Buy Owner Real Estate advertising scam

bmango@charter.net · #1 01-14-2006, 05:34 PM

I listed our house with BuyOwner.com several months ago. They got $3,500 of my hard-earned money, assuring me that with their aggressive advertising our house would most likely sell within a month. They tell you anything to get you to sign their no-money-back contract and then they forget you even exist. They don't care if your house ever sells because they get your money up front. I'm out $3,500 and our house is still on the market. We never received a single call as a result of BuyOwner.com. The only ones these people help are themselves -- to your money!!!!!!!!!! I listed our house with BuyOwner.com several months ago. They got $3,500 of my hard-earned money, assuring me that with their aggressive advertising our house would most likely sell within a month. They tell you anything to get you to sign their no-money-back contract and then they forget you even exist. They don't care if your house ever sells because they get your money up front. I'm out $3,500 and our house is still on the market. We never received a single call as a result of BuyOwner.com. The only ones these people help are themselves -- to your money!!!!!!!!!!

marelli · #2 11-08-2006, 11:02 PM

Every bad thing Everyone says is true...BuyOwner is a big SCAM!!! Don't waste your money! You can advertize in the local paper and get a better response. I know because I did it! $3,000 vs $20...You choose

lisan23 · #3 11-14-2006, 12:29 AM

Oh my gosh... you do know there are sites likes www.fsbo.com that will list your house for almost nothing right? And they're a lot more popular than buyowner.com.

Class Action Lawyer · #4 02-23-2007, 09:33 PM

My law firm is prosecuting a class action lawsuit against Buy Owner, Inc. (buyowner.com) for the Company's alleged deceptive and unfair trade practices. The lawsuit has been brought on behalf of customers of Buy Owner, Inc. As part of our factual investigation in connection with that litigation, we are interested in speaking with current and former customers of Buy Owner. If you've purchased the services of Buy Owner and are available to speak for a few minutes about your experiences with the Company, please call me toll free at 800-952-8897. You can also contact me via email at classlaw@dreierllp.com.

Thank you.

Daniel B. Scotti

msupplier · #5 02-24-2007, 04:45 AM

I quess having a big advertising budget helps, but someone will come along and bust their bubble. Law suits are good for that :)

Buddha1 · #6 03-14-2007, 08:02 PM

Well, lets talk about the last reply that this so call realestate agent left. Why dont you tell them how realtors basically do what they call steering, which is fround on and could be a lawsuit. You get a customer looking to buy a home, the buyer gives you what they are looking for and then when you find lets say 20 homes that meet what the buyer is looking for, you only pick out the ones with the highest commission to show the buyer. Do you think this is fair to either the buyer or the seller. This just goes to show you dont have the sellers or the buyers best interest in mind. You only care about the profit you can make. You better hope someone does slap you with a lawsuit for doing this. I had this done to me and the realtor paid dearly for it in the pocket.

Buddha1 · #7 03-14-2007, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmango@charter.net

I listed our house with BuyOwner.com several months ago. They got $3,500 of my hard-earned money, assuring me that with their aggressive advertising our house would most likely sell within a month. They tell you anything to get you to sign their no-money-back contract and then they forget you even exist. They don't care if your house ever sells because they get your money up front. I'm out $3,500 and our house is still on the market. We never received a single call as a result of BuyOwner.com. The only ones these people help are themselves -- to your money!!!!!!!!!! I listed our house with BuyOwner.com several months ago. They got $3,500 of my hard-earned money, assuring me that with their aggressive advertising our house would most likely sell within a month. They tell you anything to get you to sign their no-money-back contract and then they forget you even exist. They don't care if your house ever sells because they get your money up front. I'm out $3,500 and our house is still on the market. We never received a single call as a result of BuyOwner.com. The only ones these people help are themselves -- to your money!!!!!!!!!!

