Take Warning from my Horrible Experience

I want to warn people thinking of renting Estate land on SL not to be seduced by a certain couple of landowners of a tropical island system (if you want to work out their names it won't take you too much work) because it won't be a PARADISE, and you shouldn't GO a-there!

Even if you get past the sick pornographic photo (real life one) that the Asian lovely and her ex-Sheffield boyfriend have in their profile [now removed from their profiles, but still in the group logo box of her partner's Party VIP group], - even then alarm bells ought to be ringing loud and clear when you find that the land they are "renting" (over and over and over again) is being billed at over 12 lindens per square metre for the initial sale, and then (on top) costs a monthly tier of once cent per square metre.

And (surprise!) it turns out the only thing they ARE interested in is your money. NOT their tenants. Once they have clinked your dollars into the till, you'll get nothing but hassle and abuse. Your complaints will fall on deaf ears and you'll get a mouthful of abuse for your trouble.

Is there a contract setting out the terms? NO.

There's a (sort-of) covenant that you have to agree to before you buy. When we moved in, that covenant specified that the sim was themed (tropical/asian) and buildings had to be in keeping. The owner was quick to point out that our temporary privacy hedge of trees was "not suitable" for the island. However, a month later when she found passing off these pieces of land a bit harder than she'd hoped, she changed the covenant without informing her tenants, so ugly monstrosities of all kinds were allowed to spring up all around us. (The only reason we moved there was to avoid the mainland problem of commercial buildings, ad farms and clubs. So much for THAT dream, then. Did we get anywhere with our complaints? You know we didn't.)

But that wasn't the worst of it. A few months down the line we needed to move. I politely informed the land manager of this three days before the tier was due, expecting to make arrangements to pass the land back to her, and get some kind of resale refund. We had spent nearly 50,000 Lindens "buying" the land in the first place, PLUS monthly "rental" of 38 US dollars on top, and we needed some money from resale to pay our RL bills. That had always been the system when we'd rented on Estates before.

That was when I was told "oh, I never said I'd buy the land back."

HUH? What she was saying was, she expected tenants to (1) buy the land at full price, (2) pay monthly tier as well, and then (3) give it back free and gratis for her to sell again.

There wasn't a contract that specified this. She could make this up on the hoof.

She told us, as a favour to us, we could "bring a buyer to her" - like a dog on a leash - and then she'd sell it to them instead and take a 15 percent cut out of the deal for herself. But now we only had three days left to do it, before the tier was due again on 15th - or else be in the position of having to shell out another 38 dollars for tier.

So we put in a classified advert, and put a "for sale" sign on the land, and told our friends about the need for a buyer. That same evening I suddenly got a nasty IM from the owner, (who owns a fetish club on Paradise Island, and has a group called Eve's Fetish VIP for hedonism, bdsm, fetish, erotic experience and "all kinds of erotic arts". It went like this (I can't possibly summarise the pigeon english and lack of thought, so you'll have to read it for yourself...)

