Complaint Review: - Augusta Maine
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- Author Not Confirmed
- 35 State House Station Augusta, Maine United States
- Phone: (207) 624-8603
- Web: www.maine.gov/professionallicensing
- Category: State Government, REAL ESTATE
Maine Real Estate Commission Failed to Properly Investigate a Complaint. Investigator Acted with Extreme Prejudice Towards Us. Augusta Maine
*Author of original report: The Maine Real Estate Commission is Part of the "Deep State" Government of Maine - No Oversight. They Do What They Want. No Justice for the Citizen Who Files a Complaint.
*Author of original report: An Update to our Report on the Maine Department of Human Resources and the Maine Real Estate Commission
*Author of original report: Bruce Osborne, Jeffrey Hill, Karen Bivins and Committee Members of the Maine Real Estate Commission Wrongfully Dismissed Our Valid Complaint and Now Hide Under a Secret Code Of Silence.
*Author of original report: Problems with the Maine Real Estate Commission Continue and Our Complaints Against Them Fall on Deaf Ears.
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If you have ever been a victim of a Real Estate Agent or Broker - who failed in their duty to properly represent you - and you were harmed financially and emotionally - as a result - YOU WILL FIND YOURSELF VICTIMIZED TWICE.
Once by the Real Estate Agency and Twice, when you file a complaint with the Maine Real Estate Commission.
This happened to us.
Unless your agent mis-used your earnest money or committed sort of conflict of interest - and you had a notarized statement from the offending agent - DO NOT BOTHER TO FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE MAINE REAL ESTATE COMMISSION.
You will find yourself fustrated because the Commission is generally, NOT on the side of the citizen. Your complaint will take 9 or so months - then be minimized and distorted by the investigator, Bruce Osborne, and be DISMISSED OUT OF HAND.
Here is what happened to us:
My husband and are are senior citizens on fixed income. We lived in another state for 10 years. We decided to move to the Bangor, Maine area. We did not know much about the area and truly needed a Certified Relocation Specialist.
We made the mistake of calling a Bangor, ME Real Estate Office because we saw a few homes on the internet. We should have been assigned to a CRS, but were assigned to an agent who failed to protect our interests. This agent also failed to inform us of negative things she knew about the location (Dover Foxcroft) and the home itself. She did not give us the information we needed to make an informed decision. She failed to do a CMS of the home and its location. Also, she allowed the sellers to leave the home in dirty and damaged condition.
Her broker would not help us - and protected the offending agent.
We had to sell the home at a large loss, since the agent allowed us to pay too much for it, without properly informing us of market conditions in the area.
In short, we put our trust in that agent, and got the short end of the stick - so to speak.
Unable to afford an attorney, we filed a complaint with the Maine Real Estate Commission in July, 2017. We sent the lengthly complaint to the Director, Karen Bivins. We did call Ms. Bivins, a short time later, to see if the complaint was received. Ms. Bivins seemed "annoyed" that we called her and was very curt towards us, saying it was sent to Mr. Jeffrey Hill - the Assistant Director.
Thus began our communications with Mr. Jeffrey Hill. We were very through and factual. We were cooperative, with the Commission, providing all they asked for and much more.
The complaint was responded to, by the agent and her broker. We rebutted their response.
We kept in touch with Mr. Hill - from time to time - to see where the complaint was in the process.
Our case was assigned to one of the most biased investigators one can ever encounter - Mr. Bruce Osborne.
Mr. Osborne came to our home in early February, 2018. He failed to shake our hands. He offered no empaty for the terrible financial loss, emotional and physical pain we suffered from the negligence of the real estate agent.
He failed to look at the Whole Picture. Failed to consider our story. He was only interested in getting us to concur with the statements made by the real estate agent and her broker.
He accused me of not answering his questions the way HE wanted them answered. He took our evidence and cast it aside like it was NOTHING. He even threatened to Leave Our Home, if we did not respond they way he wanted us to.
Mr. Osborne's Sole Goal - was to find a way to DISMISS OUR COMPLAINT - by trying to TRIP US UP.
When that failed, he wrote up some notes saying that we said things, which we never said.
I did tell him that I felt like I was on a witness stand and he was the attorney for the Real Estate Agency. He did admit that he was once a New York lawyer.
After he left, we knew that the Maine Real Estate Commission would NOT find in our favor.
We did report this to Mr. Jeffrey Hill and backed this up in writing.
In April, 2018, I called Mr. Hill to ask for an update to our case. Mr. Hill said he did NOT hear anything.
On May 1, 2018, I called Mr. Hill again to get an update and to ask 2 Questions - which are:
In the year, 2016, how many complaints did the Commission receive. How many concluded. Of the number concluded, how many were found in favor of the citizen making the complaint. How many were found in favor of the Real Estate Agency?