First off, do you know the meaning of BUY Owner. It means that the Owner is selling the property and not the company. They are just advertising for you. Do you think advertising is cheap? No it is not. Buy Owner is just an advertising company and not a realestate company. Learn the differeance. Also are you aware of the how the realestate market is right now. The market sucks. there are tons of home s and condos for sale and there are not enough buyers to buy them all up. So they are going to force you sellers to lower your prices in order to get the cheapest and best price they can. The buyer does not want to pay a high mortgage any more than you do. Also lets not forget the outrageous property taxes in the state of Florida. I have serveral neighbors selling their homes through realtors and very good realtor companys and have not gotten any buyers to come either. Most sellers in the state of Florida are having to rent out their property until they can get a buyer. Just so that you know, all advertising companys ask for money upfront no matter whom you go with. This person talking about putting your ad in a news paper, sure you can do that and you might get calls. Do you know why you might get more calls? I guess you dont. So, here is why. You will get calls because the buyer does not have all the information about the house you are selling. So they have to call you to find out. Does this mean they will buy your house? No it does not. All the deatails about your home is listed on Buy Owner's web site. So if the buyer is interested they have your name and number and can reach you for a showing. Also, do you think if I owned an adversiting company and once I have done all the work you asked of my company and you gave permission to do, I would not refund your money either. I would fix any problems that you may have. Now before you sigend the contract did you read over the contract. I dont think you did, or you would not be this far into lawsuit. This country of ours is to greedy for making lawsuits instead of taking responsibility for their own actions. Now you will say, they sold it so well to me and I believed everything they said. Well, it is your money you are spending and if you are so willing to just sign a contract without reading it, then I have something I can sell you for about $100,000. Trust me!!!!!! You are just upset because you cant sell your house fast enough in this messed up market. So, you have to find some one to blame or sue. Wow, maybe you found a seller with-in a week and now you are just trying to find a way to get your money back. I have a friend who sold through Buy Owner and he sold with-in a few months. Now this was back before the market went sour. Get over yourself and take responsibility for your actions and quit trying to destroy companies. How about you tell me what company you work for and I will just place a lawsuit for the fun of it against your company.

lisan23 · #8 03-28-2007, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Well, lets talk about the last reply that this so call realestate agent left. Why dont you tell them how realtors basically do what they call steering, which is fround on and could be a lawsuit. You get a customer looking to buy a home, the buyer gives you what they are looking for and then when you find lets say 20 homes that meet what the buyer is looking for, you only pick out the ones with the highest commission to show the buyer. Do you think this is fair to either the buyer or the seller. This just goes to show you dont have the sellers or the buyers best interest in mind. You only care about the profit you can make. You better hope someone does slap you with a lawsuit for doing this. I had this done to me and the realtor paid dearly for it in the pocket.

Whoa buddy. You just picked a bad realtor - no offense but that is no one's fault but your own. You need to ask a realtor for references and actually call the references before you hire them. Not all realtor's do that and not all realtor's are bad.

monica73401 · #9 04-07-2007, 10:10 PM

You people are crazy.....after listing with 2 different Realtors for 6 months each and having them tell me I needed to drop my price 10K, ( of course they wouldn't drop the commission any...) I listed my home with BuyOwner.com for 4599.00 and sold my home in 2 weeks with out dropping my price!!!! Maybe you had a bad experience, but can you honestly blame that on Buyowner?

msupplier · #10 04-14-2007, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buddha1

Well, lets talk about the last reply that this so call realestate agent left. Why dont you tell them how realtors basically do what they call steering, which is fround on and could be a lawsuit. You get a customer looking to buy a home, the buyer gives you what they are looking for and then when you find lets say 20 homes that meet what the buyer is looking for, you only pick out the ones with the highest commission to show the buyer. Do you think this is fair to either the buyer or the seller. This just goes to show you dont have the sellers or the buyers best interest in mind. You only care about the profit you can make. You better hope someone does slap you with a lawsuit for doing this. I had this done to me and the realtor paid dearly for it in the pocket.

Hi, I hope you are not talking about my reply. I am not a real estate agent and I dont do what you described in your post. If you would check my website you would see that. I have been cheated as well by some real estate agents (realtors) but you should not put people and their businesses in this category if you did not bother to even check the website.
I agree with you fully and I would never cheat anyone, if I cant do it honestly I wont do it at all. I help people in foreclosure but I am not a real estate agent, I refer people to this company and there are no tricks. If I can help by refering to my other associates I do that too, but no tricks ever.
Rose

sr28b · #11 07-24-2007, 11:39 PM

Wow! Lots of hostility in this thread. I do know of one place where you can advertise your property for free. For a seller to list a property on the site, the seller needs to be willing to pay buyer closing costs at closing of at least 3%. The seller can also hold a second mortgage of 5% to 20% of the purchase price too. www.sellerhelpsbuyer.com

