The Shady Side of Realtors

A very unfortunate incident has happened on St. Thomas. It is one of those things that makes people really think about how and why events like this happen. The primary reason I started this blog in the first place was to educate and discuss various happenings in the Virgin Islands, especially involving Real Estate. So I hope you will take the time to read this blog and the accompanying links, as it truly is a remarkable story that will have long lasting effects on the island and possibly hundreds of people.

First, let me say that some of the things that have happened are true. Others are simply guesses on how and why and whether things happened. Everyone, including Rosemary Sauter, is innocent until proven guilty. But there are a lot of people that look forward to seeing the day she is able to defend herself in a Court of Law. Even more people are in shock and fear that they will never recover monies from the REMAX escrow account.

Let's start at the beginning. Ms. Sauter's name was in the news recently for allegedly attempting to take out a hit on her husband. These are clearly allegations, and being that no charges have been filed against her, it should be taken only as allegations. Being that this involved police corruption, it is just as likely to be a complete falsehood as it is to being credible. I do not know the answer to this, and very few people probably know the truth. To learn more about this, I suggest you read the following article from the Virgin Islands Daily News: http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17642264

Whether this alleged incident is related to the primary part of this story remains to be seen. Or maybe we will never know. But it is now time to learn what has been published in the local papers about these alleged incidents.

This next article was "the breaking news" about problems occuring at REMAX on St. Thomas. Two of Rosemary Sauter's agents / brokers filed a suit against her with allegations of funds from escrow not being available. As you can also see in the article, I was quoted and told of an incident involving one of Rosemary's customers attempting to buy from one of our clients. It was the first article that alerted the public that there may be problems for those with funds in the REMAX escrow accounts.

http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17643491

As soon as this article came out, people began to rightfully worry whether their funds were being properly held by Ms. Sauter. It apparently led to more stories of deals that didn't happen and monies that are unaccountable, as you can read in the article issued the following day:

http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17643518

So as more and more people began to wonder and worry, the numbers started adding up because they came forward with specific amounts. This particular article states that the talley appears to be in the $2.5M range, which is quite significant. I have no idea and no way of knowing whether this is accurate. It is also important to note that I have no idea whether the money is in the escrow account and I have seen no evidence of it being gone or present in the account. It is of course possible that all funds are there and simply are not being released in the proper fashion.

http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/index.pl/article_home?id=17643572

Since nobody knows the truth about exactly what has happened here (except maybe Ms. Sauter), we can only wait to find out what really occurred. Obviously a lot of people are holding their breath in hope that the funds have not disappeared. I sincerely hope that is the case, as there are countless people that are hurt from this already, regardless of whether funds are recovered.

I welcome Ms. Sauter to provide any statement she would like to defend against these allegations. I will post her statements word for word, she has every right to defend herself. And as already stated, she is innocent until proven guilty.

The problem with this is that nobody can find Ms. Sauter. Rumors have been rampant that she was located and captured in the BVI, but I have not seen anything in the papers confirming such. Only time will tell.

I will continue to post blogs about the possibilities and problems that will likely result from this issue, whether completely true or not.