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Golden Realty Group - Chicago, IL

August 26, 2014

We received a call today from Sean Porter (?), who asked if we owned a Grand Luxxe. We said we might, but how did he get our telephone number. He said he gets phone numbers of individuals who own timeshare units in Mexico through the MLS. What is the MLS, we asked. He said Multiple Listing Service. Mary Ann then asked who listed our name. Multiple Listing Services are online listings of real estate that is for sale or rent. Someone has to post a listing for it to be on the MLS.

First Red Flag - Misleading use of the term MLS!

So we continued the conversation. The caller informed us that he has access to buyers and wanted to know the type of unit we had. He also said we should have our contracts available so we can provide accurate information to him. Finally, he informed us that there would be a 9% commission payable at closing; in addition, there would be costs that we as owners would have to pay before closing and these would be paid to the resort.

Second Red Flag - Promise of reimbursement from closing proceeds!

He asked if he could give us a price, would we be able to proceed within 24 hours. We said maybe, but we would have to see what the offer was before we made any commitments. He asked if he could call us back. We said we would call him if we were interested. He said he would send us an offer. We gave him an email address and we said we looked forward to seeing this offer.

Third Red Flag - Creating a sense of urgency - good sales tactic, but a little too anxious for our blood!

The next thing we did was check the address of the telephone and fax. Do they reside at the office address listed on their website? No! Not even close! Take a look at this Google Image of the Chicago Area:

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Telephone and Fax Landlines - Not Located at Office Location for Golden Realty Group

Fourth Red Flag - Address appears to be phony!

Finally, the website says it has a copyright notice dating to 2007. We thought the domain and website would date back that far too. Not so. One year renewal. No possible longevity if the business has actually been around since 2007.

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Golden-RealtyGrp.com - Domain Expires One Year After Creation Date - Red Flag

Fifth Red Flag - No apparent longevity!

Following is a sample of their Letter of Intent:

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Letter of Intent.jpg

Bottom line: Not worth the risk - stay away....
Return to Possible Scams ...OR... Return to Timesharing