After years of living overseas, Mrs. Amalya's daughter wanted to return to Armenia. The daughter sent money to her parents so that they could buy an apartment in Yerevan for her.

Mrs. Amalya took the money and signed a preliminary contract with SAMOSH Ltd. for an apartment the company was building at 51 Mamikonyants Street.

The woman has been waiting for three years.

She'll have to wait indefinitely it now seems since the building has been seized by the bank. It's now on the auction block as compensation for the money SAMOSH owes the bank.

68 families who had paid for apartments are now left in the cold and do not know where to turn. Some buyers were even foolhardy enough to pay 100% of the purchase price even before getting the keys and deeds to their new apartments.

The fiasco at 51 Mamikonyants is a scene being played out all over Armenia.

According to Vera Abadjanyan, a public notary in the Arabkir neighbourhood of Yerevan, the situation at 51 Mamikonyants is relatively good since all sides are sitting down to iron out a resolution.

"Let me assure you that most buildings in Yerevan are used as collateral. People who sign such preliminary purchase agreements are taking a risk since no one knows what tomorrow will bring," said Mrs. Abadjanyan.

SAMOSH Ltd. representative Samvel Hovhannisyan has assured the buyers and Hetq that the company is doing everything it can to quickly resolve the outstanding matter.

He says the company is banking on vacant apartments in the building being sold to pay off the bank loans and finish construction.

But the facts on the ground point to a less rosy picture. Who would risk paying money to a company for an apartment in a half-completed building that has been seized as collateral by the Armenian Development Bank?

Another question is whether those with preliminary contracts, having paid 50, 60 or even 70% of the overall purchase price, will plunk down the rest of the cash and thus help SAMOSH extricate itself from its financial woes.

Let's remember that SAMOSH never informed these people about its credit problems with the bank.

Vera Abadjanyan, who notarized the preliminary contract, says that the company did not violate any law by failing to inform buyers that the building was being used as collateral.

One resident says that had he known this, he wouldn't have bought an apartment at the Mamikonyants building.

"I'm not fully aware of the law so I can't say whether or not the company should have informed us about the collateral issue. But I don't think it was a major oversight. Honestly, I didn't pay close attention to the details. Before you told me I didn't know that some contracts contained a clause obliging the company to inform about the collateral and other didn't."

Many of the purchasers now say they are ready to pay off the balance, even without receiving property deeds, just as long as they receive assurances that the building will be completed and that they can move in.

"I sold off my apartment to raise money for this place. I've been renting for the past three years. We figured it was fallout from the financial crisis but now it's gotten out of hand," says Gagik, a buyer at Mamikonyants.

Another potential resident, who claims to be an economist, argues that Samvel Hovhannisyan could have completed construction of the building with the 1.5 billion AMD received from the 68 families and the $1.3 million from the Armenian Development Bank.

Samvel Hovhannisyan, a former official at the RA ministry of Justice, has a checkered past.

He was once jailed for five months on kidnapping charges before being released.