Over 200 home owners at the posh Sunset Boulevard estate in Athi River risk losing their homes. This follows a decision by the I&M Bank to auction the homes over a loan dispute. According to a report that appeared in the Business Daily on Tuesday, auctioneers have placed 204 houses whose value is estimated to be worth Sh. 2 billion up for sale.

Shockingly, home buyers have been put at risk of losing their investment over a loan that they were not party to.

“The hammer is set to fall on the houses in two weeks as the bank seeks to recover the loan advanced to the developer, who still holds the title to the entire estate. Some of the buyers acquired the middle class units in 2017. Sunset Boulevard Limited, which built and sold the houses, is said to have failed to repay the undisclosed debt with I&M Bank, prompting the auction that has thrown residents into panic,” the report says.

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The report quotes the auctioneer notice by Leakey’s Auctioneersas follows: “Duly instructed by our principals, your undermentioned properties, together with all the improvements erected thereon (two hundred and four units erected on LR NO12867/509-Sunset Boulevard Estate), will be sold by public auction on Wednesday 31st July 2019.”

It further says that the estate is built on a 20.2-acre piece of land and features a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments on 23 blocks. The houses have a market price of between Sh. 8 million and Sh. 12 million, which values the units under auction at more than Sh. 2 billion.

“Sunset Boulevard Limited is 50 percent owned by a Mr Jonathan Feldman and another 50 percent owned by Mr Samuel Mirie Gachathi, according to the Registrar of Companies records. The investors had built a total of 390 units, but 186 of them are excluded from the auction notice,” says the Business Daily report.