Hudson & Marshall review: To be Announced 29

My experience with this company seems to be consistent with the comments. They are auctioning a property in Ohio as an "online auction." The kicker is, the picture provided by Hudson and Marshall.com is a completely different home. Of course the real home is in much worse condition than the one pictured. I notified them of the error and they did nothing to change it. I personally was one of the bidders and now Im quite upset that this joke of a company is just raising the bids with errant information. Next stop, the Attorney General!

yeah winning bidder my butt we bid at auction and mysteriously had a single competitive bidder run us up to the max on our lsr..then after filling out contract waisting about 5 hrs with this "bidding" process we got to find out they declined our bid with no counter...the "negotiator" told me he felt i should offer another "5 or ten thousand" i think it is a sham and boy they need some real people negotiating if that is negotiation! i also would like to see them produce a list of accepted offers to compare to the "auction " itself and see if they really award anything at auction price.

Well, I am thoroughly discussed with this process. I submitted and offer for full asking price on a property through the listing agent. Because my offer was never submitted directly to Hudson and Marshal (which I was told by one of their representatives I was not capable of doing) it was never seen and the property was awarded to another bidder (an investor) for HALF that amount. How is that fair, ethical, moral or LEGAL?

A number of these "Auction" companies are really just trying to drum up interest in properties that have languished on the market for too long. They accept 'bids' which are really just offers to purchase. You can be sure of this by the actually contract you are asked to sign. In almost all cases, the 'highest bid' is actually just the highest offer and can be rejected by the lending institution holding the mortgage.
They can end up holding your 'earnest' money for 14 days or longer before notifying you that your 'offer' has been rejected.

Unless an Auction is listed as "Absolute", it is likely that you are being asked to make an offer. You could do the same thing through the real estate company that holds the listing, though properties are often removed from the local MLS in the weeks before the auction occurs.

For more information: http://www.realtor.org/auction/auctions/types

We went to the auction and we had a lone bidder against us. My husband stopped bidding. We were out bidding our offer on the home through our realtor. We had a offer on the home prior to auction. they went to auction anyway to see if they can get more money for the home. after the auction, few days later we recieved a call stating. The auction winner fell through and what is your best offer on this home. My husband said the original offer, let it ride. It was accepted. My problem is.. After all is said and done and excited about getting this home. Why did I have to pay the auction house fees for the home. I am thinking about getting an attorney to look into this. We were unaware of this, signed for the house but kept questioning this...

sounds like you have a complaint to the board of ethics to the state and realtor boab and county of which that agent works. Also you should file a small claims suit against the agent for no doing the job of presenting the offer. Good LucK Ga Realtor.

They came back to you because they were hired to take over the listing however your previous agent should have gone back to the previous listing agent and objected, legally thye are owed the RE commission, they auction company was just trying to involve them selves with you to justify their commission. Not Fair they should be sued for forcing you to pay when you were prior to their involvement, a jury will side with you, take it to court. The seller should have to pay them if they earned any commission, you didnt hire them as your buyer agent the seller was who hired them and you should not have to pay more.

I think the accepted offer should have to be supplied to the rejected offers within 48 hours to assure that all offer were calid and not the seller trying to up the bid or sell to friends or other persons who may have a bribe or other interest. ther are lots of dishonest realtors and agents and brokers but they refuse to expose each other less their own skeletons may come out.., bot getting rich here but at least i am honest and slepp at night and know i have done what is in the best interest of my client.

Also check to see if they are liscensed in your state, if it is not an auction and they are accepting offers with thier sign as the real estate agent maybe they not legally selling in your state. Most states require you have a liscence within that state to sell, and to be selling under a broker with the same state. Very few states allow you as an agent to sell ricipically only in adjoining states, has anyone looked into the validity of them even selling in all these locations? Have they gone to every state and got a liscence, and then are they selling under a broker within that state, , , something is very fishy here.

