Complaint Review: Expert International Real Estate - Boca Raton Florida

I met Bruno Barnagaud, ExpertInternational Real Estate agency. Those are the facts : 

1°/First, I wanted to hire a lawyer to check all documents and be sure that I would be really protected. He convinced me that, as a french-man like me, living in America for many years, he was the ideal lawyer,  broker, and partner for me. He claimed to have all the skills required and insured me he would control everything to protect my interest against all the american market filled with scams, traps and bad guys.

2°/ He found a buyer for my property (((REDACTED))), Oakland Park,(((REDACTED))) FL. This buyer wanted to buy with a mortgage. We were agreed for an amount of $370.020,25 at the closing and $388.000,00 as the second payment, one year later (maximum). This deal, of course, would not have been accepted if I did not have all guarantees of repayment ; a first lien on the house (security), and another lien on another property owned by the buyer. The broker insured me that all those protections were in-place at the closing.

 First, he emailed the contract that he promised, for me to review. My English being basic, I could not understand the contracts, papers and legal language, I trusted him to protect me and went ahead with signing the contracts he approved of.

The contract I signed electronically and sent by email to the buyer on the 24 of September, came back the same day stating, "signing completed. Congratulations ! All parties have signed the session".

 So, I never checked it, convinced that the same contract I signed, was respected, signed by the buyer and checked by my broker. But, actually, it was a lie. The contract was only wearing my signature, even when it came back with the mention «signing completed. Congratulations ! All parties have signed the session".

And never my broker sended me the contract signed also by the buyer.

After the deal, I heard nothing from him. I was surprised that I had no documentation from the sale. 3 weeks after, I asked the title company about that and they told me that the broker had everything in his possession, and they were surprised he didn't give me anything.

It's after I received the papers from him and showed them to a lawyer, (after I insisted several times), that I finally understood that he didn't want me to read and understand the deal he convinced me to sign…

- First : There is different amount of payment between the promissory note and the settlement statement. The title company should not have let me sign this, in this state.

- Second : Where is the mortgage document ??

I didn't even know that this document was missing ; nobody gave it to me, even after the closing. After research at the title company, it appears that there was no morgage, only a promissory note. 

The lawyer was dumbfounded ! How is it possible, he told me...

- Third thing : 1 month after the deal, I still was sure that I was, at least, protected by my 2 liens that I had on the 2 different properties owned by the buyer, but finally I was not :

Actually, not only there were no liens recorded at the Court House for my benefit, (although I was told it was automatic), but also, there was already a lien from somebody else on my property ! 

Meaning, that no one, (neither my broker nor the title company), told me or warned me that the buyer already had a fist mortgage when I signed the sale with him. 

Obviously, how could I accept this deal if I was aware of that ??

Of course, I tried again to communicate with the broker to ask him about this. He will not answer his phone, return calls or reply to email.

So, in spite of that, after the sale, I had  to protect myself, on my own, and I paid to the Court  $2178 to be the second beneficiary in case the buyer couldn't pay his debts. 

Better than nothing,  and mainly, not fair by the broker and the title company were negligent and did not warn me and protect me…

And also, of course, the borrower should have payed for the lien to the Court House, not me !

- Fourth thing : One year ago, after I bought this building that I was going to resell, the broker proposed me to take care of it. And he managed it until the sale, collecting the rents, paying anything needing to be paid. But instead of sending me the rents, every month, he was always keeping the money for «paying the providers for utilities, etc». And I never received any accountability (documentation) of this.

So I wrote him several letters to ask for all justifications, no answer.

And I discovered that he moved his office since 7 month, without disclosing his new address. His new address is 9772 Vineyard Ct. Boca Raton FL 33428 but he continue to work officialy with his old office adress.

On his internet site : www.expertinternationalrealestate.com,

on Facebook : www.facebook.com/ExpertInternationalRealEstate,

on Google : www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=EXPERT+INTERNATIONAL+REAL+ESTATE

he still continue to lie to everybody about his current office location.

To date, I continue to ask him to send me, even by email, all the justifications, at least, for the tax returns. I never received anything from him, include money for the rent I was to rarely paid for.

Severall month after the sale, however, I continue to receive new bill and I had to pay several month of water + penaltys, he was supposed to have paid in time for me.

Now I am worried about other unpaid bills, late charges, etc.  I can't control anything because i still have no papers.

Cherry on the cake : During my first year in America, this broker supposed to be my "man of confidence" lawyer-realtor-manager, presented me another lawyer specialised in immigration papers, and also a General Contractor to build my new home.

Of course this lead to more problems :

Since he know that never again I will use him for my business, strangely the lawyer for my papers, (who i already paid), has not finished the job and never calls me back...

And the GC, (who I also already paid also), didn't finish his job as well, I am having major problems with this project.

 My conclusion is : Furthermore the dishonesty and the negligence of this supposedly lawyer- realtor-manager, I believe it's a genuine cartel he tried to create around me, with unique purpose to take advantage of my lack of knowledge in the US. And when he saw that I had discovered the scheme he had done, he called all his partners he had placed around me, and tried to harm me through them.