The Real Estate Commission is a Stain on the Virgin Islands

Posted by: @tree-cat

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Thanks to vicanuk’s nagging, I started off the page telling folks not to read the whole blog.

Nagging...lol!

To those of you who have been following my blog, there are new updates. After the Real Estate Commission’s letter that essentially said, “GET LOST” that I responded to with my own snappy letter, the DLCA’s lawyer responded within the hour. This was a record setting time for anything I’ve gone through. In my usual slow time, I responded to her letter. Her letter and my response are on the blog.

You never know with the REC if you’ll ever hear from them again without getting the help of a senator or two. If I do, I’ll post it on the blog. Currently, I am composing a letter to the Governor. DOES ANYBODY KNOW HIS EMAIL ADDRESS? Plus the email addresses of any of his staff that have the time to actually read emails, I doubt if the Governor has enough time to read every email that somebody sends to him.

Hi All

I’ve added the DLCA’s attorney’s worthless response; to which I added my newest response to her. Please bear in mind, I respond to her and the Real Estate Commission but I’m really writing all this for the public. That’s the reason for the blog. The REC is desperate to remain hidden. But I want to turn up the light.

So, if you know of someone who would like to see corruption stomped out in the Virgin Island, please share the link above with them. Or, if you’re on some other social media where you think the readers might consider my blog worth looking at, please post it.

If you think any govt agency is corrupt you should contact the Inspector General's office. They are under new progressive leadership now and suspected corruption allegations should be brought to their attention. Remember there is a difference between corruption and incompetence  

To stcmike – Thanks for the info. It’s amazing how much I’ve learned going through this miserable journey.

It’s interesting that you mention incompetence. The VI Senate was wise enough to include in the possible reasons for revocation of a broker’s license, incompetency.

(6) any conduct in a real estate transaction which demonstrates bad faith, dishonesty, untrustworthiness or incompetency, 

They knew that by only saying dishonesty, brokers would try to plead “honest incompetence” when they were accused of lying or giving false information. Something like, “I had no idea” or “How was I supposed to know that?” So, the Senate wisely included incompetency to avoid this opportunity for a broker to cover a lie with another lie.

Therefore, if a broker can lose his license for incompetency, shouldn’t the REC, who oversees those brokers, face some reckoning for the same wrongdoing?

Read your blog and seems you are sinking into the bureaucratic swamp of most govt agencies.  The blog was hard to follow as I kept coming back to what exactly is the nature of your complaint?  Perhaps for legal reasons you can't divulge the details, but without the accusations articulated, it's tough for the average citizen to follow.   

Hi VIpirate

Thanks for responding. No, I don’t have any legal reasons preventing me from divulging details. And I am eager to answer questions from concerned or merely curious citizens. Plus I would love to have vimovingcenter contributors express any and all opinions. So, here is what I am currently trying to do.

When I started the blog it was simply a location that I could share that included all my documents. I was chronicling my attempts to seek justice from a real estate broker who cheated me. It was meant to demonstrate the futility of my attempts due to all the roadblocks. I understand your confusion because over the years my goal has morphed from battling the broker to battling the Real Estate Commission who for some reason is protecting this broker.

A real estate broker commits fraud – so what, it probably occurs with some regularity; not very interesting. However, the group of people, appointed by the Governor, who are supposed to protect the public from unscrupulous brokers, instead protect those same unscrupulous brokers from the public who they have cheated, NOW THIS IS A BIG DEAL.

Exposing the Real Estate Commission’s corruption is my new goal. Stcmike suggested the Inspector General’s Office. I’m no expert at what I’m trying to do. I might have heard the phrase inspector general but I had no idea what they did. Nor did I ever think of contacting them. Well, it turns out stcmike was absolutely right. Check them out.

https://www.viig.org/

I have contacted them and I’m awaiting a response. I will keep you informed. Meanwhile, I appreciate folks reading and sharing my blog. As of September 7^th, the number of times my blog has been accessed is 1576. And of course, it would be very helpful if anyone can share their concern or my blog address with a Senator. I feel that this whole mess could be exposed and put on the path to being fixed by a concerned senator.

p.s. Like I said in “If you are thinking of moving to the Virgin Islands, read this”, sbrewingcompany is an AI bot that needs to go, Mr. Moderator. Its summations are quaint but not written by a human.

Wow...just saw that the house sold recently! Crazy step up in value!