[13:30] E-S: Hello Bonny you have a rental sign on yr land remove this please immediately. Business is strictly forbidden on the island. We dont pay advertising for you, this you have to understand please. Ok . (NB: this is the same person who runs a fetish club on the island and advertises it in classified ads...)
[13:34] Bonny Bunyip: I have spoken to Su about moving off the land but she told me I have to sell it. Since the land is for sale for YOU and I am having to pay to advertise it, and the proceeds will go to you, I see no objection to having a for sale sign on your behalf.
[13:34] E-S: you are not allowed to make advertising on the land
[13:34] E-S: this have Su writtten to you
[13:34] E-S: ok
[13:34] E-S: dont think i dont know this
[13:34] Bonny Bunyip: she has not written about not having a sign. All she told me was to "bring a buyer" to her.
[13:35] E-S: but not advertised on our island
[13:35] E-S: we pay a lot of money
[13:35] Bonny Bunyip: it's YOUR land...
[13:35] E-S: but sure not for you
[13:35] E-S: ok
[13:35] E-S: yes
[13:35] Bonny Bunyip: I'm not selling it for ME.
[13:35] E-S: it is
[13:35] E-S: you have not the right
[13:35] E-S: did you get this?
[13:35] E-S: to make a sign of selling on your land
[13:35] E-S: ok
[13:35] Bonny Bunyip: well, buy it back from me and then YOU can sell it.
[13:35] E-S: no advertising allowed for you
[13:35] E-S: no
[13:35] E-S: we are not
[13:36] E-S: you can pay your tiers
[13:36] E-S: you can sell to someone else
[13:36] E-S: or you can go
[13:36] E-S: till 15th paid ok
[13:36] E-S: after you are not anymore owner
[13:36] E-S: when you not pay
[13:36] E-S: did you understand this
[13:36] E-S: we are not a fleemarket
[13:36] E-S: ok
[13:36] Bonny Bunyip: well, what a nice attitude you have!
[13:37] Bonny Bunyip: you could have nicely asked me.
[13:37] E-S: pay or bring another buyer
[13:37] E-S: or leave
[13:37] E-S: no other possibility
[13:37] Bonny Bunyip: I am TRYING to do what you demand.
[13:37] E-S: you dont do
[13:37] E-S: what is allowed
[13:37] E-S: so pls dont blame me
[13:37] E-S: when i speak
[13:37] E-S: straight to you
[13:37] E-S: because you seams the friendly
[13:37] E-S: speaking of Su
[13:37] E-S: not to understand
[13:38] E-S: so i speak only on facts to you
[13:38] Bonny Bunyip: I have paid all expenses, bought the land, kept the covenant, done no wrong, paid my tiers on time - why are you like this?
[13:38] E-S: nothing else
[13:38] E-S: ok
[13:38] E-S: so and i know i am private
[13:38] E-S: and enjoy my life at sl
[13:38] E-S: good night bonny
[13:38] Bonny Bunyip: Su did not say I could not put a sign on the land
[13:38] E-S: was nice to talk to you
[13:38] E-S: she did
[13:38] Bonny Bunyip: NO she did NOT
[13:38] E-S: she says we dont pay for yor advertising
[13:38] E-S: ok
[13:38] E-S: if you dont understand this i am sorry
[13:38] E-S: ok
[13:38] Bonny Bunyip: or else I would not have done it. She did NOT say anything about it.
[13:38] E-S: is clear
[13:38] E-S: very clear
[13:39] E-S: because you dont pay the people to come to the island
[13:39] E-S: did you got this now
[13:39] E-S: sorry i am not blond
[13:39] E-S: so i talk normaly
[13:39] Bonny Bunyip: I am paying for the advert that I am forced to put in classified ads. I am forced to pay 15 percent to you as well.
[13:39] E-S: lol
[13:39] E-S: good night
[13:39] Bonny Bunyip: and still I cannot put a sign to show people YOUR land is for sale?
[13:39] E-S: because you would not be allowed to sell
[13:39] E-S: we have work with you
[13:40] E-S: before which Su not have invoiced you
[13:40] E-S: changing land
[13:40] E-S: we can do work again
[13:40] E-S: it was fre
[13:40] E-S: and now you can pay for the work we have
[13:40] E-S: and as well as the right to resell
[13:40] E-S: because is not in the contract
(NB what contract????)
[13:40] Bonny Bunyip: I have no idea what you are talking about. Su told me I had to sell the land. So why no sign? I just don't get it.
[13:40] E-S: as usually
[13:40] E-S: read the contract ok
[13:41] E-S: mute
[13:41] E-S: i want emjoy my night now.

Well that was a lovely end to my evening, then I had another fruitless day searching for a buyer.

By the 14th - day before tier was due - I still had no hint of a buyer and time was running out. I began to realise I'd have to walk away and take a loss of the entire sum of money we'd laid out for it.

But even that choice was removed from us. My husband suddenly had a strange email out of the blue from the land manager saying "so the last lie is I will not sell?" (we said to eachother - HUH???) and without another word, both of us were ejected from the owners group and the land was taken back by this delightful pair.

This was - note - still on the 14th, the day before the tier was due. At no time did we refuse to pay the tier. They just stopped pretending to cooperate.

I would not want anybody else to have anything to do with this couple of money-obsessed crooks, nor to try to reason with them. I'm told they are now buying yet another island and the best payback I can imagine is that they price themselves totally off the map and it sinks without trace into the sea of their own all-consuming greed and corruption. I am glad I no longer fund their "fun-filled life of erotic hedonism" and I advise everyone else on Second Life to steer clear of them. (PS, yes I did abuse report them, but I'm not holding my breath for the Lindens to care about my fate nor the fate of many like me.)

