A Paisley mum is thousands of pounds out of pocket after a developer pulled out of the sale of her new home and kept her deposit.
Julie Nicol was devastated when her lawyer told her Kingston Residential (KR) had withdrawn from the sale of the three-bedroom house she was due to move into.
And to add insult to injury, the firm then informed her and four others in a similar position they could re-buy their homes for if they agreed to pay an extra £40,000, the Paisley Daily Express reports.
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Julie put down a £2,000 deposit last year on the new build on Broadlie Road, Neilston due to be completed at the end of December. She also forked out and extra £7,000 for a kitchen, flooring and extra fittings.
After several delays she learned that KR was withdrawing from the sale, and as a result of a clause in the contract, was holding on to her £2,000 deposit.
After refusing to stump up the extra £40,000, Julie says she has been unable to get the £7,000 back either.
Kingston Residential Investments said on Friday it is "not in a good financial position right now" but will pay everyone back.
But Julie told the Paisley Daily Express: "They have effectively stolen my money. We are just normal working people.
"It is not right what they have done to me and the four other families who are involved in this. They told us in a meeting that instead of the £225,000 I had agreed to pay for the house, that they wanted to resell them for £265,000.
"I obviously said no and 'what about my money I paid for the flooring etc'. They said, 'we can't pay you back until we resell them and if we don't sell them at the higher price then we will go into liquidation'."
In an added blow to Julie and her children, the new home was to be a fresh start for them following Julie's separation from their father. It was her own widowed dad who stepped in and paid the deposit and additional cash while her divorce was being finalised.
She said: "This has been an absolute nightmare, I have just had enough. It has been so awful, not just for me but four other families as well.
"It makes me so angry. I just wanted to move on with my life and put my trust in these builders. I doubt we will see our money again. How these people sleep at night I have no idea."
Julie has been in touch with the police, but was notified the issue was a civil matter and has contacted a lawyer who explained the legal fees to recoup the money could also be substantial. Now she has decided to share her story as a warning to others.
She added: "I would hate for another family to go through what we have been through these past few months."
A spokesman for Kingston Residential Investments - who is building the Broadlie development through a sister company KR Construction - said it is working to "get everyone paid back as soon as possible".
He added: "We are not in a good financial position right now and not in a position to pay all monies back to the client. We have agreed with the lawyers that all monies are to be repaid in full on completion of the project from each house sale. This will come direct from the lawyer to the client."
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