House Sale Goes Bankrupt

A woman thought she was hiring a realtor to sell her house, instead he made her file for bankruptcy.

Last April 2008, Yvette Gonzalez's house was going into foreclosure, so she was trying to sell it. She hired Arthur Briscoe, a licensed realtor with Coldwell Banker to do what is called a "short" sale of her home. In June, Mr. Briscoe advised Yvette the best thing for her to do was to file for bankruptcy in order to "buy time" to sell the house.

Briscoe helped draw up the papers from his office for bankruptcy court, a court date was assigned, that's when Yvette went before the judge and discovered Briscoe had advised her to file for bankruptcy, because he would benefit financially from that. A federal magistrate ordered that Arthur Briscoe and Coldwell Banker Cross Island Realtors pay Yvette $2,000.00 for misrepresentation. Briscoe was supposed to pay her the $2,000.00 by November 5th, 2008, but so far he's only paid her back $800.00 He still owes her $1,200.00.

If you are trying to sell a house or are in foreclosure, protect yourself and talk to a lawyer first. Hire him or her to draw up your papers, not the realtor. The lawyer, who you are paying, will have your best interests in mind. A realtor is not a legal expert. If you need help finding a lawyer, contact your state's Bar Association or contact the American Bar Association. Most of them have a lawyer referral service and can point you in the right direction.