 Yes, vicanuk, the kids did well and are planning to visit us; hint, hint. We can put the Debs on it.

Wow, how quickly a year can come and go, especially when you’re wasting time. I’m saddened by how little happens on vimovingcenter. It seems the AI BOTS have more to say than the real contributors.

Maybe I can change that. So, I’ll try to add something worth reading by picking up where I left off. The Inspector General’s website says –

“One of the major methods of ensuring effective government is through the input of the citizens and employees. You are the ones who see the fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement. We need your help and support if we are to make the Virgin Islands a better place for all. Please write or call us at the address below, fill out the following form, or e-mail us at [email protected]. All information is strictly confidential.”

This gave me a hopeful feeling. So, I called their office. The individual that I was eventually put into contact with was Nicholas Peru. His title is Chief of Investigations. We had a long chat during which he had a few choice words for the Attorney General’s Office when I told him that they wouldn’t help me. After that I switched to emails. I’ll post those in a bit.

I wanted Mr. Peru to understand my grievance with the Real Estate Commission and how I felt their behavior leaned into corruption. However, I wanted to be careful that he didn’t think I was telling him how to do his job. I was simply hoping that he would pick up the ball.

David Mattera                                                                                                      Jul 18, 2024

To [email protected]

Good day Mr. Peru

I am attaching a copy of the complaint that I submitted on the DLCA website. At the time I had never heard of the Real Estate Commission. The lawyer that I talked to about a possible civil suit told me to submit a complaint with the DLCA. In the following email Nathalie Hodge explained that the REC would handle my complaint and how they would do it.

FW: Complaint referral: Case no. 1455-21-011-029/David Mattera Vs. Farchette and Hanley

Nathalie Hodge <[email protected]> Thu, Jan 28, 2021

to me, Tiffany, Genitha, Venetia

Good Morning Mr. Mattera,

On behalf of the VI Real Estate Commission, I acknowledge receipt of your complaint. I apologize for missing the transmission in November 2020. 

The VI Real Estate Commission is the entity that regulates brokers and salespersons and the entity in which you file your complaint. Once you file the complaint to the Commission, the  Commission will subsequently give the Respondent a copy and request that they respond to your complaint in writing. The Commission will review both complaints and meet with you both in a Fact-Finding Meeting, deliberate then provide you with a determination.

Should you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me or my assistants: Tiffany Grosvenor-Stevens at (340) 714-DLCA(3522) on St. Thomas or Genitha Jean-Baptiste at (340) 713-DLCA(3522) on St. Croix.

 Respectfully,

Nathalie Hodge

Assistant Commissioner for DLCA

Administrator, Office of Boards and Commissions


Telephone: 340.713.3522
Facsimile: 340.718.6982

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.dlca.vi.gov

Even though I repeatedly asked for it, they never conducted a Fact-Finding-Meeting. But I persevered and spent over three and a half years trying to get the REC to do their job. I doubt if any other Virgin Islander could tolerate what I have gone through. I enlisted the aid of Sammy Sanes, DLCA Commissioner Evangelista, Senator Carrion and his office, and most recently the Chief of Staff to Senate President Francis. On June 14^th, I received what they think is a determination even though the Fact-Finding-Meeting was never held and my questions and requests were ignored. I consider a reasonable layman’s summary of their determination letter to be, “Go away and we will give you no information.” That letter is also attached to this email.

The blog I mentioned is -

https://usvirealestateproblems.blogspot.com/

It’s been viewed by over a thousand people so far. The Welcome page, that it opens with, picks up with my receipt of their determination letter. Articles #1 and #9 chronicle my attempts with the REC.

If you feel there is someone in your office who might be able to help, please share this email with them.

Thank you for your time,

David Mattera

I attached my determination letter from the REC plus an internal DLCA memo describing my complaint. And then I waited.