About 5-6 months ago did they aquire a bunch of island land from another company?

Edit: NVM. No not the same group......thanks goodness. A common word in a estate name tripped me up.

And people laugh at me for buying mainland.
Sorry to hear you got screwed,but this is exactly the reason I won't buy
from anyone other than Lindens.

Just noting that abuse reports are NOT to be used to complain about personal business disputes between residents. LL will not involve themselves in such disputes. I suppose you could AR the pornographic image in their profiles, but that's about it.

Send it to The Forum Cartel...attn Chris before you do.

I literally lolled!

I think I'm gonna go inworld for a few minutes to look up this profile pic for a few thrills.

You want sex after that?

If you own mainland and can't afford the tier, you lose it. LL can resell it. Why do you expect it to be different on estate land?

You have some genuine grievances with your landlord, but this isn't something you should be complaining about, you bought the land, agreed to the fees and couldn't keep up payments.

Yes as part of my duties, I must filter all porn that Brenda looks at. But weird German stuff can be sent directly to her.

Yes, but she would have no restrictions about advertising the sale of her land.

Which is why I said she had some genuine grievances.

Let's be clear why she is complaining. It's not about not being able to pay the fee. It's because her landlords were assholes. Period.

Had she bought mainland, she could have recovered some of her money by pricing it low enough to sell to a bot, in the worst case. She wouldn't have had to have lost everything. And she wouldn't be complaining about abandoning the land to Governor Linden.

This is a very strange estate... you have to pay over 12 L/m to "purchase" the land, and pay tier that is equivalent to over $650 (real money) per month per region... AND land can NOT be resold, only abandoned back to the estate owner.

So why exactly would anyone "buy" land there?

Still, it is an estate owner's right to be an unreasonable jerk. Those "buying" on estate land must always keep that in mind.


As for teh pr0n, I didn't see anything unusually erotic, although the image for the owner's fetish group was a little sexy and might have been showing a hint of nipple. I am thoroughly disappointed. I guess I'll go google with safe search turned off for a while.

"HUH? where was the contract that said we had to (1) buy it, (2) rent it and then (3) give it back free and gratis for her to sell again?"

Sorry, on mainland if you don't pay tier, the same thing would have happened. You don't get your money back. Not being able to put the "For sale" sign up is a genuine grievance, complaining that she should have had her initial money back from the land purchase is not. No matter how you try and paint the evil landlord picture, that is not a reason for complaint.

If she was on mainland, she could sell it without having to give anyone 15%. Part of the problem is that she didn't realize that the 12/m purchase price was not refundable. That should have been made clear, and it is her fault she didn't clarify that before renting. But the point remains, her landlords were assholes.

No, if you can't pay for it on the mainland, you can sell it off to recoup some of the buying costs.

Frankly, the I agree with Miko, I'd rather pay my tier to the Lindens on the mainland than rent. *shrugs*

Which is something I agree with you on but I don't agree with all of her complaints and I'm at a wild party so neener neener to you

No you can't, if you can't pay tier to LL you lose your land.

Are Cherry's Boobs still there?

Ciaran, if she knew that she couldn't pay in advance of her time lapsing (and she did), she could have set the land for sale low enough that she could have recouped something. It is not the same. And if she HAD to abandon to Governor Linden, we would not be hearing a peep about it.

Right in my face at this very moment. I'm only multitasking so I don't say something to make her slap me!

Cristalle I agree with you that the landlords were assholes, I agree with you that not letting her put the for sale sign up was bad but I'm not gonna agree with you on someone complaining that they bought land and didn't realise they'd not get paid back their initial fee.

So, summary, you bought some land, couldn't afford the tier and then are unhappy that they wouldn't let you put a for sale sign up when you decided to sell the land. Not sure I see the problem here - could you please elaborate further as to what your actual grievance is?

been there and there are even 2 for sale signs now

Anyone new can feel assured renting estate land from Sarah Nerd, Wildefire Walcott, Kandee Herrey and Darien Caldwell to name but a few island owners with stellar reputations.