Free Legal Help when Dealing With Realtors, Landlords, Contractors, Bankers, Mortgage Lenders, etc.
By Matthew Lesko, Celebrated Entrepreneur and New York Times Best Selling Author
With Sarah Priestman
It’s Not Fair!
If you believe you have been treated unfairly or illegally at some point in the process of your real estate investment, you have rights as a consumer and can get justice for the price of a phone call.
There are lots of places you can turn to for legal help, but before you commit the time, money and energy it takes to show up in court, you may want to consider other options. For example, you can contact a state office that regulates the company you are dealing with and they will investigate on your behalf. This is a good place to begin, as most state regulatory agencies have the power to stop companies from doing any business in their state. Most businesses will chose to address the problem to your satisfaction rather than risk their reputation with the state officials. Or, more importantly, if they do not address the problem correctly, they risk losing all their business.
The federal government also has a number of offices that will fight for your rights in almost every transaction of your real state investment. Once the federal government is involved, the company faces the possibility of losing its ability to do business throughout the entire country.
Lawyer vs. Regulators
There is another reason to work with regulators before heading for the courtroom. Real estate companies are able to hire lawyers who handle problems like yours everyday. Unless you are willing to pay top dollar, the lawyer you hire may not be able to compete with the one on their payroll.
Plus, companies do not have much to lose if they fight you as an individual. You are just one customer. If they lose in court, all they have to do is pay out the money you are owed. This means that they have little incentive to settle out of court, which could add up to huge lawyer fees for you.
Working with regulators, therefore, gives you a fighting chance. When a regulator intervenes on your behalf, the company must now answer to the government. If they lose, they risk loosing more than the money they owe you, because they could be forced to close down their entire business.
And, every business is afraid of regulatory agencies. They are so big and complicated that it costs a company a lot of money just to talk to the right government office. Once a company is contacted by a regulatory agency, they will most likely decide to pay you off so they don’t have to worry about getting caught in a bureaucratic nightmare. This is business decision for them, as it is a lot cheaper to pay you than it is to face a state agency. Think IRS. You would never want to fight them, would you?
So, if you feel mistreated by someone in the real estate industry who did you wrong, why hire a lawyer at $200 per hour to fight for you to get your money back when you can go to the government and have them fight for you? The same government that brought you Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom will fight for you for free.
Regulators to the Rescue!
Every state funds offices that are staffed by people who advocate for you, the consumer. These are the state regulators offices, the department of business regulations and industry commissions. Many states also have a separate commission for working with problems that are specific to real estate agents. The bottom line is this: any office that provides regulation is a valuable resource for pursuing your consumer rights.
