As a forerunner to moving to Bansko in a few years time, we bought an apartment there in a prestige apart-hotel complex in 2006 which we visit quite regularly from the UK. However we have been plagued by a corrupt and unscrupulous complex management ever since, who do everything they can to swindle us. Have any other members had this same experience? and apart from resorting to lawyers, is there any remedy or source of help or protection (governmental or otherwise) against this?

The apartment complex managing company is defrauding individual apartment owners in a number of ways:

1) They rent the apartments to tour operators when they know the owners will not be there, but do not pass any rental money to the apartment owners.

2) They overcharge apartment owners for water, heating and electricity.

3) They charge owners for heating, lighting and water even when the owners have CLOSED the apartment AND turned off all heating and water services.

4) They refuse to maintain the facilities at the apartment complexes even though they are paid an annual maintenance fee by all the individual apartment owners.

5) They make it difficult for individual apartment owners to market and advertise their own apartments by turning off the water, heating and electricity when guests arrive and say it's because the apartment owner has not paid their bills, when they have!

6) They threaten and bully the local legally appointed representatives of individual apartment owners, by denying them access to the complex - even though the local representatives have Powers of Attorney.

7) They put pressure on individual apartment owners to sell their apartments to the management company for much less than what they paid for it.

We are really fed up with this and on the point of selling up and moving out of Bulgaria for good - because there is no peace of mind whatever with this going on.

Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.