Bob111 · #12 10-15-2007, 02:00 PM

FYI on the previous responses. Buddah1 is Sybil Eckert, owner of Buyowner South Florida and Monica73401 is her sister which runs another Buyowner office in a different state, I think New Orleans but I am not positive. I know this because I used to work at the South Florida location. I don't know why they did not mention that they were the actual owners that were responding, but I felt I should let you know since they did not. As you can tell by their responses, they are not actual customers of Buyowner, they are the ones running the show. It is just way too coincidental that Sybil's main e-mail account contains the Buddah and that her sisters name is Monica, and they are the only 2 that reply in the positive for this company. Now, if an actual customer (not the paid customers that they hire for the commercials) would reply in a positive response, that would be different. I wonder why they did not specify that they are the owners of the company. Scotty (Charles) Eckert and Sybil Eckert are the owners of the full Buyowner franchise, based out of Deerfield Beach, Florida, while Monica, Sybil's sister, is a franchise owner. The Eckert's also own the mortgage company S&S Financial (which will loan you the money to purchase the advertisement while placing a lein on your home, in other words, a second mortgage), title services named The Title Company (which will charge you a percentage if you do not use their title services) and real estate company named MLS Realty (which will list your home on the MLS if you are dissatisfied with the Buyowner results, but not actively show your home. They are sellers agent only). If you have dealt with Buyowner, I'm sure that you have heard of those companies also. There are definate unfair business practices going on, but if your home is not moving, I'm sorry, that is not one of them. I'm waiting for the class action lawsuit attorney to contact me back before I can divulge this info. I do not want them to change what they are doing before they can be caught, because they are looking at complaints made about them on this site. Look up ""class action" and Buyowner" in a Google search to contact the attorney Daniel Scotti at 800-952-8897 for any questions. BTW, they don't treat their employees much better than their customers, so please don't blame the sales or customer service reps, they were taught by Sybil Eckert and only get leads and pay if they sell her way. I personally am very sorry for having worked for a company that treats their customers this way and hope that this statement reaches you before you purchase advertising through them.

monica73401 · #13 10-22-2007, 12:27 PM

Ummm, excuse me but you really have NO IDEA what your talking about, first of all I am not related to ANYONE who works for, owns or partners with BUYOWNER, you freaking idiot, do you know how many Monica's there are in the world. Just because I have had a good experience with a company you automatically ASSume that I am making false statements???? SHAME ON YOU! The real problem here is the fact that there are more happy customers than non-satisfied, but you only here about the bad, I am one person and I have good things to say about BUYOWNER, and it is my right to do so. Maybe your the owner of one of those knock-off companys, just trying to get business, the dishonest way. KARMA's A *****... BEWARE!

TTWSFL · #14 02-03-2009, 01:14 AM

I'm going to be absolutely honest here, I AM a realtor, haven't been in the business 20 years like some agents however I do have experience and will say right now is crappy time to be in the market, whether your an agent or seller....its certainly a buyers market (if you have cash or can secure financing) However buyers are being misled by the constant tv ads & late night infomercials promising that you can buy nice homes in a nice area for little to nothing. Like mom said if it seems too good to be true it probably is....but thats a whole different topic...anyway....

BUYOWNER.COM- I see their ads all the time with their customer testimonials and have had lots of listing prospects ask me my opinion about them, I didn't know anything about them not to mention, I simply refuse to talk trash about another company its simply unprofessional so for my own interest I started poking around on the net just to be educated on the matter of the "buyowner.com" issue I began researching it on the web looking for reviews, consumer feedback and all the info I could gather. First I checked their website and couldn't really find much info unless i signed up, gave them all my info and had them call me, I'm an agent not looking to deceive anyone so I had no interest in getting myself into that scenario...so I kept searching and I found very few positive reviews on this company and I was absolutely shocked. I'm in South Florida and they advertise like crazy down here. I had heard horror stories from other realtors and brokers of their clients sinking loads of money into the "Buy Owner" advertising & listing packages and being incredibly disappointed in the response they received. I assumed it was just tacky bashing by the other agents but after spending quite a bit of time researching this company I've come to realize that there are far more complaints about scams, bad customer service, liens being placed on customers homes and even threatened legal action.I couldn't believe it.

