As a new resident of Dubai, my wife and I agreed to hire Smith and Ken as our agents to protect our investment by assisting with our first UAE property purchase in September of 2013. We agreed to buy the property from Smith and Ken sales agent David Kodama at the listed price, but had no idea that the seller listed on the MOU was not even the real seller. The property had been repossessed by the bank during the 2008 crisis.
After checking this information with the Dubai Lands Department, Susanne Adam (Smith) was confronted but she claimed that my MOU details were a simple mistake on their part and claim they did not realize the property had been repossessed. This process dragged out for a painful 12 months of excuses by Susanne and her team.
Once it was determined that Smith and Ken was not able to close the deal, I asked them to return my 10% deposit, but they refused to communicate with me again offering no reason not to pay. After several weeks of unanswered emails and phone calls, I reported the incident to Mr. Abdulla, Senior Investigator from The Real Estate Regulatory Agency, and he ordered Susanne Adam and Rebecca Cooper to attend a meeting in person which they agreed to do. They showed up the same day and it was determined that Smith and Ken should NOT be using the name Smith and Ken to conduct business in the UAE. It was also determined that brokers are not allowed to ask for 10% deposits in the name of the company here in The UAE. The deposit cheque should be written in the name of the seller. The 10% deposit should NOT be cashed until the day of the transfer. In my case, the funds were cashed without consent and sat in the broker's account for the entire year and the funds have still not been returned! I have since found out, this is something that Smith and Ken is known for in Dubai and part of the reason why Smith and Ken lost their Real Estate license.
Upon signing of the MOU in 2013, Smith and Ken agent Jeremy Bentley from Smith and Ken Home Loans charged me an additional 8,500 AED to get me a personal loan which he was not able to get, so he gave me the contact details for a competitor who was able to get me the loan for an additional service charge. Jeremy ended up cashing my cheque which was supposed to be held as a security deposit until my loan was received. Jeremy claimed that this was a mistake on his part and promised to return the deposit, but weeks later, Susanne Adams (Head of Client Services) stepped in and said the funds would not be returned as per the request of her company CEO, Ben Smith. The wording of the MOU is very transparent and clearly said that the deposit would be returned if the personal was not approved. These details were investigated by the Real Estate authorities who determined that Smith and Ken had NO right to cash the deposit. RERA demanded immediate reimbursement of this deposit but still, the deposit was not returned. These details can be verified with Senior Investigator Mr. Abdulla Mohammed Al Shehhi at +971 4 203 0156 from the Dubai Lands Department who is currently investigating this crime.
Susanne told Mr. Abdulla that Smith and Ken will return the deposits which total about 130,000 AED, but she requested permission to keep the commission for putting in the effort which was about 24,000 AED. Mr. Abdulla determined that Smith and Ken was NOT entitled to keeping the commission since they did not complete the terms of the agreement and was given 48 hours to return the funds to me. Still nothing was returned to me.
Before the payment deadline date two weeks ago, Susanne, Rebecca and David made several attempts to renegotiate the total reimbursement, but no evidence was presented to justify keeping any of the funds and RERA did NOT grant permission to repay an alternative amount. On the last day before the deadline, Rebecca told Mr. Abdulla that Smith and Ken will not return my deposits.
RERA has officially given Susanne and Rebecca until Thursday of last week to pay the funds or be faced with severe consequences. I was told that this can include prison time in the UAE since several laws were broken to scam me out of my 130,000 AED which is equivalent to around $35,000 USD.
If my funds are returned in full, I will update my statement on this website and admit that Smith and Ken made good on their word, but at this point, I am doubtful as all indications are suggesting this was a scam and keeping my deposits were intentional and calculated in advance.
After some lengthy investigative work, I made the discovery that Ben Smith has opened another Real Estate business in the US in Los Angeles, and called him on the phone. He was absolutely shocked that I tracked him down. As a North American expat myself, I was able to tell him with confidence that public feedback goes a long way in North America and negative customer feedback should not be underestimated. Since public warnings all over the UAE Complaints Board and Black List websites have not stopped Ben Smith from scamming the public, it appears as though he will try his luck at challenging the public feedback forums in the US.
The fact that this money was outright "stolen" by the Smith and Ken group means that I will spend whatever time necessary to ensure that Ben is not able to continue his scam in the US.
Smith and Ken Los Angeles is already making claims that they specialize in high ticket properties and claim to have a client list that include several well-known celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon, Sean Combs, JayZ and Beyonce but this company has no connection to transactions with the celebrities they mention. All evidence already indicates that Ben Smith has plans to scam Americans during his stay in Los Angeles. Ben Smith has partnered with a man named Peter Szumski who also specializes in Real Estate scams.
If you or someone you know has been approached by Smith and Ken, Ben Smith, Peter Szumski or anyone affiliated with their company, you are urged to call the police and report the details of your transaction to ensure that you are not a victim of their scam. Do not let criminals come to North America and prove that there is room for shady business practices and scams.
Smith & Ken Estate Agents Inc. BRE License No. 01956597. Tel +1 818 386 8040, Fax +1 818 386 8039 and email [email protected]