Real Estate question for you Real Estate gurus.
 

Ok here's the deal. The wife and I bought some property on Ebay 9 months back. Ok we bought it on contract. Paid a down payment, paid on time, paid the closing costs etc. Ok I wrote to him and said hey I wanna pay off the balance of the contract and said this is the total for the pay off and confirm. Well I got these email responses. The first one:

Ok, simple I want a refund. Don't want to go through the hassle of the title ordeal. So I write back and ask for a refund. I get these response.

Something fishy don't know but something. Can't put my finger on it but I suspect we may have gotten ripped off. Didn't even give me when we could expect our refund or nothing. The question I have is what kind of Legal actions can I take against them if the refund doesn't happen.

Gary

Which state?

did you call the county confirm what they are saying? also do you have phone numbers for these people?

The state I bought it property is in Utah. All transactions I have done have been through paypal and the guy we bought it from is from Florida.

Gary

Yes we all contact info of the seller.

Gary

all of that land stuff is public record.. go to the county website and look up your parcel to check the status and or liens.

Don't know the dollars involved but I would contact a real estate attorney in Utah ASAP. Tell him you will not pay for his services, he can recoup them from the seller. I have done a lot of R/E deals, get on this quick. Good luck.

What gets me about it is this statement right here.

After the auction, I was sent a letter from the County that stated: The prior owners illegally subdivided the land.

Ok, you've known of this problem for last nine months and letting me know now. That's what makes me think something was wrong to begin with.

AdvertisingSex, no we haven't done that. When bought the place we knew it was subdivided from a bigger parcel of land. We should of tho.

Gary

it sounds like a screwjob to me...

you bought land on ebay? opps

Well.. Most people that screw you out of money don't offer this... They just don't reply to your email and don't answer your phone calls.

you can go look at the status of your parcel right now and see if the guy is telling the truth

If you paid through PayPal dispute it through them to start the process. PayPal are vultures on this kind of stuff. But you need to contact the county recorders office in the area to see what is going on. You can also see if the county is online as many are and you can verify the parcel itself. Other than that you need to check the wording of your contract to see where the liability and obligations are.

I was a mortgage banker for 7 years and now do hard money loans in my spare time and have bought numerous parcels on ebay. Hit me up if you need any help... avalanche (at) cherrypimps.com. I also have access to title records to find out whats up.

First thing I would do is pay for sound legal advice:2 cents:

Yes we bought the land off ebay. We have bought a few properties off ebay without a problem. This is the first time we have had a problem like this.
We are giving him the benefit on this. He says he's going to refund our money. Just the way he's handling this and knowing something for months and not letting us know and letting us continue to make payments knowing this information is what's got me worried about the whole deal.
Thanks for the advice and after the holidays I'll get in touch with you on title records.
Yep we plan on it. With the holidays right now it's going to be hard to get anything done right now.
Just a little worried about this whole thing and right at the holidays too. Sad part is we had this land sold once we got the deed in our names. Like I said I'm going to give him the benefit and see if he refunds. Just seeking advice just in case is all. Hopefully he just refunds the money paid.

Gary

Don't tell me you had a real estate closing without an attorney looking after your interests?

realestatewebmasters.com

Dude if you don't get a refund you can go ballistic on their asses......specially if you are dealing with scumbag brokers who just want their piece of the pie. The freaking first thing u do in this case is to get a good-dam lawyer...which is an obvious and vital step.....

Now... if you were Nigerscammed then I'm sorry 4 u (-_-)

Sounds extremely fishy to me. I would give him 7 days to give you a full refund + interest. After that I would be contacting my attorney.

Hate to say it - get a lawyer away from Christmas crap ASAP and get him handling this immediately.

Obviously you know a lot more re the background and who you may be dealing with, but don't waste time "giving chances" - been there, done that, and it's rarely deserved to give any leeway.

Scary stuff... :(

File Les pendence on it.
This will insure the property does not get sold (If you still want it) and allow more amicable settlement terms.

Sheesh, this is getting terrible. They need to do a Chris Hansen on these scammers, and round them all up.

Get ebay and paypal involved ASAP

Here's a follow up on the situation. I haven't heard a word from him since Dec. 22, 2007. I already have ebay and paypal involved. I'm talking to a lawyer on Thursday. This was a basic land contract for one year which I am willing to pay off on Dec. 21st. The question I have is there possible criminal charges I can pursue in this matter and if so which state Utah or my state or his, if not all 3 maybe.

Gary

Glad to hear you're getting it resolved. I wouldn't worry much about criminal charges, but I would go ahead and send the local District Attorney for his area and yours a copy of any documentation you might have. This may let them know what this guy is up to and to look out for other cases. If they pursue it great, otherwise don't worry about it as long as you get taken care of.

Dude! Real Estate + Ebay + Paypal ????

That's good that you're getting an attorney involved title issues can be a mess (coming from a former Escrow Officer)

I was thinking of doing that to all three counties, his county, my county, and the county of the property. Thanks for your response.

I have bought a couple properties off ebay over the years without a problem.

Gary

Still no word from him. One thing I did find are a couple informative links for anyone else that maybe in the same situation I am in.

http://www.usps.com/postalinspectors/fraud/real-est.htm
With this I think since the contract being signed was done by using the US Mail. Which I have the original envelope the contract came in.

http://www.ic3.gov
Which I am going to pursue also.

To me this now is a matter of principle than money now. I wanna make sure this guy doesn't do this to someone else. So if anyone who involved in buying and selling real estate on ebay or considering it and would like the information of this individual feel free to contact me on ICQ.

Gary