# electric bill



## hhaddad

The electric bill I've just got for last month was twice the normal for the same consumption.Has anyone else had this problem?


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## bat

hhaddad said:


> The electric bill I've just got for last month was twice the normal for the same consumption.Has anyone else had this problem?


I've tried for years to figure it out, yes one bill 3 times higher than last, know it's on a sliding scale the more you use the higher the price per watt etc, but beyond that, could be anything, pick a number. Also been told it increased but again !
Think you have to be aware if someone else using your supply.
Not much you can do about it.
Any ideas out there?


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## bat

bat said:


> I've tried for years to figure it out, yes one bill 3 times higher than last, know it's on a sliding scale the more you use the higher the price per watt etc, but beyond that, could be anything, pick a number. Also been told it increased but again !
> Think you have to be aware if someone else using your supply.
> Not much you can do about it.
> Any ideas out there?


Go query it , see what they say!


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## Sonrisa

YEs I don't understand the logic behind electricity bills in this country.


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## MaidenScotland

Maybe it's me thats stealing it... one of my drivers came to me and told me my electric bill was too much.. he was telling me off about it not saying that there might be a faulty reading or something. I was livid with him... I asked him what did he think I was taking it outside in a bag and selling it? I also asked him what the hell has it got to do with him and how dare he discuss my utility bills with anyone.. of course the whole building and the rest of the staff knew how much fuel I was using


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## flossy207

Hi all - should the electric bills be in the name of the developer or in owners names?


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## hhaddad

flossy207 said:


> Hi all - should the electric bills be in the name of the developer or in owners names?


The electric meter should be in your name if you are now the owner of the property,if this is the case and the meter is in the name of the developer then he should write a declaration that he wishes to transfer the meter in your name(tenesal).This is very important here in Egypt because in case of dispute of ownership of a property the ownership of the electric meter and electric bills in your name are undeniable proof of ownership.
If the property is a rent then always the meter is in the name of the owner.


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## flossy207

thank you hhaddad. The apartments were bought freehold from the developer and the meters were part of the package. It has only reently come to light that the meters are still in the name of this company and they pass the bills on to the owners to pay. If owners went to the electric company themselves with their contracts couldn't the bills then be changed into their names? thanks for all the advice!


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## hhaddad

flossy207 said:


> thank you hhaddad. The apartments were bought freehold from the developer and the meters were part of the package. It has only reently come to light that the meters are still in the name of this company and they pass the bills on to the owners to pay. If owners went to the electric company themselves with their contracts couldn't the bills then be changed into their names? thanks for all the advice!


You can try with the electric company,take the original property deeds and if you have registered the property with the registration authority(sharat aquary),last electric bill with number of the meter and if you have a telephone line the contract all with a photocopies of them.

Do you have a gas meter and water meter also?Because in this case you will need to follow the same procedure for those also.

Keep me informed please


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## flossy207

hi again hhdaddad - we have only gas cylinders and the water is supplied by a tanker& have no land line. Owners are unabe to register their apartments as the developer has not yet registered the land?? but we will go to the electric company with our sales contracts and see what happens.


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## MaidenScotland

I don't own property here so I am unware of the in's and outs but how can you buy something that is not even registered? Is this legal?

Maiden


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## flossy207

MaidenScotland said:


> I don't own property here so I am unware of the in's and outs but how can you buy something that is not even registered? Is this legal?
> 
> Maiden


ahhh. I agree maidenscotland and especially when it is writen in your contracts but alas as the saying goes 'this is egypt' and therefore not everything you see and read is quite true. Now, to take this contract to court will be very expensive and therefore friends/owners are very reluctant to go down this road.

as its been said, the other way is to make sure your electric bills are in your name to have added weight to ownership etc. when they enquired - they wern't but in the developers name??


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## hhaddad

flossy207 said:


> hi again hhdaddad - we have only gas cylinders and the water is supplied by a tanker& have no land line. Owners are unable to register their apartments as the developer has not yet registered the land?? but we will go to the electric company with our sales contracts and see what happens.


Did you use a lawyer to buy the property and did he check that the developer had actually bought the land and at this moment in time more important from whom.
Which area is the property in?


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## MaidenScotland

I understand what you are saying but how can you buy something from someone else when there is no proof that the other person owns it? More importantly why would you?


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## hhaddad

MaidenScotland said:


> I understand what you are saying but how can you buy something from someone else when there is no proof that the other person owns it? More importantly why would you?


What I was trying to say is that normally the purchase here in Egypt takes place in your lawyers office and you take two witnesses with you ,but I've heard of some developers who sell you direct from their office (normally in the building itself or nearby) on a form of contract that is not formally legal.In that case a lot of buyers especially foreigners are sucked in by "it's like that its done in Egypt" and find out afterwords that the property is unregistered.Actually I've heard of similar cases in Turkey,Cyprus and Spain.