Same question for the year, 2017.
I did not get a return call. I called back again May 3rd. No return call. We NEVER got an answer to the 2 questions.
On Saturday, May 5, 2018, I get a LETTER OF DISMISSAL OF OUR COMPLAINT, authored by Mr. Bruce Osborne himself and APPROVED by the Committee.
Here is the kicker here: This Dismissal was written up by Mr. Bruce Osborne on March 21, 2018. We just get it on May 5, 2018. This is proof that Mr. Hill knew about this dismissal and failed to tell us. Also this explains why he failed to return our phone calls.
We are in the process of taking this matter further, and pray that the Commissioner of the State of Maine and the Honorable Govenor, Paul LaPage of Maine, will help us in this matter.
We feel our complaint was mis-handled, minimized, distorted and wrongly dismissed. We also feel we were treated with Malice and Extreme Prejudice by the Maine Real Estate Commision and the investigator.
Because our complaint was wrongly dismissed, we suffered the following:
1.) The real estate agent, her broker and agency got away with their negligence towards us.
2.) Two lawyers, who might have taken our case on contingency if the Maine Real Estate Commission had found in our favor - now will NOT help us. We lost our credibility with these lawyers.
3.) The claim we made with the insurance of the Agency, will now - most likely - be denied as not having merit. We now stand practically no chance of succeeding with our claim with the company's insurance agency.
Thus, we May suffer the further pain of not getting any financial compensation for our losses and pain.
All this, because the Maine Real Estate Commission - a Government Agency - whose salaries are paid by the taxpayers of the State of Maine.
If we do get any help or resolution from the higher authorities mentioned, we will add to this report.
Finally, we are writing up, this truthful report, under the Bill of Rights - Free Speech - afforded to all Americans by the United States Supreme Court.
We invite all readers of this report to share any negative experience they might have had - with the Maine Real Estate Commission.
After all, there is Power in Numbers.
Signed,
Two Citizens who are grateful to the Constitution of the United States and to the Wisdom of the Judges in the US Supreme Court.
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 05/08/2018 11:25 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/augusta-maine-04333-0035/maine-real-estate-commission-failed-to-properly-investigate-a-complaint-investigator-ac-1441981. 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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#4 Author of original report
The Maine Real Estate Commission is Part of the "Deep State" Government of Maine - No Oversight. They Do What They Want. No Justice for the Citizen Who Files a Complaint.
AUTHOR: Barbara - (United States)
SUBMITTED: Thursday, July 18, 2019
I am the author of the original negative report on the Maine Real Estate Commission.
My husband and I made a grave mistake of filing a valid complaint against Carolyn Fish and her broker of Better Homes and Gardens Masiello Group in Bangor, Maine with the Real Estate Commission.
The complaint was filed in July, 2017 and I have spent all this time- to present - battling the wrongful and biased dismissal of our valid complaint.
I recently began speaking to a gentleman, from Maine, who also had a very negative experience with a complaint he filed against a realtor, with the same Maine Real Estate Commission. Like us, his complaint was also dismissed unfairly, and his efforts to gain justice fell upon deaf ears of the Attorney General's Office and any State Official he tried to take his case to.
The problem with th Maine Real Estate Commission is that they are part of the DEEP STATE OF MAINE GOVERNMENT. There is no Oversight Committee that one can appeal to. Your complaint, once you file it, is NOT YOURS ANYMORE. In fact, it then becomes, PROPERTY OF THE COMMISSION.
This means, that with No Oversight, there is no agency above the Maine Real Estate Commission and thus no one will help you. With NO Oversight, this Maine Real Estate Commission can do whatever they want.
The public needs to understand that those working for the Maine Real Estate Commission are - themselves current or former Real Estate Agents or Brokers. They are NOT geared to help the citizen and in fact do not want to help the citizen.
Lets face the facts. It takes a great deal of time to carefully investigate the complaint, and why should they take the time? It is far easier to side with the offending agent and try to find anyway to make the complaint go away. This is what happened to us.
The wrongful dismissal destroyed any chance my husband and I would have in filing a lawsuit against the agent and her agency. Totally ruined it. I believed then and I believe now, that the dismissal was done with willful malice and intent to harm us and our case against the agent.
After speaking with this gentlemen hearing his story, it confirms our suspicions that we never had any kind of chance with our valid complaint.
Maine is one of the 10 most corrupt states of the entire 50 states that make up the USA. Maine got an "F" rating in pubic trust and integrity.
With the DEEP STATE system in place and no OVERSIGHT, we can clearly see, why Maine got an "F" rating.
What ashame that the citizen, who got a raw deal with a real estate agent, who failed to protect their interest, now gets an ever worse deal when they file a complaint.
