ComplaintsforColdwell Banker Gundaker

• Initial Complaint

  01/18/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This is for the address at **** ******* *** ****** *** ***** I was approved for 71000.00 dollars by ** ****. I contacted *** ****** to purchase a condo, she asked me to sign a contract with her. I signed a contract for her to be my representative agent in this purchase **** **** ** *** ** *********** *** *****. She took me to the condo to see the place. She handed me a page that the city inspector had found violations that they had found. I informed that the seller is responsible for the inside repairs. She told me that she would get in touch with the sellers agent to do the repairs. Two days later *** informed me that the sellers agent wants me to pay half of the cost for the inside repairs, and because I agreed to pay of the money. I paid 850.00 dollars for half of the inside the repairs. So, I called my banker at ** **** and told him that I would pay for the repairs inside. *** stated that I needed to put down 500.00 dollars for earnest money. That is to show interest in the property. *** stated that if the deal does not go through I will get my money back. So, I wrote her a check for 500.00 dollars. Everything went through. ** **** sent their own inspector to inspect the building. ** **** inspector found that the roof is bad and it does not meet standard. ** **** tried very hard to work with ***** ******. ** **** informed ***** ****** that they could increase insurance on the roof or fix roof. ***** ****** refused to do either demand of either increasing the insurance on the roof or fix the roof. ***** ****** Failed to do either requirements, and then the deal fell apart. Now I am requesting all of my money specifically my 500.00 dollars that should be returned to me. *** ****** stated that I forfeited two of those payments. I forfeited the 850.00 dollars to do repairs inside the condo that is the responsibility of the seller, and I forfeited the 500.00 as well. The deal did not go through and it is not because of my fault, but the fault of the management Condo of either increase the insurance on the roof or fix the roof, and they failed to do both of that. *** is now saying because the loan did not go through I forfeited my money. I would like all of my money in the amount of 1350.00 dollars.

  Business response

  02/06/2023

  This was a very complex situation.  Coldwell Banker Realty - ******** ***** *********, *** ****** represented the complainant in his attempt to purchase the condominium at **** **** ** ***.  *** was diligent in the way that she wrote the offer so as to protect the interest of Mr. ********.  Mr. ******** would not listen to the advise given to him by both *** and her Branch Manager, ******* *******.  He would not provide a phone number so that they could discuss very important issues and timelines with him.  Following is a recap of what occurred prepared by Branch Manager *******:

  "*** represented ******* ******** in his efforts to purchase a condo, **** **** ** ***, and she wrote a contract for him that was an as-is sale.  While they used the regular Residential Sale Contract, they removed lines 202- 209 from paragraph 10 so that ******* could have his inspection and was able to terminate if he so desired but could not negotiate repairs.  In addition, they removed paragraph 11 which is the municipal inspection paragraph.  Based on what *** has told me, ******* was verbally combative once they started to discuss scheduling inspections  He would never provide a phone number to speak on the phone and called me once from an unknown number.  That being said, I have many emails between me, ***, *******, and his lender.
  

  The seller was upfront that they were not able to pay for the repairs needed on the municipal inspection (roughly $1700 worth)—they did not have cash but they did have equity.  So in order to get occupancy by closing they agreed to split the cost of the repairs 50/50.  In addition, ******* did not want to complete his inspection until the municipal repairs were completed but the contract was already in place and the timeline didn’t allow for that.  *** got me involved at this point because she wasn’t sure how to handle *******’ request to hold off on inspections or how to handle the 50/50 contractor payment.  I immediately got involved as I wanted to advise him not to wait on his building inspection and potentially miss his inspection deadline and also to advise him not to pay $850 prior to closing for municipal repairs.
  
