Complaint Review: Regal Marketing Inc

We purchased a "fractional ownership" stake in a resort located in Playa Del Carmen Mexico in February of 2016, entitling us to 4 weeks of rental at the resort. In October 2017, we received a call from Brandon Parker from a company called Regal-M stating that they can resell our annual entitlement of 4 weeks to customers in Mexico.

They offered a re-sail proposal of $18,732 for use of the 4 weeks at the resort. However, we would need to pre-fund the booking fees in a "trust account". They assured me that all fees required to proceed with this transaction would be reimbursed by their customer. They offered a contract and introduced an escrow company named Berkshire Greens to handle the transaction.

Berkshire Greens assigned an escrow agent named Benjamin Miller. They sent me "Rental Closing Agreements" showing all of the associated fees and expected funds transfer amounts. My first wire was to a Mexican bank account at the instruction of Berkshire Greens was in the amount $6001. 45. This amount was required to cover the maintenance fees at the resort for the 4 weeks of rental derived from the ownership agreement.

We were then told that the Mexican government was charging a "surprise" tax of 25% on the deal that would also need to be funded by us. We were told that these fees would be reimbursed by their customer as well as per the rental contract. I asked to see the invoice from the Mexican government, which they provided. We wired an additional $6186.36.

We were again told that we would need to pre-fund the realtors 8% commission and the closing costs to the escrow company in the amount of $1498.56 and $1499. We were told that our escrow broker, Benjamin Miller, had to fly to Mexico to find out what was happening at the bank with our funds. We were told by Benjamin Miller that our funds were being held "hostage" by the Mexican government because of a 13% "Excess Income" lien of $4,408.86.

We were than informed that we were being imposed a US Customs fee of $3000 that needed to pre-funded. They sent a copy of the US Customs Invoice. At this point, Berkshire Greens offered a "guarantee" that if ANY other fees or encumbrances are imposed, Berkshire Greens would cover the costs. Benjamin Miller personally assured me that his company had to take out a special insurance policy to cover this "guarantee".

After a week of no contact, I called Berkshire Greens, to inquire about the funds and was assigned to a new agent named David Cristianson, who informed me that a new unexpected fee has been incurred, by the Mexican Bank, in an amount of $3990. Berkshire Greens declined to honor their guarantee because they claimed that these fees were for attorney fees which were outside of their control and was not considered an encumbrance.

After the wires were sent and confirmed, we were told by Brandon Parker that their customer had chosen to cancel their interest our room nights. We were provided with a "Cancellation Agreement" that stated that all funds would be returned in addition to an amount of $9,366, representing 50% of the original contracted amount. The cancellation agreement stated that the funds would transfer within 30-90 days based on when the customer chooses to release the funds. The agreement was signed on March 23rd 2018.

On May 17, 2018, I was contacted by Emma Taylor from Regal-M, representing herself as a member of their legal team in charge of investigating this account to determine why this has not closed as of yet. We've had several conversations, trying to get her to understand the history of this account.

On May 22nd, 2018 - I received an email from Emma Taylor stating that the Mexican bank was charging me with a processing fee of 15%, totaling $6,797 based on the total amount of funds expected to transfer of $45,593.25 and that if I do not pay this fee the bank will freeze my funds indefinitely.