If the contract is legal then you can take it to a lawyer pay him around 800 L.E. 
and he can register it in a normal civil court and this is very much cheaper than using the other method.


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## MaidenScotland

hhaddad said:


> What I was trying to say is that normally the purchase here in Egypt takes place in your lawyers office and you take two witnesses with you ,but I've heard of some developers who sell you direct from their office (normally in the building itself or nearby) on a form of contract that is not formally legal.In that case a lot of buyers especially foreigners are sucked in by "it's like that its done in Egypt" and find out afterwords that the property is unregistered.Actually I've heard of similar cases in Turkey,Cyprus and Spain.
> 
> If the contract is legal then you can take it to a lawyer pay him around 800 L.E.
> and he can register it in a normal civil court and this is very much cheaper than using the other method.




Yes I have heard of cases in Spain and they person has lost their home!!
And what happens if the contract is not legal????


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## flossy207

hhaddad said:


> Did you use a lawyer to buy the property and did he check that the developer had actually bought the land and at this moment in time more important from whom.
> Which area is the property in?


Regretably, many owners used the developer's own lawyers but some did use independent lawyers. All the lawyers state the developer owns the land but it has not been registered yet.

The area is Hurghada.


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## hhaddad

MaidenScotland said:


> Yes I have heard of cases in Spain and they person has lost their home!!
> And what happens if the contract is not legal????


You can still follow the same path but it will probably be a bit more expensive and take longer .
In both cases the court will send a court order to the seller to appear in court if he refuses or does not accept 3 times then the court orders that the property is legally yours.I have personal experience of this as we bought our flat in Agouza and the register it would have cost us 12,000 L.E. so after speaking to our lawyer we followed the above mentioned system.


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## MaidenScotland

hhaddad said:


> You can still follow the same path but it will probably be a bit more expensive and take longer .
> In both cases the court will send a court order to the seller to appear in court if he refuses or does not accept 3 times then the court orders that the property is legally yours.I have personal experience of this as we bought our flat in Agouza and the register it would have cost us 12,000 L.E. so after speaking to our lawyer we followed the above mentioned system.




I am not brave enough


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## hhaddad

MaidenScotland said:


> I am not brave enough


There's another problem special to Hurghada & Sharm is that most of the land was government land and was sold off cheaply for tourist use under the Mubarak regime no followups were made as it was sold to the clan and friends. Now certain areas are under investigation as living accommodation is not tourist use in the normal usage of the word.


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## hhaddad

flossy207 said:


> Regretably, many owners used the developer's own lawyers but some did use independent lawyers. All the lawyers state the developer owns the land but it has not been registered yet.
> 
> The area is Hurghada.


If you can can you pm me a copy of your contract so we can check it.


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## marenostrum

just make sure no one else is tapping into your meter, especially if they are located outside your property.
it is very easy to do.


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## hhaddad

marenostrum said:


> just make sure no one else is tapping into your meter, especially if they are located outside your property.
> it is very easy to do.


no one is tapping into the meter the problem is the last bill was for 1027 KWH @ 127 l.e. and the new one for 935 [email protected] 230 l.e. see what I mean.


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## marenostrum

hhaddad said:


> no one is tapping into the meter the problem is the last bill was for 1027 KWH @ 127 l.e. and the new one for 935 [email protected] 230 l.e. see what I mean.


they must have put the rates up then.


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## Sam

Just want to clear some things up...

FULL REGISTRATION of a resort CANNOT be done until the resort is completed in it's entirety. Therefore, since most property is sold off plan an owner cannot register his own property until the development is completely finished and then the developer registers the development.

It is possible for the land owner to register the LAND in prior to building, which would permit the buyer of an individual property to register also, but this is almost never done, it does not make the transaction illegal in any way.

The other method that hhaddad has mentioned is NOT a form of registration, but it is most commonly used to authenticate a transaction and is the strongest form of legal protection in the absence of registration.

This method is called SIGNATURE VALIDATION, whereby a lawyer establishes a case in the court against the first party in the contract in order to prove officially that the signature on the contract is his. This prevents contract denial in the future, valid against the first party and his heirs, and therefore holds them legally responsible to the clauses set out within the contract.


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## hhaddad

Thanks Sam for corfirming what I said and putting it more correctly.I was writing on my own personal experiences here ( almost 20 years).

But I must add that property is still a good investmet here as I had my flat appraised by a reutable agent yesterday at put it at 650.000.l.e. and it cost me with renovations 200.000 l.e.(in Agouza)


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## Sam

hhaddad said:


> Thanks Sam for corfirming what I said and putting it more correctly.I was writing on my own personal experiences here ( almost 20 years).
> 
> But I must add that property is still a good investmet here as I had my flat appraised by a reutable agent yesterday at put it at 650.000.l.e. and it cost me with renovations 200.000 l.e.(in Agouza)


I completely agree with you haddad, I know many people who have bought and really made very good money over the years in property. That said, I also know of so many cases where people have lost a lot.

