BRAINTREE, Mass. — Low inventory, high interest rates, and discouraged buyers: These have not been banner times for Massachusetts real estate brokers. But to suddenly close up shop? That is almost unheard of.
“This is the first time in my 25-plus years that I can remember a property firm closing down in Massachusetts,” said Attorney Richard Vetstein, a principal of Vetstein Law Group in Framingham. Vetstein, a real estate attorney, was reacting to the sudden closure this weekend of SUCCESS Real Estate on the South Shore. That firm had been in business for 32 years and recently boasted billions in property sales over the last five years.
A source tells Boston 25 News that SUCCESS owner Steve Webster sent a note out to agents over the weekend indicating the firm was to close.
“At this moment, we will no longer be accepting any new business,” the note read. “Understandably, this is upsetting news to all. I’m working hard every minute of every day to make things right.”
It is unclear what Webster needs to make right. But Vetstein said sources close to SUCCESS are painting a troubling picture of a firm struggling to get through a slow time for real estate sales.
“It’s a potential embezzlement situation,” Vetstein said. “I’ve spoken with several people that have direct connections with ongoing operations at the firm.”
Embezzlement at a real estate company would likely involve funds placed in escrow by buyers and sometimes sellers. These can be deposits on a property or, in the case of sellers, funds to help a buyer pay closing costs and/or realtor commissions.
“So this money is supposed to be just sitting there,” Vetstein said. “And if the money’s gone it’s a disastrous situation for everybody. It is theft. If that’s what happened and those escrow funds are gone. It’s a crime. And it’s a serious one.”
Thus far, no one has been accused of a crime.
Webster tells Boston 25 News he cannot comment on the firm’s situation. But if the company’s offices are any indication, it’s definitely out of business. Both the Marshfield and Braintree locations were dark and deserted on Monday. Brokers who might normally work out of the office did not return inquiries from Boston 25 about the company’s closure.
SUCCESS Real Estate has but two new listings on its website -- one house in Brockton, the other in Rockland. Vetstein said sellers who have not yet signed a deal with a buyer should not have any problem just switching to another firm or another agent. The ones he’s more concerned about: those who made deposits to SUCCESS Real Estate’s escrow fund, with every expectation those funds would be safe.
“I hope everyone can get their money back,” he said. “But it’s one of those situations where you hope for the best but you got to plan for the worst.”
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