All Forum Posts by: Gerald L.

 agreed 100%

 As e & o doesn't cover fraud, any idea what grounds should the lawsuit be filed under?

 initially he said he would testify against his uncle and appeared to be helpful, but that momentum has died down.

Any Brokers on here know if the brokers insurance covers fraud or misappropriation of funds like this?

 A police report has been filed and the sergeant investigator seemed really eager to accept the case. The CAREC has not been contacted yet. The broker tried to distance himself from Bill as expected. 

 I think a valuable lesson here is to do due diligence on all parties and have advisors from outside the transaction. 

 We just read the consumer recovery account page, They only pay a maximum of 50,000 per transaction. And you have to win in court first. Seems like an lawyers going to be necessary regardless.

"In general, the requirements for payment from the Consumer Recovery Account include obtaining a final civil judgment or arbitration award, or a criminal restitution order against a licensee. The judgment, award or order must be based on intentional fraud or conversion of trust funds in connection with a transaction requiring a real estate license. The victim must make a reasonable search for the licensee's assets, and, if any, a reasonable effort to collect on the judgment, arbitration award or restitution order from those assets to satisfy the judgment."

 I believe you're right the dre does have a victims fund. It is only utilized as a last resort after civil or criminal charges are handed out. 

 how could you go after the brokerage?

My cousin got defrauded 90k. Ill make the story short. 

My cousin Andy was looking at a property in California which he found back in Feb. It was going to be his first property. He needed an agent. So He contacted Bill, who is an agent who was an uncle of a close friend of his. He trusted Bill the way he trusted his friend. He thought Bill was going to be his mentor. BILL had him sign multiple agreements. -Offers. -agency agreements,-loan agreements. Once they executed the forms. Bill said they were in contract. Bill Had all the financing figured out and would need to fund escrow soon. So Andy funded the account 90,000 which was 20% down. Bill said they were in contract and just waiting for inspections. Months pass by and he asked bill why is the deal taking so long. Bill had excuse after excuse. Come June he googles the property and finds out it has been sold. And He ask bill about it. Bill says it was just a change of title between the investors of the property. Andy ask for the money back. Bill says it'll take 30 days. After they submit the cancellation contract. 30 days past and Bill still hasn't been able to produce the money. 

We start investigating Bill and we discover, Bill never even made the offer. Setup a company along with bank accounts which the funds went into. No longer has money in that account. Has multiple bankruptcy, has a home(approx 950k)  with numerous liens approx (700k), been in multiple lawsuits. Owes 200k in state sales tax from a previous business. Was with multiple brokerages in his real estate career. Was with a brokerage at the time.

My cousin is in some deep poop with his wife and our whole family. AS he did borrow some from us. They are going through a lot of stress.

Anyone been in a similar situation? Advice? Is this criminal or civil? Both? Any experience on this matter is helpful to our family.