Commercial real estate investment is an excellent opportunity to build wealth and diversify your assets. For investors who don’t live near the developments they are invested in, or who don’t want to be involved in the day to day operations of real estate development, entering a joint-venture or investing in a managed real estate LLC can be a great opportunity.
However, this can also lead to problems. Ideally, there is a system of accountability in place where the person managing your funds, or, often, the construction management, is actively working with your best interests in mind and is reporting their dealings honestly to you.
Not all professional relationships work this smoothly. However, embezzlement, lost funds, and mismanagement are severe problems for commercial real estate investors.
The good news is that mismanagement of this kind is a breach of the manager’s fiduciary duty. Legal routes are available to investors to hold the managers accountable and potentially recoup some of their losses.
Below we’ll go over what to do if you are a part of a real estate deal that has gone wrong and how the office of Ruben P. Ruiz can help you.
Take Stock of the Damage
The first thing you should do is schedule a consultation with Ruben P. Luiz Law to get the conversation started about your concerns and the situation. We can help you put a dollar amount on the money you have lost and also give you an idea of the best routes to recoup your money. Often, we work with a team of accountants and financial consultants to clearly analyze the financial status of your investment.
The next step is to create an accurate picture and timeline of what has gone wrong and how it happened. An excellent place to start is by collecting all the essential documents relating to your fund or LLC, such as financial statements, contracts, and communications you’ve had with your manager or other partners.
Communicate With Other Investors
Another good idea is communicating with other people who have invested in the fund or LLC with you or who work or have worked with your fund manager in the past.
They might have information that will help you understand the situation, and comparing the evidence that they have with your own can help you confirm your suspicions that something is wrong. They might even have access to more evidence that you can use in court.
Hiring an Experienced Real Estate Lawyer
The most important thing to do is to hire a commercial real estate lawyer who understands the industry and the nuances of the legal system. Ruben P. Ruiz Law can help you make sense of your legal rights and options.
This may mean taking your real estate development partners or business associates to court to court to seek legal damages for their embezzlement or mismanagement of funds. But it doesn’t have to. In some cases, it may make more sense to come to an agreement outside of court to save time, money, and avoid publicity.
The Office of Ruben P. Ruiz Law Firm is just the right fit for cases like this. Located in the Bay Area, our firm is experienced with commercial real estate cases and has the tenacity and expertise to obtain a favorable outcome for you aggressively. Schedule a consultation with us to get the conversation started.