No Oversight = No Justice for the People.
Signed,
One Who Knows
#3 Author of original report
An Update to our Report on the Maine Department of Human Resources and the Maine Real Estate Commission
AUTHOR: Barbara - (United States)
SUBMITTED: Monday, May 06, 2019
Dear Readers:
We are the unfortunate couple to become victims of a negligent real estate agent from Better Homes and Gardens, Masiello Group in Bangor, Maine. We lost $60,000 overall and suffered emotionally and financially.
A Word of Warning to Anyone Out There Who Also Had a Terrible Problem with any Maine Real Estate Agent!
Do NOT file a complaint with the Maine Real Estate Commission. If you do, your valid complaint will likely be dismissed out of hand, and the investigator will find NO cause for your complaint. Please understand that the members of the Maine Real Estate Commission are currently real estate agents or brokers OR formally real estate agents or brokers.
They are certainly NOT going to side with the wronged citizen. What they will do, is have you wait 9 full months, then send an investigator to your home, who will be on the side of the offending agent. That investigator will write up a report in full favor of the agent, giving you nothing for the time you spent writing it up.
Your complaint will be dismissed, and all you can do is be angry and fustrated. Your chances in a Maine court of law, (slim as they were without the dismissal) will be ruined. With that dismissal in the hands of the offending realtor, he or she will be able to show it to a judge, and that judge will (most likely) throw out your case. Then to add insult to injury, the judge might decide that YOU owe the agent money.
Also, when you file a complaint with the Maine Real Estate Commission, your complaint becomes THE PROPERTY OF THE COMMISSION. It is no longer YOUR complaint. There is no appeal, because by filing the complaint, you lost your rights to it.
What a horrible joke, on the people of Maine that is. This is like a writer having his or her novel, stolen by another person - claiming it as their own. This would be Plagerism - for that author, but there is no law against stealing the complaint from the Maine citizen.
Then, Another Word of Warning: If your complaint is dismissed by the Maine Real Estate Commission, do NOT bother filing a complaint against the Commission. Your valid complaint will be taken by Human Resources, and you will NEVER know the result of your complaint. No verdict. No nothing.
Also, after the Human Resources is done with you and has all your information - your complaint is considered Confidential and no force on Earth can compel them to give you the result or decision. This is most likely due to the fact that the State is on the side of the offending person of the Real Estate Commission and - just like that - you are out in the cold.
Final Word of Advice:
If you do have a problem with a real estate agent or broker, try to work it out with them. (I tried, and failed). If you cannot work it out, then just go to court - that is IF you can find a competant lawyer to take your case, without sending you to the poor house. Good luck on that as well. I was not able to find a lawyer that did not have a conflict of interest.
This is the final update to this horrible experience.
Please remember that State Agencies are often on the side of the offending agent, and the public is none the wiser - until you have read this.
Signed,
Burned Twice and Fed Up.
#2 Author of original report
Bruce Osborne, Jeffrey Hill, Karen Bivins and Committee Members of the Maine Real Estate Commission Wrongfully Dismissed Our Valid Complaint and Now Hide Under a Secret Code Of Silence.
AUTHOR: Barbara - (United States)
SUBMITTED: Tuesday, October 23, 2018
Dear Readers of this Report:
We are writing our 3rd Report on the Maine Real Estate Commission and the Problems we continue to have with the Real Estate Commission itself, its personnel and the 5 Members of the Committee making up the Real Estate Commission.
We have tried every means to get an APPEAL of the wrongful dismissal of our valid complaint against a Maine Real Estate agent and her broker.
Our attempts fall onto deaf ears. Even our State Representatives, Senators and New Candidates for Office, cannot break THEIR SECRET CODE OF SILENCE.
If you read the initial report and its subsequent update, you will clearly see how badly we (two innocent senior citizens )have been royally screwed. What happened to us, NEVER should happen to any citizen in any state.
These State Government Agencies, who are designed to take complaints against professionals who have wronged them, often fail to help the citizens. WHY? Because their personnel are made up of the very same people in the same profession that one is complaining about. Therefore, they are naturally biased against the citizen.
To begin where I left off:
After, the Real Estate Commission gravely harmed us, we sought help from Commissioner Anne Head. Our whole file was sent to the Attorney General's Office, and that is where Assistant AG, Andrew Black made matters worse for us. We did not know, at the time, but the Attorney General's Office is there to defend and help the Maine Real Estate Commission if we should dare to take any legal action against them.
We asked for an APPEAL, but the appeal was rejected.
We tried to get answers to our questions, from Jeffrey Hill and Karen Bivins, but they sent our questions to their attorney to respond to. Thus, we got some cold, legalize answer, and could clearly tell that This "Lawyer Girl" does not care about us.