Property buying in any country carries a heavy risk, but it does especially in Egypt when transactions are done often without the buyer understanding even what is going on, as so many do not understand Arabic and therefore have to put their trust into someone.

I have personally been very lucky in meeting some very genuine and trustworthy people, many others have not been as lucky as myself and continuing the trend that has become so famous in Egypt of being cheated or ripped off.

I think in the hundreds of property transactions I have dealt with, from whichever aspect it was that I dealt with it (I was an agent before working for a law firm), there is probably not one who has had an entirely smooth "journey" and I think most everyone has questioned their sanity in buying in Egypt. But almost all of them confess that once they have their apartment and can finally enjoy it, all the hassles along the way are forgotten.

Anyway, I digress. Thank you for sharing your positive experience here.


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## Horus

Sam said:


> I completely agree with you haddad, I know many people who have bought and really made very good money over the years in property. That said, I also know of so many cases where people have lost a lot.
> 
> Property buying in any country carries a heavy risk, but it does especially in Egypt when transactions are done often without the buyer understanding even what is going on, as so many do not understand Arabic and therefore have to put their trust into someone.
> 
> I have personally been very lucky in meeting some very genuine and trustworthy people, many others have not been as lucky as myself and continuing the trend that has become so famous in Egypt of being cheated or ripped off.
> 
> I think in the hundreds of property transactions I have dealt with, from whichever aspect it was that I dealt with it (I was an agent before working for a law firm), there is probably not one who has had an entirely smooth "journey" and I think most everyone has questioned their sanity in buying in Egypt. But almost all of them confess that once they have their apartment and can finally enjoy it, all the hassles along the way are forgotten.
> 
> Anyway, I digress. Thank you for sharing your positive experience here.


I know for one there is crime here in Nabq however it is few and far between, the main crime I am making reference to is the shop in Arab Sat that after hours displays hand bags and luggage they have "found", there are about 6 unsavoury characters here who I took the time to report, one is no longer seen and incidentally I am also no longer hassled, there has also been a crack down on the bedoin trucks that sell drugs

Sharm is peaceful and quiet but nowhere is safe - be vigilant however of bags on the beach and pick pockets

The biggest crime is charging people more than they should pay :boxing:


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## marenostrum

Sam said:


> I completely agree with you haddad, I know many people who have bought and really made very good money .


I am hoping to fall in this category too 

I can smell the opportunity to make some decent whack here in property but as you say the pitfalls are many.


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## MaidenScotland

Horus said:


> I know for one there is crime here in Nabq however it is few and far between, the main crime I am making reference to is the shop in Arab Sat that after hours displays hand bags and luggage they have "found", there are about 6 unsavoury characters here who I took the time to report, one is no longer seen and incidentally I am also no longer hassled, there has also been a crack down on the bedoin trucks that sell drugs
> 
> Sharm is peaceful and quiet but nowhere is safe - be vigilant however of bags on the beach and pick pockets
> 
> The biggest crime is charging people more than they should pay :boxing:




LOL how do you know it is few and far between??? 
Did you know that most rapes against British persons is in Sharm?


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## MaidenScotland

Actually I should say reported rapes


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## marenostrum

MaidenScotland said:


> Actually I should say reported rapes


Horrible.

Sharm is a trap for females imho.


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## Sam

MaidenScotland said:


> Actually I should say reported rapes


Seeing the girls in Sharm, I wonder how many of these reported rapes are actually just drunken nights!!


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## MaidenScotland

Sam said:


> Seeing the girls in Sharm, I wonder how many of these reported rapes are actually just drunken nights!!




doesnt really matter No is No regardless..


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## Sam

You missed my point. I have seen countless girls throwing themselves all over Egyptian guys. Definitely consensual. But perhaps they thought better of it the morning after and decided to report them?!

Egyptian men are by no means not innocent. But my point is that the girls aren't always the innocent party either. Honestly, British girls are getting a reputation comparable to Russians here.


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## hurghadapat

Sam said:


> You missed my point. I have seen countless girls throwing themselves all over Egyptian guys. Definitely consensual. But perhaps they thought better of it the morning after and decided to report them?!
> 
> Egyptian men are by no means not innocent. But my point is that the girls aren't always the innocent party either. Honestly, British girls are getting a reputation comparable to Russians here.


Well that's unfortunately is what happens when you make a "Blackpool in the sun" unfortunately you do tend to attract the lower end of tourist market.....most people in the UK who tell you "I have been to Egypt"..then ask them where and the answer is Sharm...and why...because prices are so much cheaper than anywhere else in Egypt,so you get tourists who are mostly not interested in the history of Egypt,maybe some go for the diving but most go for all year round sun and at a cheap price as well....so not exciting anymore to go to Benidorm,that's old hat now....let's go Sharm !!!


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## MaidenScotland

:focus:


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