Back in 2022, Canadian couple Tanya Frisk-Welburn and her husband bought what they hoped would be a dream home in Mexico.
According to CTV, the seller was a company called Caban Condos whose website described it as “two guys from Saskatchewan” building condominiums near idyllic seaside locations in the Yucatan peninsula.
Frisk-Welburn, who lives in Bengough, Sask., stumbled upon the company’s advertisements while planning a holiday in 2020. She was about to retire and liked the idea of working with a local company.
“We put down a whole ton of money,” Frisk-Welburn said. “It’s my retirement fund.”
But when Frisk-Welburn and her husband arrived to take possession of the condo in December 2022 — when they were promised it would be finished — it was still being renovated. They tried again a year later, and it still wasn’t finished.
Frisk-Welburn still has no condo. She’s out nearly US$170,000 and is suing Caban Condos. And she’s not alone.
An investigation by the Investigative Journalism Foundation (IJF) and CTV News Saskatoon has found Caban Condos repeatedly failed to return promised money to buyers in its Mexican real estate projects, most of which are years behind schedule.
And in one of the company’s only completed developments, residents say they never received legal title to their property.
In many cases, the 11 groups of buyers identified by the IJF and CTV News Saskatoon say they spent their life savings or retirement funds on a Caban condo deposit. Some turned to the courts, where their allegations have yet to be tested. Others joined growing online communities of dissatisfied customers to share information and warn away future buyers.
Caban Condos Mexico, incorporated in Saskatchewan as Regal Property Developments Ltd., is owned by Corman Park, Sask. resident Mike Delaire.
Delaire blamed delays on issues with a primary contractor in Mexico, rising construction costs, and the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the company “grew way too fast” but denied he defrauded buyers.
“I’m here, we’re in communication with the clients, we’re on-site and we continue our business. So we haven’t run off with anything,” Delaire said. He said his company would finish construction on its projects within eight months and would deliver a title to all buyers.
He claims dissatisfied customers have spread “conspiracy theories” and “outright lies” about his company.
But Frisk-Welburn and other customers say Delaire has dodged requests for refunds or updates on their investments. In some cases, buyers say they have waited more than a year to receive promised refunds or reimbursements from Delaire.
Frisk-Welburn says Delaire “just ceased all communication” when she and her husband asked why their condo was not complete.
Frisk-Welburn says she never would have bought the property in Mexico if the builder hadn’t been local.
“‘We’re just two guys from Saskatchewan’ — we’re just — that means, ‘trust us.’ And that’s what I did. I put my full trust in these people, and now I don’t have a condo,” she said.
Mike Delaire in a 2020 interview with CTV News. (CTV News)
The pitch
Caban Condos’ website says the company was “born on a beach in southern Mexico in the summer of 2010.”
Regal Property Ltd., though, wasn’t incorporated until 2017. Delaire partnered with Parrish Kondra, a fellow Saskatonian he met at a jet ski rally.
Since then, Caban Condos has marketed at least six real estate developments across the Yucatan peninsula, which it bills as “high quality” housing for Canadian and American buyers.
Business, at one point, was booming. In a 2020 interview with CTV News Saskatoon, Delaire said some customers were buying condos “site unseen.”
But so far, only two of the company’s six projects have been completed. The rest are, in some cases, more than a year behind schedule.
Some buyers have lost hope of recouping their investment. Others have had to dramatically alter plans after a promised condo was never completed.
William Ambery, a former New York City detective, bought a penthouse condo in an upcoming development after connecting with Kondra in 2020.
Ambery sent Delaire more than US$164,000, half the price of the unit. Ambery’s contract said he would have his condo by July 2022.
But it was never finished. In messages shared with the IJF, Ambery repeatedly asked Delaire and Kondra when he could expect his condo to be ready.
In November 2021, Delaire apologized for the delays and explained that Caban Condos was having problems with “COVID, supplies, and laborers.”
The man in charge of that project says it was more than that.
Blair Warren said he was hired by Caban Condos as a project manager for real estate projects in Yucatan. Warren, who has known Kondra since he was 18, said they had persistent issues with its primary contractor.
“I caught the workers smoking weed, smoking meth, no safety gear, working randomly on different things all the time,” he said.
The company switched to a different contractor for its phase 4 development, Warren said.
But different issues emerged. Warren said Delaire asked him to personally withdraw money to pay workers, supposedly because wire transfers from Canada would not arrive on time.
Delaire said the primary contractor repeatedly hiked the price for the building, which contributed to delays and rising costs. In an email, Delaire said he eventually fired that contractor because “he was not meeting progress and could not explain to me where the large amounts of money we were paying was going.”
Kondra didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment. Online, Kondra’s website still markets real estate services in Mexico, offering to help clients navigate the “vibrant market with confidence.”
Ambery referred to Kondra as a “used car salesman.”
“But in this case, you’re not even getting a car,” he said.
Resellers
Some frustrated Caban customers eventually exercised contract options allowing them to claim a refund. Others say Delaire agreed to sell their condos to new owners.
But none of the buyers interviewed by the IJF and CTV Saskatoon got all their money back — even after different people bought their former condos.
Dallas accountant Jim Matthews bought a unit in a Caban development in June 2019, which he and his wife planned to make their new home after they retired.
The contract promised an occupancy date of June 2021. They sold their home in Dallas and relocated to Mexico in preparation for the move.
Because of delays, Matthews said Delaire offered to sell him a second unit in a different, finished development that was also in San Crisanto.
Matthews had purchased a property but couldn’t bear to accept payment for an uncompleted project he sold to Erika Gonzalez of California. According to Gonzalez, she transferred the complete $149,000 deposit to Delaire.
Matthews stated he never received reimbursement for the amount, while Gonzalez expressed her belief that her purchased property remained unfinished.
According to the Public Registry of Commerce, Regal’s Mexican counterpart had borrowed 5 million pesos in February 2021 for Phase 2 land development without notifying Matthews.
Matthews resides in Phase 1 of the project, though he still lacks legitimate ownership according to their original agreement. Consequently, his wife has returned to Texas for work and nursing responsibilities.
Matthews stated that they had separated since November, as they were attempting to save funds for their new home in Texas. He added, ‘In case things go wrong and we end up losing everything.’
Delaire acknowledged that not every customer was unhappy with Regal Property Developments.
Don Garman of Saskatchewan had purchased a condominium within the same project where Matthews resides, acquired back in 2019.
Garman verified that he hadn’t received legitimate ownership documents yet; however, he’s optimistic about eventually obtaining them. Moreover, Garman observed that Regal Property Developments had taken on partial responsibility for maintaining the property during this time.
Maria Lorena Marelli and her husband, Steffen Ulrich, purchased an apartment within the Phase 4 project of the Caban Condos back in June 2022. They were originally informed that it would be ready for occupancy by December of that year.
As of April 2023, their condominium remained unfinished, while Maria started experiencing worsening health issues.
Their initial purchase agreement stipulated no refunds; thus, Marelli and Ulrich approached Delaire and requested the termination of their contract.
However, others continue to face difficulties in gathering the required funds
San Miguel Times
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