  *** and the listing agent were discussing the possibility of ******* paying $850 to a contractor to get the repairs started and the seller would pay the remaining $850 balance to the contractor at closing.    I emailed many times with ******* suggesting that he not pay the contractor $850 before closing occurred because if the property didn’t close we would likely not be able to recoup his money—the contractor would have completed the work and we already knew the seller didn’t have the money.  I offered up any alternative I could think of which included the seller providing an $850 credit to ******* at closing so he had their contribution and could have the repairs done after closing, them hiring a contractor who would agree to be paid at closing, and the seller borrowing money from someone they knew.  Throughout these messages I strongly encouraged him not to pay any money to the contractor before closing.  He would not call me and would not provide a number for me to call him but I knew he was confused and very frustrated with me because he couldn’t understand why the property had the potential to not close (at this time we did not have the information from the condo docs and, admittedly, at this point I wasn’t even focusing on the fact that it was a condo…simply that he shouldn’t pay anything before closing).  I gave him many examples of why a property might not close that had nothing to do with the buyers ability to obtain a loan.  I even used an example that I had happen just before emailing with ******* where a seller had a stroke just before closing and was physically and mentally incapable of closing.  He said “Nice try at your scenarios that you know that clearly do not apply to me in this specific purchasing process. All the others reasons you have listed that you say could prevent closing, is not only laughable, but outright disingenuous “.
  
  He would not listen to my advice and paid the contractor $850.  Then we received the condo documents…******* reviewed them and felt fine, his lender reviewed them and they took issue with the insurance policy and the fact that there is an older roof on the building.  We had attempted to get the loan commitment date extended and the seller refused so we advised ******* at that time that he would need to terminate or risk the loan commitment deadline passing, still not being able to close, and earnest money being lost.  It was also suggested by the listing agent that he speak with another lender who had recently closed a loan in that complex. Rather than focus on the issue of the loan, he was focusing on the fact that the seller did not disclose the age of the roof and was demanding his money back for inspections, appraisal, his $850 and repairs and wouldn’t terminate or sign anything without receiving reimbursement on all of these things.  This is the one time he called me from an unknown number and I asked him to make a decision on whether he would like to terminate and he said he would not make one because he wanted his money back and he did nothing wrong because it was the condo associations fault. Loan commitment passed and the seller would not refund his earnest money OR his $850 because the seller now owed the contractor the other $850 that they didn’t have because the property never closed.  ******* then went silent for a period of time and just started popping up in my email again in the past couple of days.  He registered his drivers license address as **** **** ** *** and his license was mailed to the property.  Now that he is responding again, we are again seeking a mutual release and, again, *** is trying to explain to him that the seller will not release his earnest money and will not pay him $850."

  Our Coldwell Banker Realty - ******** Agent and Branch Manager tried, throughout the process, to advise *******.  He refused to communicate with them and did not take their advice.  Everything was done to protect *******' interests, but his decisions and his decisions alone, put him in the situation that he is now in.

  While we always strive to protect our clients' interest and have satisfied customers, we are at the mercy of the actions and decisions of the client.

  Sincerely, 

  ****** ******

  Customer response

  02/10/2023

  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  

  This matter is not complicated at all. This case is a very clear and simple case.

  Coldwell Baker – ********’s lengthy response to my grievance complaint to the BBB in order to recover my money, is an obfuscation designed to mask Coldwell Baker-********’s responsibility and culpability, shift blame, escape liability, travesty, and the moral outrage, for the condo property sale package that Ms. ****** skillfully designed to entrap me into committing my money into buying when she knew, or should had known, that this condo was not salable because the condo would not have met ** ****’s Condo Inspection standards and requirements. Ms. ****** has been a Real Estate Agent in the Greater Saint Louis area for over 35 years and she is familiar with the lending institutions, including ** ****’s lending practices and requirements the Saint Louis area.

  When all the facts – emails and phone calls - between Ms. ****** and ** **** Bank Lending Officers and myself, in this failed purchased sale, are ascertained and carefully examined, it becomes evidently clear to any reasonable person that Ms. ****** willfully and skillfully crafted all the sale documents that she gave me to sign were all designed to entrap me into committing my finances into a condo she knew, or should had known, will not meet ** ****’s lending practices.