And as for the bashing of Realtors, Brokers & Real Estate Brokerage companies.....I will say, in my experience there are plenty of bad agents out there, slimey, greedy, dishonest agents that would sell you the brooklyn bridge if they could pull a commission off it. My advice to ANY seller is to do your reasearch and chose the option that is best suited for you. The vast mejority of buyers will work with an agent simply becuase of the access they have to the regional MLS and the numerous listings there, also most buyers don't fully understand all of the paperwork, red tape & BS that goes along with buying a home especially in this market and it being flooded with short sales & hard up sellers who aren't always honest about their own property (inspections & appraisals are a must & 100% worth it for any buyers peace of mind). Alot of FSBO sellers will offer right up front to pay a buyers agent 2-3% knowing that most buyers are working with an agent. If you do choose to Sell your house on your own there are lots of resources out there that you can use to market and direct traffic to your property without sinking a ton of money into a service that apparently has more unsatisfied customers and bad consumer reviews than good one.

Everyone has had a bad experience somewhere along the way, even myself I purchased a home from an owner/agent, had all the necessary inspections and even though it all SEEMED to check out I had nothing but problems w/ the home from the time I moved in (this experience is what motivated me to get my real estate license & to eventually become a GOOD realtor)

DO you homework, know who you're dealing with, ask for referrals from agents previous clients, understand the commission structure, reasearch any FSBO company you choose to list through and ALWAYS read the contract before signing on the dotted line !!!!....knowlege is ***** and an absolute necessity when dealing with any kind of real estate transaction !!!!

Sorry to ramble on but I had to give what I felt was good honest advice to anyone loking to sell their home !!!

ADAMMOM · #15 05-06-2009, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob111

FYI on the previous responses. Buddah1 is Sybil Eckert, owner of Buyowner South Florida and Monica73401 is her sister which runs another Buyowner office in a different state, I think New Orleans but I am not positive. I know this because I used to work at the South Florida location. I don't know why they did not mention that they were the actual owners that were responding, but I felt I should let you know since they did not. As you can tell by their responses, they are not actual customers of Buyowner, they are the ones running the show. It is just way too coincidental that Sybil's main e-mail account contains the Buddah and that her sisters name is Monica, and they are the only 2 that reply in the positive for this company. Now, if an actual customer (not the paid customers that they hire for the commercials) would reply in a positive response, that would be different. I wonder why they did not specify that they are the owners of the company. Scotty (Charles) Eckert and Sybil Eckert are the owners of the full Buyowner franchise, based out of Deerfield Beach, Florida, while Monica, Sybil's sister, is a franchise owner. The Eckert's also own the mortgage company S&S Financial (which will loan you the money to purchase the advertisement while placing a lein on your home, in other words, a second mortgage), title services named The Title Company (which will charge you a percentage if you do not use their title services) and real estate company named MLS Realty (which will list your home on the MLS if you are dissatisfied with the Buyowner results, but not actively show your home. They are sellers agent only). If you have dealt with Buyowner, I'm sure that you have heard of those companies also. There are definate unfair business practices going on, but if your home is not moving, I'm sorry, that is not one of them. I'm waiting for the class action lawsuit attorney to contact me back before I can divulge this info. I do not want them to change what they are doing before they can be caught, because they are looking at complaints made about them on this site. Look up ""class action" and Buyowner" in a Google search to contact the attorney Daniel Scotti at 800-952-8897 for any questions. BTW, they don't treat their employees much better than their customers, so please don't blame the sales or customer service reps, they were taught by Sybil Eckert and only get leads and pay if they sell her way. I personally am very sorry for having worked for a company that treats their customers this way and hope that this statement reaches you before you purchase advertising through them.

Hello,

I received the cancellation notice in the mail on Monday 5/4/09 for BuY Owner Class Action Settlement. I contracted with them in June, 2008 and never had one call about my house.
When buy owner sent there representative to our home he was trained to tell you everything you wanted to hear about your home and even gave us what we should sell our house for. Then he had a way of conning you into thinking you were her best friend, by giving you his cell number. When I did call the next day he blew me off and told me to call the main office and then he never answered his cell phone after that. The contract that was used failed to advise me of my right to cancel.

