QUESTION
As a part of selling a restaurant and settlement, the attorney used the escrow that was distributed by the lender for personal use.
Asked on Jun 19th, 2011 on Business Law - Alabama
More details to this question:
The money was released to the broker for his personal use by the settlement attorney. They acknowledged their wrong doing and promised verbally to pay back by the end of this month. They begged for forgiveness. I can forgive the broker but hard for the attorney for she breached the fundamental principle of being attorney. This may not be the only case. What should I do? What kind of compensation should I look for? The money to be collected is $600k. It's been 6 month. They fraudulently used a name of bank employee to lie to me that it was the lender's request to escrow the money. The lender doesn't want to make it as an issue because of the bus relationship with the broker. Please advise what I should do.
1 ANSWER
Real Estate Law Attorney serving Anniston, AL
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Isom Stanko & Senter, LLC
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This is the first time I have seen this question -- and I notice it was apparently posted June 19, 2011, almost 6 months ago. And your narrative states that the act complained of took place 6 months prior to that. If I understand correctly, this act occurred approximately January 2011. Surely by now you have either recovered your money or you have consulted legal counsel - maybe both.
I will assume from your statement that you were the seller of the restaurant business and that it was the net sale proceeds that were misdirected. Of course, when the attorney and the broker were placed in control of your funds they had a fiduciary duty to handle the funds honestly and efficiently. They both broke their fiduciary duties. They both exposed themselves to civil and criminal prosecution. For that act, I think they both could have lost their professional licenses. It is abhorrent for most of us in the legal and real estate brokerage business to hear of such abuses. If you have not already resolved the situation and recovered your funds, you should immediately consult a good trial lawyer in your area.
Answered on Dec 04th, 2011 at 2:50 PM