Oh, what the heck. After a month of waiting, I might as well suggest to him how to do his job -

David Mattera                                                                                         Tue, Aug 20, 2024

to [email protected]

Good day Mr. Peru

If you had a chance to read the parts of my blog that deal with the Real Estate Commission, you saw the list of eight documents that I sent for the REC after I was contacted by Nathalie Hodge. They consisted of

1. NAR The email correspondence with NAR/VITAR.
2. Exhibit 1 – 1 of 3The narrative statement I provided to NAR/VITAR.
3. Exhibit 1 – 2 of 3My letter to Mr. Hanley presented at closing.
4. Exhibit 1 – 3 of 3Buyers’ letter to Mr. Hanley presented at closing.
5. Exhibit 2A letter intended for the NAR/VITAR mediator explaining Mr. Hanley’s problems with dual agency; never delivered since she never contacted me.
6. Exhibit 3 – 1 of 3A letter intended for the NAR/VITAR mediator providing further details of Mr. Hanley’s problems with dual agency; never delivered since she never contacted me.
7. Exhibit 3 - 2 of 3Offer To Purchase document
8. Exhibit 3 – 3 of 3Listing Agreement document

Much of the information in these documents is contained in my blog, however for completeness, I am including them with this email. Now, you can see the exact same documents that the REC had when they made their decision to totally ignore me for over three years.

I am currently working on a letter that I hope the Governor will read (I’m not sure how to get it to him). In it I was going to suggest that he could discover how the Real Estate Commission refuses to do their job by requesting and examining a group of documents. He will need to see the list of determinations from the last five or ten years for all the complaints that were forwarded to the REC. He could get this list of complaints from Commissioner Hodge plus the determinations that the REC returned, if any. He should also ask for the minutes of the REC meetings to learn whether the fact finding meetings for all those complaints ever occurred.

He can pay particular attention to the manner in which my complaint was handled; in other words – ignored. And I feel fairly confident he will unfortunately learn that my complaint was dealt with in a typical method for the REC, which is to say, complainants being ignored is the rule, not the exception.

I will then send a similar letter to all the senators who will be voting on Bill 35-0193 that will be granting new authorities to the Real Estate Commission including the oversight of property managers. I feel it would be in the best interests of the Senate that before they grant the REC any new authority, they are made aware of how the REC abuses the authority that they currently have.

I hope that you have the time to investigate the Real Estate Commission’s handling of citizen complaints. I suffered abuse and I think you will find this to be typical of most if not all complainants. Then you may choose to forward the information you learn to the Attorney General who might decide that a pattern of abuse is corruption.

Once again, thank you for your time,

David Mattera

I attached all those files listed above.

Question - Why am I so stupid that I hope that individuals in the United States Virgin Islands Government are actually going to do their job? After all, they only get paid a pittance. If you go to the USVI Division of Personnel website https://www.dopusvi.org and go to the bottom of the home page, click on Employee Database. Type in someone’s name such as Peru and you will see that Nicholas Peru is in the VI Inspector General’s Office with a title of Chief Investigations and a salary of one hundred seven thousand dollars.

Mr. Peru talked down the Attorney General’s Office because they wouldn’t help me. But they were at least polite enough to correspond with me to tell me that they weren’t going to help me. Mr. Peru couldn’t be bothered with an effort like that and just ignored me. Etiquette is dead.

Maybe I’ll do better with my letter to the Governor. This update will be on my blog.

And to stcmike who said, “If you think any govt agency is corrupt you should contact the Inspector General's office. They are under new progressive leadership now and suspected corruption allegations should be brought to their attention….”, perhaps the leadership isn’t progressive enough, yet.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=473710492062091&set=a.473710628728744&__cft__ [0]=AZXwF6cHII5C17HCsMIH1c2Rou87pd3lrm9o70WVlemxcJG1qHZziHwxJY1irKDd_5XADBnhlkRAZ00Mu2U7zS893JQB40sRU8O5PS1Lo6d2OIXCLosROZsZy-KWlHXHVNDDxHOTGfD-4e_SJHMQ9LF19KtsI-2CH0Mb7oLqfHrTgT0dEWYMf9qZK4UhCXmePnk&__tn__=EH-R

I updated my blog with the letter I wrote for the Governor. Then I added my efforts to try and get my letter in front of the Governor. That was a waste of time. So, my last effort was to see if any of the Senators might care. I sent them a letter, which is also now on my blog. As of now, NO RESPONSE, surprise, surprise.

In the nine years that I spent on island, I had the opportunity to interact with a number of former, current and future Senators. It was very enlightening. The first was Pedro Encarnacion, a former, I believe one term Senator who was the father of one of my students that I taught at Complex. Pedro attended a few events that were held for the NCCER students. Listening through these events was quite dull. Pedro and I seemed to gravitate towards each other and then had long pleasant chats. He appreciated all that I was trying to do to help his son succeed. I distinctly remember him telling me about the frustrations of being a Senator and how he took advantage of his position and used it to find a permanent job in government that was reasonably out of view. I was left with questions about how bad could being a USVI Senator be.