I went to scam.com tonight and saw your thread to contact Daniel Scotti at 800-952-8897 if services were purchased. I am available to speak about it but this number is always busy.
I am raising two children and my hours were just cut by my employer and my husband lost his job last year and I can really use this money back. Can you help me get in touch with the correct person

JollyR · #16 05-09-2009, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADAMMOM

Hello,

I received the cancellation notice in the mail on Monday 5/4/09 for BuY Owner Class Action Settlement. I contracted with them in June, 2008 and never had one call about my house.
When buy owner sent there representative to our home he was trained to tell you everything you wanted to hear about your home and even gave us what we should sell our house for. Then he had a way of conning you into thinking you were her best friend, by giving you his cell number. When I did call the next day he blew me off and told me to call the main office and then he never answered his cell phone after that. The contract that was used failed to advise me of my right to cancel.

I went to scam.com tonight and saw your thread to contact Daniel Scotti at 800-952-8897 if services were purchased. I am available to speak about it but this number is always busy.
I am raising two children and my hours were just cut by my employer and my husband lost his job last year and I can really use this money back. Can you help me get in touch with the correct person

Hi,

I also received a letter in the mail on Monday, May 4, 2009. I called the accounting office in Ft. Lauderdale (no info given) and court house in WPB (no info given - due to no case number). I ended up calling the accounting office again after hours and received information regarding the Law Offices that handled the Buy Owner class action in WPB. I was able to speak to someone immediatly and was provided with detailed information regarding the class action that took place. To make a long story short.. the legal contracts that were provided to all customers that did business with BuyOwner from Oct 2002 - Nov 2008 failed to state the 3 day cancellation policy. Therefore, all contracts in Florida are null. A total of 28,000 letters were sent out on May 1, 2009 - giving everyone 7 days from the date the letter was mailed (as stated in notice) to respond back with a cancellation request. Last day to send in your request was Friday, May 8, 2009. Unfortunatly, for those that haven't sent in their cancellation request or received the letter later on in the week, BuyOwner once again did what they do best and mislead everyone by not providing a date on the letter.

If you sent in your cancellation notice on or before Friday, May 8, 2009, just sit back and wait for buyowner to respond to your cancellation notice. We shoud all be recieving a response within 30 days and a refund. If you didn't send in your cancellation notice, you will be getting a revised contract with the 3 day clause. Everyone will have up to 1 year (not sure if it's from the settlement or notice date) to further pursue your rights with buyowner.

Please do your research and dig deeper.. you will find all of the answers you need regarding this.

Pianokeeyz · #17 05-11-2009, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JollyR

Hi,

I also received a letter in the mail on Monday, May 4, 2009. I called the accounting office in Ft. Lauderdale (no info given) and court house in WPB (no info given - due to no case number). I ended up calling the accounting office again after hours and received information regarding the Law Offices that handled the Buy Owner class action in WPB. I was able to speak to someone immediatly and was provided with detailed information regarding the class action that took place. To make a long story short.. the legal contracts that were provided to all customers that did business with BuyOwner from Oct 2002 - Nov 2008 failed to state the 3 day cancellation policy. Therefore, all contracts in Florida are null. A total of 28,000 letters were sent out on May 1, 2009 - giving everyone 7 days from the date the letter was mailed (as stated in notice) to respond back with a cancellation request. Last day to send in your request was Friday, May 8, 2009. Unfortunatly, for those that haven't sent in their cancellation request or received the letter later on in the week, BuyOwner once again did what they do best and mislead everyone by not providing a date on the letter.

If you sent in your cancellation notice on or before Friday, May 8, 2009, just sit back and wait for buyowner to respond to your cancellation notice. We shoud all be recieving a response within 30 days and a refund. If you didn't send in your cancellation notice, you will be getting a revised contract with the 3 day clause. Everyone will have up to 1 year (not sure if it's from the settlement or notice date) to further pursue your rights with buyowner.

Please do your research and dig deeper.. you will find all of the answers you need regarding this.

Thank you so much for posting this! I have been "Googling" this "Buy Owner lawsuit" for several days since receiving the same letter and couldn't come up with anything. I was so worried I both faxed and snail mailed a cancellation notice to the law firm in Ft. Lauderdale on the very next day, so hopefully I am one of the ones who can sit back and wait for Buy Owner to call and give me a refund. I called the law firm and asked if they could give me a confirmation that they received the fax (even though my machine gave me one, I wanted to be SURE they had it), but the receptionist told me the faxes were stored on a server and printed out at a later time and she could not do that. I'm just hoping Buy Owner doesn't try to pull some sneaky excuse that they never received it in time, etc.