  At no point, from the beginning Ms. ****** began to communicate with me, and at no point from the beginning when Ms. ****** began to communicate through emails and phone calls with the ** **** lending officials that were processing my loan, did Ms. ****** say to them, or to me saying – “the property for sale **** **** ** *** in Florissant, MO is for sale “as is””

  In fact, Ms. ****** had several opportunities during the sale proceedings to tell me and or remind me that this property is on the market “as is” but she deliberately failed to let me know. On the day of the Inspection inside the condo that I paid for, Ms. ****** was present during the inspection of the inside of the condo and she failed to let me know that the condo is being sold “as is”. In fact, it was also during this time that Ms. ****** handed me a piece of paper documenting all the code violations that the Saint Louis Building Inspector found in the inside of the condo. In fact, it was also during this time Ms. ****** told me, in front of the ************ Home Inspector staff – that Ms. ****** stated to me if I want to buy the condo, I have to pay to do the repairs that were documented by the Saint Louis Housing Inspector.

  Ms. ****** herself, the Seller’s Agent, and the Condo Management – all knew, or should have known, that the condo code violations were not only LIMITED to the Inside of the said condo, but that there were also serious safety damage violations concerns with the Roof on the condo that Ms. ****** was selling me, and yet Ms. ****** – who was my represented Agent – failed to tell me, or my lender ** **** about the roof condition throughout the entire sale transaction until my Lender’s Code Inspector found out about the roof. And, even after my Lender’s Inspector

  found out about the roof, Ms. ****** again failed to let me, or my lender know that the condo is “as is” for sale. Ms. ****** again had the opportunity to say to me, and to my lender, that the Condo is “as is” for sale but she again failed to let me or my lender know this. Instead, Ms. ******, the Seller’s Agent, and my Lending officials approached the Condo Management about the Roof. The Condo Management and their Board members were to agree to either raise the Insurance on the Roof, or fix the Roof to meet ** ****’s lending standards. It was understanding that the Board Members were contacted and that ** ****’s requests were under Condo Board’s consideration but never materialized. When the Board failed to either raise the Insurance or fix the roof, ** **** officials attempted to make an exception the upper management, but the request for the Exception failed and the whole deal collapsed with me holding the empty bag.

  Again, Ms. ******, the Seller’s Agent, and the Condo Management all knew, or should have known that there were problems with the Roof. And, Ms. ******, given her over 35 years of experience with lending institutions in Saint Louis, knew or should have known that because of the Roof, and knowing of ** ****’s lending practices, that the deal will not close because of the roof but again failed to let me know, from the get-go.

  There is nowhere throughout the entire sale process in Ms. ******’s communications with either me and my lending officials, that Ms. ****** tells me or my lenders that the sale was on “as is” basis. Instead, she failed to let me know, while she encouraged to pay $850 to fix the inside of the condo.

  The assertion that I failed to provide my telephone number to Ms. ****** in order to resolve this matter, is simply not true and not correct. Again, when all the facts are ascertained regarding this assertion, it again becomes evidently clear that Coldwell Banker-******** is attempting to shift responsibility and twist the facts. When my loan was approved, I flew from Belize, Central America to Saint Louis to look for a 2-bedrooms upper condo to purchase. The next day, I went to ******* Phone company on ********* Ave and got a phone and I called Coldwell Bank-******** and a staff there referred me to Ms. ******. Throughout the 2-3 weeks I was in Saint Louis, I communicated with Ms. ****** and my lending officers through the one-month phone number service I purchased from *******. I had numerous ongoing phone conversations with Ms. ****** during which I told her almost everything about my self – that I used to live in Saint Louis at ********** ********** and that I moved to Belize, but plan on coming back to settle in Saint Louis among other personal info I shared with Ms. ******.

  When the Closing Date was adjourned to allow the Condo Management to either raise their Insurance on the roof, or fix it the roof which they filed to – I returned to Belize and my US ******* phone service expired because I purchased only 1 month service. Before leaving Saint Louis, I notified Ms. ****** that I will be communicating with her through a ** ***** online phone service. I specifically let her know that ***** Numbers DO NOT register on the other end. I

  specifically let her know that when she sees an unspecified phone number that will be me calling from Belize.

