SUCCESS Real Estate in the Greater Boston area suddenly closed up shop this week. Over the weekend, broker-owner Steve Webster sent a note to his agents informing them that the brokerage was closing, according to a report by Boston 25 News.
“At this moment, we will no longer be accepting any new business,” the note, which Boston 25 News obtained, read. “Understandably, this is upsetting news to all. I’m working hard every minute of every day to make things right.”
The Boston 25 News article quotes a real estate attorney not connected with the firm, Richard Vetstein, a principal of Vetstein Law Group in Framingham, who speculated that the shutdown could be due to embezzlement of escrow funds. Funds placed in escrow often include things such as earnest money deposits or funds from a seller to help a buyer pay closing costs or their agent’s commission.
“This is the first time in my 25-plus years that I can remember a property firm closing down in Massachusetts,” Vetstein said in the article.
As the article notes, no one has been accused of a crime at this time.
As of Monday, the firm’s offices in Marshfield and Braintree, Massachusetts were both closed and the firm’s website says that it has no offices or agents at this time.
Success Real Estate was founded in 1990 and served consumers throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island.