I will keep my eye on this thread for any updates.

I am so excited that this piece of crap company is going to give me a refund!!!

JollyR · #18 05-13-2009, 05:17 AM

According to what the law office told me, they will have 30 days to respond back to the cancellation notice. If they do not respond back, we will have up to 1 year to further pursue this. Because this was a Class Action Settlement, we fall into the Florida Unfair & Deception Acts. Basically, that lawyer or any lawyer further pursuing this case will be collecting all the lawyer fees directly from BuyOwner as this lawsuit was previously fought and won. I think it will be in their better interest to do their part before then.

I will update this if I receive any information also. Please do the same.

Pianokeeyz · #19 05-30-2009, 06:01 AM

Found this link to a local news piece regarding the class action lawsuit. I have not been contacted by Buy Owner yet, but have a lawyer ready to take action if I have not received a refund by June 9th.

http://www.wftv.com/news/19394130/detail.html

ADAMMOM · #20 06-03-2009, 06:30 PM

Thank You for the reply and the news paper link. I did fax in my paper work before the deadline date and did have problems with them trying to get out of the contract within the first 3 days but no one ever called me back or I got the run around. Can you refer me to your lawyer?

daisyprincess · #21 06-06-2009, 03:33 AM

Has anyone received a refund yet. It's June 6th and we have not heard anything. We faxed our cancellation request in on the May 4th and also mailed it to make sure it was received. My husband tried calling this past week and was told that they received 1000's of letters and can not verify but we will hear from them soon. I did notice that our house has been deleted from the website though. So hopefully that is good news.

Pianokeeyz · #22 06-06-2009, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daisyprincess

Has anyone received a refund yet. It's June 6th and we have not heard anything. We faxed our cancellation request in on the May 4th and also mailed it to make sure it was received. My husband tried calling this past week and was told that they received 1000's of letters and can not verify but we will hear from them soon. I did notice that our house has been deleted from the website though. So hopefully that is good news.

Hey. We have not received ours yet either and faxed and mailed ours in as well. Our house has not yet been deleted from the website, I would assume it is good news that yours had been. Did your husband call Buy Owner customer service or the law firm in South FL? Just curious. I am anxiously checking the mail each day! Please post here if you do have any progress. Thanks!

daisyprincess · #23 06-06-2009, 02:52 PM

My husband called the law firm listed on the letter. I went back to our contract and it says that if BuyOwner does not hear from you for 6 months they will cancel your house. I hope that this is not what happened to our house. We paid them $6,000 so they better have cancelled us because we are getting the refund. All I know is that letter better be in our mailbox Monday, which is 30 days!

FLBOVictim · #24 06-07-2009, 08:16 PM

It's been a while since I contacted Daniel Scotti at 800-952-8897. They told me I didn't have to register with them and I would be contacted when the Class Action Suit is ready for court. Sounds like B/S to me.

I live in south Florida near the BuyOwner office in Deerfield. Visited them once! They will go down as the biggest Real Estate seller scam on record.

I have a detailed report to turn over to a legitmate attorney. Details please on the Ft. Lauderdale attorney handling the CAS!

Thanks,

Lawrence

daisyprincess · #25 06-08-2009, 01:52 PM

No letter today

I called around and finally spoke with someone who said they had till today to respond and their office knows nothing but if I call back Friday or Monday they might know more. So then I called Buyowner to find out why we were cancelled and it turns out that our house has been cancelled from the website since Jan. 08. Their contract says that if they don't hear from you for 6 months they will assume you have sold and cancel you. We decided not to sell our house until the market turns so we haven't given Buyowner much thought over the past year. So now I'm really pissed that we paid them so much and they just cancel you without a phone call to verify that you are still living there.

