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Report: #1291899

Complaint Review: Coldwell Banker General Properties - St. Joseph Missouri

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  • Reported By: anonymous — Leavenworth Kansas USA
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  • Coldwell Banker General Properties 2700 North Belt Highway St. Joseph, Missouri USA

Coldwell Banker General Properties, Mark Tietjens, Jeff Hughes Dishonest Realtors St. Joseph Missouri

*Author of original report: Clarification

*Author of original report: Stop telling lies...

*REBUTTAL Owner of company: Foreclosure Transactions

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I was interested in making a cash purchase of one of Coldwell Banker's listings. I spoke with an agent, Mark Tietjens, who sent me a contract to make an offer. He then called me with a counteroffer that sounded good based on what he told me over the phone. But Mark wanted me to pay an earnest money deposit before seeing the final contract, which I would not agree to. He said he or his broker would send me the contract when it was ready. Then Mark became "unavailable."

A few days later the broker, Jeff Hughes, sent me a contract that had some major differences from the terms I had discussed on the phone with Mark, including the deposit being nonrefundable and the closing date being moved back over a month for no apparent reason. The situation just seemed suspicious to me, and I wanted someone with more real estate expertise to help make sure I got a fair deal, so I found a buyer's agent to work with me. But when this agent contacted Jeff, he was told one of Coldwell Banker's agents was already representing me. Jeff Hughes went so far as to lie to prevent me from being able to get a buyer's agent.

Next, Jeff Hughes tried to pressure me into signing the contract and paying the deposit; he actually stated that if it wasn't done that day, the entire deal would be off. I wasn't going to pay a nonrefundable deposit and sign a contract I wasn't in agreement with (not to mention that I wasn't available that day to finalize anything if I had wanted to). I really loved the house and still wanted to buy it, so I made a few phone calls trying to find out if I could buy without going through Coldwell Banker.

Through these calls, I found out that the house didn't even have a deed and it was unknown when a deed would be available (it was a foreclosure and the quick claim deed hadn't been received). Obviously I wasn't going to buy a house with no deed. I had been interested in purchasing the house almost a year earliet but didn't pursue it because the agent, from a different real estate agency, who first showed me the house said that there wasn't a deed available and she didn't know when there would be. Considering how long the wait for the deed had already been going on, it's quite possible there still wouldn't be a deed by the closing date. If I had signed the contract and paid the nonrefundable deposit like Mark Tietjens and Jeff Hughes wanted, I could easily have just lost $1,000.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 03/05/2016 07:50 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/coldwell-banker-general-properties/st-joseph-missouri-64506/coldwell-banker-general-properties-mark-tietjens-jeff-hughes-dishonest-realtors-st-jos-1291899. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
2Author
0Consumer
1Employee/Owner

#3 Author of original report

Clarification

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Monday, March 07, 2016

I accidentally posted this under my original complaint; it was meant to be a response to the rebuttal titled "Foreclosure Transactions."

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#2 Author of original report

Stop telling lies...

AUTHOR: - ()

POSTED: Monday, March 07, 2016

As you said, "The licensee assisting the seller then sent a counter offer that included $1000 earnest money in the form off a money order or cashier’s check and a closing date of 02/17/16, along with a higher price than offered." The contract I was sent had a closing date of 03/29/16. Which is not the date I and my family member who was going to be living in and paying me back for the house (not my boyfriend) were told by Mark. And the communication was not all between my family and Mark, I spoke to him myself and emailed him multiple times about details. The terms he and I discussed were not the terms in the contract that was sent to me. The fact that the terms of the contract are set by the bank does not explain why I was lied to about the terms. I have no issue with contract terms being changed as part of a counteroffer; I have a problem being lied to about what those changes are.

I did not make any statement regarding who was keeping the earnest money deposit; I simply said that it was non-refundable and therefore would be my loss. As for the earnest money deposit being refunded, when I was making phone calls to the title company, bank, etc., one of the people I spoke to (I made several phone calls in a row and this was a couple weeks ago, so I don't remember who) confirmed that I would not get my deposit back if there was no deed by the closing date and the sale couldn't close. Furthermore, if I was misunderstanding any part of the contract, a buyer's agent would have been someone trustworthy who could clarify things for me. Jeff Hughes prevented me from working with a buyer's agent.

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#1 REBUTTAL Owner of company

Foreclosure Transactions

AUTHOR: Coldwell - (USA)

POSTED: Monday, March 07, 2016

Steve contacted Mark because he wanted to submit an offer on the property but then informed Mark that it was actually his girlfriend who would be buying the property.  Mark then wrote up the contract as requested by Steve and submitted it to Maria per Steve’s instruction.  Having never met Maria, Mark requested in the email document that she contact Mark with any questions or concerns because Mark had not discussed the offer or property with her.

In the offer Mark asked for a closing date of 01/29/16 and $500 personal check earnest money per his discussions with Steve.

The licensee assisting the seller then sent a counter offer that included $1000 earnest money in the form off a money order or cashier’s check and a closing date of 02/17/16, along with a higher price than offered.  Mark called Steve with the three details (price, earnest money amount, and closing date) that had changed (because Steve had been handling all the communications to this point due to Maria’s schedule and availability.)  Steve wanted Mark to counter on the price.

On 01/14/16 the licensee assisting the seller said the buyer’s counteroffer was accepted.

This was a foreclosure property, which if you have any experience with them, the bank runs the transaction.  Time frames are determined by the bank.  Amount of time to submit signed documents are set by the bank.  Contract terms are set by the bank. 

The transaction would not close without a valid deed and the earnest money would NOT have been kept without a valid deed.  There are terms in the contract where earnest money is not returned, but those terms are based on buyer’s defaulting.  If the bank can’t convey a valid deed, they do NOT keep earnest money.  Those are terms set by the bank, not Coldwell Banker. The goal in foreclosures is to close the transaction, not to keep earnest money.

Earnest money is never deposited with Coldwell Banker, we turn that check or money order over to a title company to deposit and hold and they only disperse earnest money as per the contract terms and never to Coldwell Banker or an agent. 

This transaction probably would have gone smoothly if Maria had been communicating directly with Coldwell Banker from the beginning and throughout the transaction instead of through Steve.  Information passing through the boyfriend caused much of the confusion in the transaction.

It is unfortunate this transaction turned out as it did and the property has since been sold without incident.

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