Next was a future Senator, Judi Buckley. I met Judi my first year on island. At the time, she was the board chairperson for Crime Stoppers USVI. The NCCER program that I worked for at Complex would put on a large display at the yearly Ag Fair. Judi had a booth next to us. My group and Judi were there for several long days. We spent hours yakking. She was elected to the Senate the next year. But after only one term, she decided to call it quits.

I met Nellie O’Reilly because of her son, Brandon who was the welding student that I mention in my July 21, 2024 post. Brandon and I became friends and then my wife and I became friends with Nellie and her husband, John. They joined us for dinner many times and we talked about anything and everything. A couple of days after Hurricane Maria when roads were barely passable, Nellie and Judi Buckley made it up Scenic Drive to our house to see if we were ok and if we needed any help. We were probably better off than many people because our house was still standing with an intact roof. Nellie mentioned that her dad had lots of roof damage but it was absolutely impossible at that time to find a whole-house tarp anywhere on the island. Prior to moving to Saint Croix, I had purchased and packed in my shipping container a whole-house tarp just as a sort of insurance. Like they say, “If you have it, you won’t need it.” We didn’t need it, so, we gave the tarp to Nellie for her dad. She cried.

Many months later, Nellie and I talked about the mountain of trees and brush that had been cleared and collected from the entire island and dumped in Kingshill. The Government was entertaining ideas about what to do with it. Some were really stupid like shipping it all to Guyana, South America. I suggested to Nellie that it should be commercially composted and turned into usable soil. A friend and I put together a plan and we all met with representatives from FEMA. I’m an engineer and my friend is a farmer. We knew what equipment and processes were required but generating the necessary paperwork was not something we could do. Nellie showed me what a full-blown proposal would look like. It was from a stateside company that was offering to burn everything using special machinery; total cost - twenty million dollars. My friend and I figured we would need between two to three million. Nellie though it would help if we got Senator Sanes involved. So, we had several meetings. He really liked the idea but he couldn’t make it happen.

I would run into Senator Sanes with some regularity, typically at fund raisers for the Women’s Coalition that my wife volunteered for. I used to get volunteered when they had those events. My wife and I would do lots of set-up and then during the event she would be a greeter and I would get some less elegant job like parking attendant. However, Mr. Sanes would bring me a drink and we would “chew the fat” and solve all the problems of the islands. Mr. Sanes eventually did what Pedro Encarnacion did. He got out of elected office and into a more permanent government job. How bad could being a Senator be?

The last Senator I met was Samuel Carrion. I needed a Senator’s help to get the Real Estate Commission to do their job. Both Nellie and Mr. Sanes were done with Senatoring. Nellie suggested that I ask Senator Carrion for help. I called him and we had a couple of long helpful chats and then he asked his Chief of Staff, Sonia Andrew and Constituent Liaison, Janella John to take over. The details are in my blog.

Technically, I did meet one other Senator; Chucky Hansen. One day when I was minding the retail counter at Rooftops, in walks Ms. Hansen. She wanted a five-gallon bucket of our roof coating. The price was $163. The only problem was that she had no intention of paying $163. Picture yourself walking into the supermarket and trying to negotiate how much you are going to pay for a gallon of milk. Maybe she thought that I would be so impressed by her importance that I would gladly lower the price. Or, maybe she just looked upon our interaction as an opportunity to hone her negotiating skills. So, she started talking and talking and talking and talking and talking. I was able to adjust the price around a bit, especially if a customer was going to buy a lot of product. And I’m sure, if a customer came in and was a couple of bucks short, I’d sell for a couple of dollars less; just don’t make a habit of it. Well, Chucky is only buying one bucket and I know she can afford it. Regardless, Chucky’s droning was driving me nuts. She talked for an hour and a half, during which I am slowly lowering the price a few dollars at a time hoping for her to go away. She got me down to an even $150 at which point I’m ready to kick her out of the store. She probably realized this, so she paid and then told me to carry the bucket out to her car. I always loaded customers’ cars. She didn’t need to tell me. Her car was a large sedan that was packed to the gills with junk and random stuff. It took me a few minutes to manage to make space to hold the bucket. If in order to be a Senator, I would have to listen to Chucky Hansen day in and day out, I’d quit.