Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is filing a lawsuit against real estate companies for allegedly defrauding its customers out of thousands of dollars.
Property Solutions International Corp., Premier 1 Property and Marvin Scott were named in the complaint filed by Bondi's office June 5. The complaint said the companies promised to sell consumers' land for much more than it was worth.
Bondi said the defendants would charge customers about $2,250 on average to broker the sale of the land, and promising to refund most of the money. However, they rarely followed through with the promises made, she said.
The companies told consumers the payments they made would go to closing fees, title fees, deed fees, attorney fees, transfer fees, broker fees, administrative fees and assessment fees, the suit says, and, additionally, the companies alleged the money would go to posting the land for sale on the websites CoastToCoastland.com and FSBOPropertysolutions.com.
According to the complaint, the companies said about 200 million people visited the website. However, this isn't the case when looking at the websites' traffic estimates, the suit says.
In one incident the companies allegedly contacted a senior citizen saying they could sell his property, worth about $4,000, for nearly $30,000, and required a $1,300 payment to make the deal happen. Bondi said the companies would find potential sellers by using unlicensed telemarketers, and promising buyers were looking and ready to purchase property.
Bondi seeks restitution for 34 people who paid more than $70,000 to the companies.