Two weeks after Success Real Estate suddenly shut its doors in December 2024, three lawsuits have been filed against the agency, which has offices in Marshfield and Braintree, Massachusetts. Twelve of the 13 plaintiffs listed in the various lawsuits are realtors who worked for Success Real Estate. They claim the agency's owner stole and/or embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars that were supposed to be in escrow.
According to the plaintiffs' allegations, there are three different categories of plaintiffs: realtors who never received commission checks after closings; realtors who received commission checks that bounced, and people who loaned money to Success Real Estate's Owner, who have not been repaid.
One of the realtors was given 15 commission checks totaling more than $100,000, all of which bounced.
Moreover, other realtors whose money was held by Success in escrow may not be able to close those sales if the escrow money has been stolen. This will affect not only the agents involved but also innocent buyers and sellers.
The suit is now in the discovery period during which the company's books will be examined to determine where the money went. Success Real Estate has been in business for 32 years and recently advertised billions in sales over the last five years. April Baker, "'Going to get really ugly': Realtors sue recently shuttered Massachusetts real estate agency" www.yahoo.com. (Jan. 01, 2025).
Commentary
Whether your agency employs one or one hundred or does thousands or millions in annual sales, this story illustrates how quickly an otherwise well-run agency can fail. One person, with unfettered access to accounts, with little or no oversight, can bring about an enormous financial disaster in a matter of months if not days.
Financial control should not be left to low-level employees but managed from the top. Your firm's profitability and the likelihood of employee theft are directly related to the degree of the firm owners' involvement. The tone from the top should be one of financial control and zero tolerance for any sort of theft.
In this instance, the suspected embezzlement was allegedly done by the owner of the business. It is therefore important that your firm has an auditing system that oversees the activities of all employees without exception. No one should be exempt from financial oversight, no matter their status or length of time with the organization. Hire external auditors to provide unbiased reviews of your organization's finances.
Though your firm itself may commit no crime, it may nevertheless suffer, as recovering from the illegal acts of an employee may mean loss of revenue, the costs of the investigation, and incalculable damage to your business reputation in the community for many years.
