He created his own business field solving defaults in real estate purchases

By Erdinc Ergenc

Istanbul,  (Dunya) -  Ten years ago, a young investor Kemal Tamer, borrowed the severance pay of two of his relatives and started to knock doors of people whose mortgages were in default. He had no idea he was starting a profitable job and a new sector in Turkey. Tamer, established the first reconciliation agency of Turkey. His type of business is described as a collection agency in the U.S.

He found real estate deals that were problematic and cleared all sorts of foreclosures, selling them at appropriate prices, helping the persons in hardship and having lost their chance to pay their debt while banks were on the brink of writing off their credits, making all satisfied with a profitable solution of the conflict. He is now working to lay legal grounds of his work while Turkish Parliament is preparing to negotiate a mediation law proposal.

Almost %30 of all defaults in real estate purchases, housing and commercial offices and industrial facilities,  are in Istanbul, and the total volume exceeds 11 billion Turkish liras. Kemal Tamer says his company had an investment pool but declined to disclose the total amount. He only notes that he helpeds clear $100 million worth real estates from default and in some cases returned properties back to the owner. His firm has a difference from other asset management firms, in which he only serves debt borrowers.

Tamer describes his job as reconciliation adviser. He started the job after 2001 economic crisis, dropping out of the university and by knocking doors of hundreds of homes. He  learned that his job requires not only an understanding of law and finance but also human psychology. Hard times and hard work taught him. Now many people visit his office for advise. Customers are those in default of their credits and mortgages. He is now investing in corporate governance step by step.

"After years, we have become an acrobat in defaults and foreclosures" he says.

His Tamer Group helped over 1,000 people in their real estate problems in Istanbul and Ankara. The group has a target extend their scope to 10 cities by employing young talent and establishing a new base of licensed reconciliation advisors.

Although the company works in a field that doesn’t have a legal regulation, especially the banks with defaulted real estate portfolios are satisfied with what his company does, according to Kemal Tamer. He says he is working in total privacy with their clients, since there is no regulation yet.

" If the bank is not willing to write off the debts we can easily work and agree with them on a solution plan. But it is sometimes more difficult to convince owners of mortgages. Yet at the end of the day, it is easy unless the sides have lost their ability to think rationally," he says.

His work model is built on moderate reconciliation where both lender and borrower gets maximum benefit. The real estate is generally sold 60% below its original value. Tamer says sometimes a real estate has almost 50 creditors, and his company solves mortgage conflicts in a profitable way for all sides.

Another plea he makes is to remove the high case load in courts of mortgage business. Although the mediation law may not include what he is doing, Tamer is very optimistic about the future of his job. He dreams licensed conciliation advisors becoming a popular vocation.