real estate small business fraud?
Couple months ago, my family purchased a small yogurt shop in California. It was the first business purchase in the U.S. and we bought this business through a realtor who her husband is the previous owner of this yogurt shop.
During the process of it, we asked the previous owner and the realtor if there will be other yogurt shop coming, and their answer was ‘no.’
We purchased the business, trusting them 100%. We increased the sale for the next three months. That is, until a bigger/cheaper yogurt shop opens few blocks away from our store. Our sales dramatically decreased exactly from the day that store opened.
We contacted the previous owner and the realtor (because they are husband and a wife) to demand for an explanation.
They kept saying ‘honest God’ that they did not know, and actually accused us of killing the business (remind you that we increased the sales for three months).
We tried to resolve this matter in amicable way possible, but the realtor and previous owner refused to cooperate in any matter.
So, we did our own investigation.
We found:
- the bigger yogurt store started construction on two months before our purchase of the business.
- the manager of the yogurt shop (who also worked for the previous owner) told that other yogurt shop was coming.
- the bigger yogurt shop was using billboard to advertise its coming and we have material evidences and witness that the previous owner did know that the other yogurt shop was coming.
- recently found out that this couple had fraud history in another state (NV).
Their reaction:
- they have indirectly accused me by publishing an article of the bad management kills the business.
- they are false advertising that our store earns a lot to sell other yogurt franchise (the previous owner has the license to sell franchise in the location we live).
- they are telling other people that this does not affect because the flavor of our yogurt is different from the bigger/cheaper yogurt store.
- they are going to the court if we are going to the court.
We have sent a letter for an investigation to DRE to suspend realtor’s license.
We are also seeking an attorney help to unwind the deal and filing for a fraud, but we also want to receive some of your professional comments and suggestions of what we should do.
Our biggest concern is that they have previous fraud history and they may run away again. Attorney fee is also very high. We believe that they may know all these and may use it for their advantage that not many people really pursue the case to the court. Also, if they hide their assets, we heard it’s difficult to recover the fees.
Burgess
December 4th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Sie sollten Ihre eigenen Geschehen Due Diligence bei der Untersuchung des Wettbewerbs möglich. Stattdessen haben Sie das Wort ein Immobilienmakler und jetzt du meinst, du bist etwas schuldet.
December 7th, 2008 at 4:54 am
I don’t have an answer for you but, I can make a suggestion. If you have the financial means I would hired a private investigator to do a thorough search of all of their real estate transactions over the years. This could help significantly in court should you find that in fact they have committed fraud before. Good luck!
December 9th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Weet u zeker dat zij zijn wettelijk verplicht om de bedrijfsplannen van anderen, die zij had geen contract afsluiten? Ook als dit reclamepaneel was zo duidelijk hoe hebben jullie het missen? Ik weet dat ik een gemakkelijk zou kunnen missen, dat doe ik niet rijden alle straten rond. Ik denk niet dat de DRE schorst de makelaars licentie zonder een veroordeling, niet gebaseerd op uw woord, vooral omdat er niet lijkt te worden van mogelijke fraude in verband met het contract dat u ondertekend.
December 10th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Het klinkt alsof u de juiste dingen door een procureur in te huren doet. En ja ben ik het ermee eens dat zij opnieuw met dit type van fraude kunnen weggaan. Ik ben het ermee eens dat de vergunning van Realtor zou moeten worden herroepen. En zij zouden zwaar moeten worden gezuiverd. U zou uw procureur kunnen willen vragen of zal de staat schade toe te schrijven aan de acties Realtors betalen.
Ik ben droevig dit aan u en uw familie gebeurde. Er zijn wetten om een koper tegen dergelijke dingen te beschermen, jammer genoeg, soms law' s kan niet hen in de handeling vangen van het berokkenen van de schade.
Ik wens u het beste van geluk.
December 11th, 2008 at 4:54 am
Honestly, I’m not sure you have a case. All this was public knowledge, surely you should have been able to find out about it on your own and not just taken their word for it. That is what a judge will say, that you bear some of the responsibility here. If they are misrepresenting the financial state of the business, that is another issue and you can certainly testify to that. Hire an attorney if you want; if you feel there is enough money at stake, that will justify whatever you have to pay the attorney. but you’ll have to brace yourself for a long legal battle from the sound of it. You also have to clarify what satisfaction you are seeking – do you want money? Want out of the lease and the business? What is your ultimate goal here?