  When I arrived in Belize and after about 2 weeks while ** **** lending officials were tirelessly working to get approval for an Exception to allow the sale to close, I called Ms. ****** on my ***** phone number times, but she would not pick up my calls. Two days before the 2nd Closing Date failed, I emailed Ms. ****** letting her know that I have been calling her several times but she has failed to pick up my call. Ms. ****** claimed she did not know where the call was coming from and therefore did not pick up the calls. Ms. ****** responded saying the deal will not close and she needed me to sign more documents which I refused. I demanded total refund of my money. It was that point that Ms. ****** stated that I have forfeited all my money because the deal did not close, even though the deal did not close not because of my fault, but because Ms. ******, the Seller’s Agent, and the Condo Management all failed to let me know - from the get-go that there were serious safety problems with the roof. Ms. ****** knew that if she had told me about the roof and about the sale being on “as is” basis – I would have immediately terminated my contract with her and walked away from the **** **** *** ** without committing any money to the sale, but instead she entrapped me, and only now in Coldwell-Banker’s response to my compliant, has Ms. ****** and her employer are saying that the sale was on “as is” basis.

  Again, this matter is simple. I am not in this situation as alleged by Coldwell Banker-********’s response because of anything that I failed to do that prevented the deal from closing; I am in this situation because *** ******, the Seller’s Agent, and the Condo Management knowingly conducted this sale in deception, and in bad faith. I am entitled to all my money or at least half of the $1,350 I am owed.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ******* ********

• Initial Complaint

  11/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This branch manager ***** of ****** *** ***** ***** (an agent) have financially screwed us over and are ignoring our calls. ***** never showed us offers on the home we sold, even after asking multiple times. We learned this is ILLEGAL and she must be transparent. She was not! We never picked an offer, she did. Lack of transparency. She was also extremely negligent in providing inaccurate or false info which lead us to purchasing a home that was too much for us. She told us to do occupancy after moving in, but then stl county told us we were in our new home illegally. ***** told us closing costs were $12,000 and they came out to over $20,000. She said the deck attached to this home was super safe, so we purchased the home with the deck per listening to her guidance. We had to remove the deck for occupancy because it was INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS! We bought a home with a deck, and did not get a deck! We are in over our heads with the amount of money she opted to sink us in. She put us under a special sales contract and that wasn’t necessary! She didn’t communicate with us that this could’ve been a residential sale. A residential sale would’ve made the sellers bring the home up to code. ***** told us this was solely our responsibility. When we reached out to ***** to discuss this illegal activity by someone at his office, he was quick to make excuses and blame us. He was talking over us. It wasn’t until I mentioned we saw NO OFFERS ON OUR HOME that he stopped talking. He hung out quickly after stating he was taking notes and would talk to *****. We have NOT gotten in touch with him since. My complaint is due to the illegal activity this branch knows and allows. This has cost us over $10,000 in money we did not account for nor have. ***** owes us $50 for tv mounts she messed up on. Never got it. No agent should walk away with more money in their pocket than the sellers. This is disgusting business practice, illegal and they should be embarrassed.

  Business response

  11/21/2022

  This is written in response to the **********' complaint regarding the sale of their existing home and the purchase of their new home.  The ********** allege that they were never presented the offers on the home they were selling.  ***** ***** reviewed the terms of all three contracts that were submitted.  The ********** chose to accept the contract that was the highest price and the one with the terms that they liked.  The contract that they chose allowed the buyers to do inspections but not to ask for repairs by the sellers.  These have been very appealing terms to sellers in the market that we were experiencing at the time.

  ***** showed the ********** many houses.  They wrote an offer on one that was accepted.  After having their building inspection completed, they decided the house was too much for them and, per the terms of the contract, opted out and received their earnest money back.  They then looked at more houses and chose to write an offer on **** ***** ****.  This house was being sold "as-is".  They had inspections done on this house as well.  ***** negotiated on their behalf to receive a credit towards a roof replacement even though it was an "as-is" sale.  Agents are not the experts on condition of properties.  The inspectors are.  The ********** must rely on the building inspectors report when making decisions to move forward.  As with the first house they had under contract, they had the same opportunity to terminate this contract following inspections but chose to move forward fully aware of the condition of the deck.

  As far as the occupancy inspection, per the terms of the contract the buyers were responsible.  ***** communicated to them several times (see attached text messages) that they must order the occupancy inspection.  The latest text is dated 9/26/22 and the closing was on 9/30/22.  The ********** did not order the inspection until after closing.

  At the closing, the ********** were very pleased with the service that ***** provided. 

*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. ↩