JollyR · #26 06-09-2009, 08:15 PM

I have also not received anything in the mail. I will be contacting the WPB attorney that handled this case tomorrow and post an update. Thanks

rose1490 · #27 06-14-2009, 05:11 AM

I signed a contract with Buy Owner back in 2004. After I received the letter, I did exactly as it said. I faxed it to Harris and
Assoc. in Fort Lauderdale, 3 days after I received it. On Friday, June 13th. I called Buy Owner just to see if my house was even listed. I was told that they had received notice that my house had been sold. I argued that my house had not been sold, and to send me the documentation that said it was. I've called Harris and Assoc. and was told I had to call Weiss and Handler, they gave me another number to call that is constantly busy. I did some research on Daniel B. Scotti who in the pass has represented other customers in other suits. So, I emailed him and got an error response. Email adddress no longer exist. So, here I wait for my refund.

sierawsk · #28 06-16-2009, 12:19 PM

I also faxed and Fed-Ex'd my cancellation letter around May 4th. So far, our property is still on the BuyOwner website and we haven't received any mail. When I call the law office (instructed to call Mark Osherow 954-728-3220), they take my information but have not returned my call yet.

FLBOVictim · #29 06-16-2009, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JollyR

I have also not received anything in the mail. I will be contacting the WPB attorney that handled this case tomorrow and post an update. Thanks

Would you check and see if your WPB is interested in another client ripped off by BO! I live in Boca!

Thanks

Pianokeeyz · #30 06-16-2009, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sierawsk

I also faxed and Fed-Ex'd my cancellation letter around May 4th. So far, our property is still on the BuyOwner website and we haven't received any mail. When I call the law office (instructed to call Mark Osherow 954-728-3220), they take my information but have not returned my call yet.

I emailed Mark today and got an immediate response (possibly automated). Here it is:

"We have many people to correspond with concerning this matter. At this
time, it is our understanding that no response has been received from
BuyOwner. Accordingly, your claim is deemed denied (pursuant to the
Settlement Agreement) and you are free to proceed with litigation
against BuyOwner. You have one year to bring suit. We will be in touch
shortly regarding terms upon which we would be willing to pursue this
matter on your behalf. Thank you for contacting us."

His credentials seem solid from what I could find on Linkedin and Google. I am anxious to get a firm answer on what kind of legal fees WE will be responsible for, or if Buy Owner will be responsible for them.

sierawsk · #31 06-17-2009, 05:31 AM

Yep, I got the same email response today. *sigh* Had to figure it wouldn't be that easy to get the money back.

rose1490 · #32 06-17-2009, 05:54 PM

I also live in Boca Raton, is there a number I can call in WPB??

Quote:

Originally Posted by FLBOVictim

Would you check and see if your WPB is interested in another client ripped off by BO! I live in Boca!

Thanks

daisyprincess · #33 06-20-2009, 10:23 AM

I got the same email. I plan on following up on what action I can now take. I feel that this whole class action lawsuit has been a big scam. We should have received a letter from Buyowner if we were denied or if they were going to honor our cancellation. I doubt I will see my money but I will pursue this matter as much as I can.

Pianokeeyz · #34 06-23-2009, 12:33 PM

I got an email today from the Mark Osherow law firm with a contract attached saying they wanted $500 upfront to even agree to try and follow up on the Buy Owner lawsuit. NO WAY IN HECK am I forking out any more upfront money towards anything to do with Buy Owner. I wish I could find a legitimate attorney who could help me without having to pay out of pocket upfront. I am so frustrated.

daisyprincess · #35 06-23-2009, 02:48 PM

I also got the email and am trying to decide if it's worth spending the money on. If I get my $6000 back then I have no problem forking over the $500 but what are my chances of winning? Did anyone receive a refund?

Pianokeeyz · #36 06-24-2009, 07:09 AM

Daisy, I have not found one person who received a refund yet. I have started writing numerous letters to the local news stations and their consumer scam reporters and lawyers asking for help. If I am not going to get my refund, I am going to give this company as much bad press as humanly possible to warn others of their bad business practices.

I found a local real estate lawyer who is also doing some research for me. If I get anywhere with him I will let you know.