We found out the 5 members of the Real Estate Agent Committee - the ones who signed their names in agreement with the LIES and DISTORTIONS of Investigator, Bruce Osborne.
HOWEVER, NEITHER OF THESE 5 PEOPLE WOULD TALK TO US. 1 WOULD NOT HELP. 2 HUNG UP ON US. THE REMAINING 2 WOULD NOT REPLY TO OUR E-MAILS.
All 5 of these Committee Members are Current Real Estate Agents or Brokers. They say to us, THIS IS OVER AND DONE WITH.
NOT TO US IT IS NOT!!! However, they simply do not care! They are all real estate agents, after all, and are out to PROTECT their Brothers and Sisters in the Same Field.
Even our Candidate for State Representative got no where with them.
THEY HIDE BEHIND A SECRET CODE OF SILENCE AGAINST THE CITIZENS.
We thought this is supposed to be a Democracy where people come first. Not with the Maine Real Estate Commission!
To make matters even worse,
We talked to two more lawyers. Both of whom told us that State Government Agencies are IMMUME FROM CIVIL LITIGATION.
This means we cannot even sue them for the wrong they did to us!!!
One lawyer told me that we could sue Bruce Osborne - the Investigator for $ 10,000 maximun in court. However, he warned us that STATE COURT JUDGES WOULD NOT ALLOW US TO GET TO FIRST BASE with such a suit.
He went onto say that such judges are NATURALLY BIASED IN FAVOR OF THE STATE EMPLOYEE AND THAT WE WOULD NOT WIN!
How do you like them apples - dear readers.
He said, TRUST ME ON THIS.
Even lawyers know how very corrupt the State Agencies of Maine truly are.
TALK ABOUT JUSTICE BEING BLIND!
Unless, we get the media to help us, we have no where to turn.
IF ANY READERS OUT THERE, HAVE ANY ADVISE OF HELP AND WISH TO HELP US, PLEASE REPLY VIA THIS WEBSITE.
If no one hears us or helps us, then it will give agencies like the Maine Real Estate Commission and the Attorney General's Office - Carte Blanche - to harm other citizens in the terrible way we have been harmed.
Our advise to anyone out there - who has a problem with a real estate agent or broker, DO NOT FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE REAL ESTATE COMMISSION OR ANY ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS.
They are not on your side. They will not help you. They will only make matters much, much worse.
Believe us. If you can find an honest lawyer to help you - then go that way.
Signed,
A Word to the Wise. III
#1 Author of original report
Problems with the Maine Real Estate Commission Continue and Our Complaints Against Them Fall on Deaf Ears.
AUTHOR: Barbara - (United States)
SUBMITTED: Monday, August 06, 2018
We are the couple, who filed the original Rip Off Report on the Maine Real Estate Commission.
We ended, with us asking for assitance from the State Commissioner. We were advised to file a complaint against the Real Estate Commission - Bruce Osborne and Jeffrey Hill. We did so, and met with two members of the Human Resources Office back in late June, 2018.
After spending 90 minutes with the Human Resources Director, we were told that their "investigation" of the matter was Confidential, and we would only get a letter saying they Reached a Decision, but we would never know the result of such a decision.
Well, we got that Letter, back in July, 2018 expressing Confidentiality. This is like a jury coming back into a courtroom saying They Reached a Verdict, but Never telling the Court, exactly What that Verdict is.
Our guess is that the Maine Real Estate Commission and the 2 members we filed a complaint against, got away, Scott Free. Perhaps just a Slap on the Wrist, and all is forgiven and forgotten.
We did file for an Appeal, with the Attorney General's Office and a Review of the wrongful Dismissal of the Real Estate Commission on our valid complaint.
However, that - TOO - went South. The Attorney General's Office just Dismissed our whole Case - out of hand - with no investigation whatsoever.
There will be an update on that, in the next few days. You see, we also wrote up a Rip Off Report on the Maine State Attorney General's Office.
We are just 2 screwed Senior Citizens. First by the Real Estate Agency, in whom we put our trust. Second by the Maine Real Estate Commission. Third, by the Attorney General's Office.
We just want the readers to know, that State Government Agencies RARELY help the citizens and are OFTEN on the side of the company or entitly one is complaining about. These State Agencies and their Committees, are made up of people in the same field as those you are complaining about.
In short, you are NOT SINGING TO THE CHOIR.
We wish to thank the Rip Off Report personnel for having this valuable site online. At least, people who have no where else to turn, have a venue to vent and let others know. Perhaps warning them and helping them to avoid our plight.
We also wish to thank the United States Supreme Court for upholding Internet Reviews as Free Speech, afforded to citizens in the Bill of Rights.
Signed,
Two Seniors who are moving to the West Coast - as far away from Maine as we can get.
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