it but they never succeeded in their efforts. Every time typhoons hit Manila, that leak instantly resurrects itself.

(Empire East land Holdings)




This is the only room that has no garbage except for few plastic bottles, but the room itself looks like a big garbage bin.

(Empire East land Holdings)


Two fire exits were left open that night. Oceanic, please spell "safety" again. If fire broke that night, those floors could easily become  chimneys. Perhaps they were waiting for real accidents to happen to test the theory.

(Empire East land Holdings)




If you want to know how unsafe Empire East Land condominium is please click here


If you want to know the poor quality of Empire East Land condominium please click here

Unsafe condominium Projects

Green Hills Garden Square is a condominium project of Empire East Land Holdings. When it was inspected by Quezon City Hall in 2003, officials found 21 violations in the fire code. In short, Empire East Land Holdings let the owners stay in their units without complying first to the safety standards set by the Bureau of Fire and Protection. .

In 2005, Xavier Hills condominium, another condominium developed by Empire East, was turned over to the owners. Unfortunately, for the second time, our good developer let the unit owners occupy the condo without the necessary safety permits from Quezon City Hall. After 6 years Empire East land Holdings continue to violate the law. Complaints are already filed to Quezon city Hall but as of May 2011, the situation remains the same. How does Empire East land Holdings get away with it? That's the big question!

Below are the safety violations in Xavier Hills Condominium:

Door of Main stair at ground floor not swing in the direction of exit travel at tower 4 in violation of rule 3 division 4 sec 3 402 para B (2) of the pd 1185 (Empire East Property Review)

Fire exit doors not provided with panic hardware latch in violation of rule 3 division 4 section 3.402 para F of the PD 1185 (Empire East Property Review)

Door of garbage chute not provided with self closing device, in violation of Rule 3 Division 6 sec 3.603 para A of the PD 1185 (Empire East Land Holdings Property Review)

No illuminated exit signs in violation of rule 3 div 10 sec 3.1004 para B (5) (b) of the PD 1185 (Empire East Land Holdings Property Review)

The elevators of the four towers do not have the necessary inspection certificate from the office of the building officials. No wonder a lot of residents have been trapped inside the elevators. (Empire East Property Review)

Fire exits and stairwells are not pressurized, exit doors have gaps at the bottom where smoke can easily pass through. (Empire East Land Holdings Property Review)

A lot of sprinklers are not properly installed and are almost buried in the ceiling. (Empire East Land Holdings Property Review)

There could be more violations and the pictures below can clearly speak for that undeniable fact.

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

Broken fire exit door/window (Empire East Land Holdings Property Review)

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

I would like to quote the declaration in the fire Safety Inspection Certificate issued by the Bureau of fire:

“Violation of Fire Code provisions shall IPSO FACTO immediately cause this certification to become null and void, and shall hold the owner of the building liable to the penalties provided for by the said Fire Code 2008 (RA-9514)”

I was present during the inspection and I have been asking for a copy of the results since then but first Oceanic property management, the board and Empire East property continue to decline my request.

Broken Promises

I purchased a condo unit from Empire East Land Holdings at  pre-selling stage. Their brochures, fliers, presentations, model units and price were all very attractive. On the same day that the property was presented to me I made my reservation. To my regret, it was one of the not so good decisions that I made in my life, purchasing a condo unit from Empire East Land Holdings.

Below are the reasons why I said it is a bad decision that I purchased a unit from Empire East:

1. Turn over is two years delay. It is a challenged to my budget since I need to shoulder both my unit amortization and apartment rental.

2. Bad agent. Mr Arnold Macalintal made a lot of misrepresentations. I filed a complaint against him and sad to say he was even promoted by Empire East.

3. Bad after sales service. Making a follow up to Empire East Land Holdings is a hell. ( I do not know if their service has already improved as of the time  this blog is created.)

4. Empire East Land Holdings did not deliver the quality that they promised us when they were still selling the condo.

Below are the pictures to show the quality of work of Empire East Land Holdings. The project is Xavier Hills condominium located in New Manila.

THE PROMISE (Please click pics to enlarge)

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

The brochure says "INDULGE in a lifestyle others can only fantasize about. At a genteel community with a refreshing garden feeling."

Genteel means, aristocratic or elegantly stylish

THE REALITY (Please click pics to enlarge)

This is empire East Land Holding's interpretation of ELEGANTLY STYLISH community

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

This is what the hallway looked like during the turn over. After 2 years of complaining,

improvements have been done but still far from the definition of the word genteel.

The hallways as of April 2011

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

This is the condo entrance. Cracks in the pavements are everywhere. A sign of poor construction. Very genteel!

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

THE PROMISE (Please click pic to enlarge)

"TEXTURED PAINTED FINISH" (Base wall - light brown and upper wall- beige)

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

THE REALITY (Please click pic to enlarge)

Is this what they mean of textured painted finish? They over do it lol :-)

Pictures taken April 2011

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

THE PROMISE (Click pic to enlarge)

Marked with water feature

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

THE REALITY (Click pic to enlarge)

No water feature and it is not practical to put it because of limited space. Just simply do not promise if you can not deliver it.

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

THE PROMISE

Strict 24 hour security

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

THE REALITY

A lot of unit owners have been victims of burglary and theft. I am one of those victims and it happens to me twice.

THE PROMISE

Guest Parking

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

THE REALITY

The area indicated in the site plan is now a restaurant. The promised guest parking exists only in the brochures.

THE PROMISE

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review

The brochure says,"Easy does it in your very own playground. A swimming pool with sun deck, clubhouse, CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND and well-landscaped garden will make everyday a holiday."

THE REALITY

After five years the playground simply evaporates.

Empire East Land Holdings Property Review