Nightmare on Caribbean Street

Hello All,

Just though I share a little story with you all as sometimes people look at us realtors as the slimiest of the slime and sometimes I get frustrated being categorised in the same list as those who have no professionalism and ethics when dealing with clients.

When we started our business we had a few sales here and there, and were told (very mislead) that rental projections for my clients would be close to 10% per annum. Now, because this was a new development the developers did disclose that these projections would only be 50% of the initial projected figures for 3 years and there was a rental pool management facility in place. The Developers also assured me and my negotiators that there were people crying out for rental properties in this development! Well, surprise, surprise! When it came to closing and placing the units in the Rental Pool Programme, guess how many rentals my clients got? 0, nada, zip, none. Apart from that fiasco, titles were delayed but properties were finished, very common in real estate law over there but not very common were my clients come from.

My clients quicked up a fuss, threathened me to go to press and called me names ive never in my life heard! what did I do? well legally I was not required to pursue any action as the information given to clients was that of the Developer, but morally I fell a huge responsibility for these people.

Solution: I went to the DR armed with my solicitors and plenty of amunition and forced them to amend the initial promise of sale to reflect a penalty for my clients, holding 20% of their monies in escrow and also acquiring a US$1500 penalty for every month titles werent delivered, plus the property ensured by the developer until proper title was given and furthermore use of their properties for rental purposes.

What happened next? They have collected penalties for the last 10 months whilst holding 20% on escrow and we at EOP are renting their properties ourselves, furthermore I payed for them to visit their property at my own expense.

What do I get in return? Nothing, nada, not even an apology, a thanks Annie for helping us and not abandoning the problem. Now, you guys tell me if you have purchased property, ran into problems and your agent has resolved the matter at their own cost. I do not expect to be mother theresa, but would also like to say that sometimes you can find true and honest agents that will genuinely assist you and work hard for their money.

Feel free to comment on this.

Annie