A.E.M. Real Estate, LLC
Complaint 168310 Details

On 08/22/2012 we received a Phone call from Simon Abrams at A.E.M. Real Estate,
LLC in Chicago. He wanted to Know if we would like to sell our Time Share with the
Mayan Palace in Mexico. I told him what type of room we had and he quoted a very
generous price for it. That day he sent an E-mail with instructions of what to send him
and an attached Guaranteed Timeshare Purchase-Sale Contract. We looked the
contract over and there was no mention of any up front fees. It also stated that they had
been in business since 2006. He said that he had a buyer for it and the funds for the
sale were already in escrow. It also told us how to check them out on the BBB and
Illinois Secretary of State web sites.
We checked them out on those sites and confirmed that the phone number on BBB
matched the one given to us by A.E.M. We had a person in Chicago go to their address
to see if they were actually there. The company was there and had people working in
the office. He talked to a security guard and the guard said that they had been there for
years.
After going back and forth with more documentation from our Mayan Palace contract
and changing the price because we had a more limited time share than they originally
thought,We decided to go ahead. Up to this point no mention of up front monies had
been mentioned.
On 09/04/2012 we sent in the final signed contract.
On 09/06/2012 we sent in a signed copy of the Customer Satisfaction Guarantee
Contract and images of our drivers license and passports.
On 09/06/2012, Simon sent an e-mail telling us about the escrow company.
It said our escrow company was Elite Escrow, out of Leawood Kansas and our
closing date was 10/12/2012. It also was very helpful in telling us how we
could also check out Elite Escrow who had been in business since 2005.
We checked out elite Escrow and it looked good on the BBB and Kansas
secretary of state site. I know now I was not as diligent as I should have
been in checking them out.
On 09/07/2012 Simon called me and said that we had a snag. The resort
requires a 5X maintenance fee up front from the member before the can
transfer ownership of the time share. This was a sum of $3050.90. It had to
be wired to a bank in Mexico so that an agent of the Escrow company could
take a check in our name to the resort headquarters. The cost of the fee and
the wire fee was to be reimbursed in the check at closing. The wire fee was
$60. I checked and there is a clause stating that a 5x transfer fee was due.
After a lot of deliberation and complaining that they never told us about this
up front We convinced ourselves that since both companies had been in
business for at least 5 years without a complaint, it had to be Ok.
On 09/17/20012 we wires $ 3050.90 to the Scotiabank in Mexico and emailed
the confirmation and wire fee cost to Simon.
On 09/19/2012 Simon sent me an amended Guarantee of reimbursement
with those fees added to it.
On Approx. 09/20/2012 Simon called and stated that they would need
another 3050.90 for the vacation fair week. He stated that the resort would
not transfer the vacation fair week and that they needed the fee to push it
through.
Red flags were going off all over the place and I said it must be a scam and I
would not do it. There was a lot of calls going back and forth but they finally
said that if I would not do it the following would take place:
Because this is a Guaranteed contract, the penalties for breach
are severe - for all Parties. As you can see from the attached, your
breach will result, at the very least, in your forfeiture of all deposits
to escrow and you may be liable for additional financial penalties.
Your deposits to escrow to date include:
1. Your timeshare which was deposited to escrow upon you
entering into the Contract.
2. Your payment of the Transfer Fee for the Registered Week.
($3,050.90)
Once the 10-day payment limit has passed, the Buyer may execute
the liquidated damages provision of the contract; however, to date
the Buyer has not made this request.
Time is of the essence. Please understand that the Buyer will obtain
your timeshare without you receiving any payment should you
continue to refuse to make this payment. You will also forfeit the
$3,050.90 which you deposited to escrow. To sum it up, you will be
liable for and/or will forfeit the following:
1. Forfeiture of your timeshare which was deposited to escrow
upon your acceptance of the Contract
2. Forfeiture of your payment of the first Transfer Fee for the
Registered Week in the amount of $3,050.90.
3. Any and all legal fees of all other Parties which relate to
your breach
4. Both the Buyer and Seller portion of our commission - a total
of 10% which totals $3,750
5. Payment to Escrow for services rendered
6. Other penalties as mutually agreed or as determined by law.
Guaranteed Contracts must carry severe penalties so that the
injuring Party is the only Party to suffer loss. Otherwise, the
Contracts could not be “Guaranteed”.
This is a very serious matter which requires your immediate
attention, as you are already in breach of contract. Fortunately, to
date the Buyer has not requested execution of the liquidated
damages provision.
At that point I should have called a Lawyer for sure. But I talked to Mildred Fredericks
at Elite Escrow and she stated that this was something that happened with the Mayan
Palace. They had very high transfer fees and that the fees at other resorts were only a
couple hundred dollars. She guaranteed that this would be fine and that no more up front
fees would be due from the resort. Shed sent me that guarantee in writing.
I was so frustrated tired and scared of a suit, On 10/01/2012 we wire another $3050.90
to Mexico with a $60 wire fee. At this point they had $6221.80 of our money. I e-mailed
Simon the confirmation and fee receipt that same day.
On 10/02/2012 Simon sent me another amended Guarantee of reimbursement
with those fees added to it.
On 10/04/2012 I received a call from Simon stating there was another small
issue. That I should read the E-mail that he just sent me. In summary it
stated that I would need to send another $6000 for Mexican sales tax. It had
to be paid by the time share seller because if the sale did not go through the
seller got the money back. It had to be paid up front because the seller was
out of Mexico and after the sale there was no way for Mexico to get their
money. No problem though the taxes will be reimbursed to you by the buyer
at closing. He also sent me a bank statement showing the funds. He also
sent me a Bank statement showing the funds in escrow. It was in Mexican so
I really could not read it.
At this point I was pretty much sure it was a scam. I told them I would need
more time to get the money together and I started going over everything
with a fine tooth comb. Like I should have before I sent any money.
Since then I found:
The Name used to sign the A.E.M. reimbursement agreement and contract
was a stolen ID confirmed by that person.
Elite Escrow Business # was reinstated by Mildred Fredericks on 07/24/2012
from a company that had been out of business for 3 years . It has been in
business less than three months. The phone number traces to Olathe Kansas
not Leawood as stated on their documents.
The Illinois Secretary of state web site has an entry for the A.E.M business of
“Agent change date” 07/30/2012. I can not drill down any further on that
because the site does no have access to annual reports. I can assume based
on the Elite history that the same inactive company reinstatement took place
and it was actually incorporated by another person years ago.
Both The Elite Escrow web site and the A.E.M. Real Estate web site had their
domain created on the same day with the same company in Buenos Aires,
Argentina. The phone number for both web site administers are unreachable.
I called the Mayan Palace and they stated that the transfer fees did not have
to be paid by the seller up front and there no sales tax on a transaction like
this.
Pertinent Info:
A.E.M Real Estate, LLC Elite Escrow, inc
22 West Washington ST.Chicago IL 5251 West 116th Place, Suite 200
Phone: 312-386-7747 913-815-8430
Fax: 312-277-7516 800-566-6987
www.aemrealestate.com www.eliteescrowinc.com