Pianokeeyz · #37 06-24-2009, 07:38 AM

I ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO FILL OUT A COMPLAINT ON THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU WEBSITE. INCLUDE AS MANY DETAILS AS POSSIBLE. HERE IS A LINK FOR YOU:

https://odr.bbb.org/odrweb/public/Ne...=2&countryid=1

Pianokeeyz · #38 06-25-2009, 07:32 AM

Just wanted to let everyone know that I had a representative from Buy Owner call me today as a result of the complaint I filed with the BBB. She stated that they will not be sending refunds to ANYONE and that the letter sent by the lawyers concerning the class action lawsuit did not state that they would give refunds, simply that we could cancel our contracts with them. I am so furious and more determined than ever for this business to be exposed for their unfair trade practices.

sierawsk · #39 06-26-2009, 01:49 PM

Most likely I will not be forking over any $500. Another option is to individually file in small-claims court, although the award amount will be capped. But it's probably best to arm yourself with as much information as possible. A simple Google search will explain what a seller must do in response to a 3-day cooling off cancellation. I'm no lawyer, so I can't verify that these terms apply to the Class Action Settlement. Excerpt from the internet is below:

What the Seller Must Do If You Cancel

If you cancel your purchase, the seller must, within ten days:

* cancel and return any [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]papers[/color][/color] you signed;

* refund all your money and tell you whether any product left with
you will be picked up; and

* return any trade-in.

Within twenty days, the seller must either [COLOR=blue ! important][COLOR=blue ! important]pick [COLOR=blue ! important]up[/color][/color][/color] the items left
with you, or, if you agree to send back the items, reimburse you for
mailing expenses. If you do not make the items available to the
seller or if you agree to return the items but fail to do so, then
you remain obligated under the contract.

daisyprincess · #40 06-29-2009, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pianokeeyz

Daisy, I have not found one person who received a refund yet. I have started writing numerous letters to the local news stations and their consumer scam reporters and lawyers asking for help. If I am not going to get my refund, I am going to give this company as much bad press as humanly possible to warn others of their bad business practices.

I found a local real estate lawyer who is also doing some research for me. If I get anywhere with him I will let you know.

Thank you, please let me know what you find out. I'm out of town now but plan on following up with BBB and newstations if I have to.

rose1490 · #41 07-08-2009, 04:41 AM

I recieved a letter yesterday from Adorno & Yoss Law Firm. The letter is as follow:
Under the settlement agreement, upon receiving a timely reuest for cancellation from a Class Member provided by the admistrator to buy owner, buy owner shall have 30 days within which to respond to the class member in writing regrding the request. If no response is provided, the request for cancellation shall be deemed denied. Accordingly, buy owner has apparently determined not to voluntarily make payment to you (and other class memebers who elected to cancel) without further action on your part. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, you have 1 year from the denial of your claim to bring suit against buy owner.
If you would like to discuss this matter, you may contact us at (954) 728-3220 or by email mosherow@adorno.com
dated July 1, 2009

lynnber · #42 07-12-2009, 12:11 PM

I also got that letter recently. So has anyone done anything else to pursue this? Are there any lawyers who will do the work on contingency?
How is it possible that if they lost the suit they can arbitrarily deny paying us? Especially since it seems that they are paying NO ONE.
Help, please - that money sure would come in handy in this economy.

rose1490 · #43 07-14-2009, 03:25 AM

Lynnber, I emailed the mentioned law firm and told them, that about our site, how there were others on here requesting info. and wanting representation. And here is what they wrote:
Thank you for contacting our office regarding your pending claim against Buy Owner. We understand that you have not received a response from Buy Owner within 30 days from your filed request for cancellation and you are interested in pursuing your claim accordingly. In response to your inquiry with our office, I am attaching information regarding retaining our services to proceed against Buy Owner and seeking recovery under the terms of the previously negotiated Settlement Agreement.

Should you have any comments or questions, you may contact me directly at (954) 728-3208 or by email at "mosherow@adorno.com". along with applications to hire, they do want money upfront. That's the problem, I think they all do.

lynnber · #44 02-16-2010, 01:43 PM

I'm wondering if anyone ever got anywhere with the class action and getting refunds?

jnnlcl1 · #45 05-13-2010, 10:53 AM

HAS ANYONE ever got their refund from buy owner or any one ever GOT money from the class action law suit from buy owner???

ADAMMOM · #46 06-01-2010, 04:43 PM

Hello,

I have not recieved any money from BO yet. I did not retain a lawyer to go through with the class action law suit because i cannot afford an attorney. I wish we would hear some good news from someone who got money back.

lynnber · #47 06-03-2010, 07:57 AM

Me too. Still wondering if ANYONE got anywhere with this. Those attorney's wanted $500 to take care of it, and it felt like throwing good money after bad since I still haven't heard of anyone getting paid back.
I get pissed off every time I see their commercials.