Need to file a complaint?
BBB is here to help. We'll guide you through the process.
Complaint Details
Note that complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. See details.
Initial Complaint
03/24/2022
- Complaint Type:
- Customer Service Issues
- Status:
- Answered
To whom it may concern: I am hoping you can help me with a situation I'm currently in the middle of. I would have sent this complaint through your site, but nothing happens when I hit send. So at the end of January, I bought a condo property in DC from Alex Cooper auction house. One of the stipulations was that I submit ~10K into an escrow account and would be credited after closing. During the first few fews, several things already started going wrong: The Seller keeps cancelling and rescheduling the appraiser After my loan manager made some inquiries about the property and HOA, apparently, there are several law suits against the seller. Several of the buildings the seller owns (right next door to the property I purchased) are being condemned for electrical, black mold, and structural issues. Further he had allegedly illegally kicked out several of the occupants due to unpaid HOA dues. I have contacted the DCRA and they had recommended I not go through with the sale. The representative also spoke with the title company who claims they can provide a clean title. I sent this email to the Auction House and they still want me to go through the sale despite this clear recommendation from the department. I contacted about 8 different title companies and only 1 company was able to say they would take on the task of providing a title. I have presented this issue to the Auction company and they told me that as long as a clean title can be provided, the sale is going through. I told them that since I was going to live there, if the place is inhabitable, they should cancel the sale and return my money back to me. I have contacted about 20 different loan providers but no one will finance the loan because of the issues with the property which were not disclosed on the auction page. Despite being qualified, having the savings, all traditional lenders will not take this loan due to the seller. I am working with one non-warrantable loan officer who is trying to help me navigate, but based on the questionnaire, he says he will not be able to help me. Here is what I have done: Contacted the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) and filed a complaint. Contacted 7 on our side and submitted my issue. I hope you can help me with this issue. I only want to get my money from escrow back. They clearly did not disclose the issues with the property and as a first time homebuyer this is an awful experience. I have attached several items: Final Contract The original auction page Questionnaire the seller sent, which was incomplete Please let me know if you need any further information. Many thanks, *************Business response
04/14/2022
Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2022/04/01) */ As escrow agent we can't release money unilaterally. That's the entire point of escrow. The seller and buyer must give us a signed mutual release or they must utilize mediation, arbitration or the court system. The purchase agreement is very clear on this. Both the buyer and seller has disputed the release therefore the money sits in escrow. At our discretion we may at some point choose to file an interpleader and force a court case. Hopefully the buyer and seller can work something out prior to that. We don't typically do that since it costs the seller and buyer additional money. We hope the buyer and seller can make it to mediation, arbitration or court on their own but we won't hold the escrow money indefinitely. Consumer Response /* (3000, 9, 2022/04/03) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I have signaled my desire to be released from the contract ever since the reports on the seller deemed him undesirable. Reports regarding the HOA, the law suits against him, and his properties being deemed uninhabitable should get me the money in escrow back. This information was not provided to me, listed on the auction page, and not readily available until the contract was signed. This means I could not run a proper due diligence check until after the contract was signed otherwise I would lose the money in escrow. When I contacted the agent responsible for this deal, she was adamant that the deal go through regardless of the plethora of information. Further, I have gone through even more loan managers for financing, but despite my eligibility as a loan recipient, the seller and the HOA associated with the property cannot be approved.Initial Complaint
12/10/2021
- Complaint Type:
- Sales and Advertising Issues
- Status:
- Answered
They have pictures of the home that I own plastered all over their website. I asked them to remove it. However, they have ignored my request. (I will provide proof of emails upon request.)Business response
01/11/2022
Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2021/12/21) */ To whom it may concern, It is important to note that these photos were not taken when the person filing the complaint owned the home. They were taken prior to their ownership. We own the copyright on the images as the photographer was our employee. We had a written exclusive listing agreement from the owner at the time to market the property for sale including the ability to take marketing photos and post them on the web, mls and other marketing websites. If you look on the internet on any real estate sales website you will see this is how ownership of real estate marketing photos work. Kindly consult your legal counsel for more details on copyright laws. We do not take down photos we own unless there are photos of people or other identifying personal property. Typically we blur out faces or the identifying personal property and do not take the photo down. In some circumstances we will remove the photo to comply with that internal policy. In this case the property is in shell condition and there is no personal identifying property or people in the pictures. Also as mentioned above these photos were taken before the person filing this complaint owned the property. Therefore we are not taking them down.
*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩
BBB Business Profiles may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes.
BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. However, BBB does not verify the accuracy of information provided by third parties, and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information in Business Profiles.
When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.
BBB Business Profiles generally cover a three-year reporting period. BBB Business Profiles are subject to change at any time. If you choose to do business with this business, please let the business know that you contacted BBB for a BBB Business Profile.
As a matter of policy, BBB does not endorse any product, service or business.
Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of BBB Rating
Customer Complaints Summary
2 total complaints in the last 3 years.
0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.