Yah this is not an Auction, I thought maybe it could be caled a PR event or Marketing ploy but it is beyond that.
I did attend one of their auctions in the North East.
There were not plants but the people work the room in a way that is both STUPID nad CRAZY.
It really could worka s a regular auction but it instead is a THEATRICAL PRESENTATION and a bad one at that.
The ditzy blond girs jump up and down and shout when they get bids sometimes.
I watched people raise their number and advance the bid but the guy goes over real close and is saying do you? do you want to go higher? what we all watched him raise his number indicating that!
Some of the bidders dont want their intentions known by all and just shrug or make smaller motions but if the DRAMATIC helpers werent there the auctioneer would find them some how.
The auction I attended had almost 40% of the properties back on the Hudson and Marshall site just days later.
Hmm so guess they didnt sell at the EVENT"
This is a SCAM and a THEATRICAL ROADSHOW.. that is bleow joke acting.

Thanks guys! I've read all the complaints and I think i'm going to go into anothe direction. I have other friends that were interested but after they hear these complaints, I'm sure they will follow.

I was the high bidder on a property and 4 days later I was informed that the Bank wanted another $12k for the house. Why wasn’t there a “Reserve” on the bid so I could have bid on the other 4 houses I planned on bidding on? I don’t know if it’s Hudson and Marshall’s problem or the bank. At any rate I’m pissed that I’ve got to start all over finding a home. I would not recommend this auction company if you are not an investor and you need to buy your own home.

Our experience with Hudson & Marshall goes beyond the bizarre, all the details are too lengthy to state here... They are either incompetent are unscrupulous, or probably a little of both. First there was the strange situation leading up to the auction, which I won't go into...Then we submitted a pre-bid for the auction, but they responded that there was already a bid much higher than ours and we should re-bid, so we said, OK, let them have it! They told us we would be the back-up offer. Later we noticed on their site that no one had actually bought it in the auction (so the high bid they mentioned was fake which we had suspected), and they were accepting post-auction bids. When we called they said they had no record of us being the back-up offer. Unfortunately for us we like this property so we submitted our bid with them again. Supposedly the bank approved our bid price, and H&M sent us a contract. The terms they had described on the phone mirrored their sample contract from their site, but then when our actual contract arrived the terms were much less favorable to us, and they gave us 48 hours to sign & return which didn't give us much time to thoroughly review it and turn it around. And, of course the contract states anything that was discussed verbally is not valid in this contract. When queried the rep replied the different terms were the bank's doing, not theirs. Now that our contract is submitted the bank has 7 to 10 working days to sign the agreement that they supposedly were responsible for coming up with? We are still within that period, but I doubt the bank even approved the price in the first place. Wish us luck! I'll post a follow-up... Anyway, I recommend that you tape your conversations with your representatives and keep an excellent paper trail. The more done in writing the better. I would advise if you have any other options of buying a home besides going through H&M, do it!

You are PAYING them to make an OFFER! The bid is a joke. You "Win" at the aution - then a few days later they tell you your "offer" wasn't accepted. WHAT! Now you are stuck making them offers rather than the listing agent AMD stuck paying them a commission - even if you contacted an Agent BEFORE you ever heard of them and were forced to go to a fake auction to in essence make a bid. Scam Scam Scam

If it's not in writing ... forget about it. These guys are definitely running a scam. I tried a few of these auctions. They are listed at the same time as the auctions are going on. Most are still on the market, even though they had offers accepted. They apparently have shell bidders. Total waist of time and I am a cash buyer.

We have had the same RUN Around! We bid at a pre-Auction on line, H&M refused bid, even though we were the only bidder. Then we went to the auction held in town at a hotel chain? We won the winning bid! Yeah! The agent writing our contract told us that H&M would contact us with in 48 hours, no call. Written contract gives H&M 4-7 business days, so we waited. On the 7th day, the powers that be @ H&M emailed us a one liner saying the seller wants more money and that we would need to offer another bid closer to the original asking price (which is astronomical, with no back up comps in area)!
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I thought I went to the auction and WON! You DO NOT Negotiate with the winning bidder after the Auction!
We told them NO! So I guess you will be seeing that house back up for auction soon!
UNREAL, UNFAIR, UNAMERICAN!
Take heed and do not give this bogus company your hard earned money! IT is a SCAM!
They are using the Auction company as a front for a really nasty real estate agency!

We also placed a bit online through our new realtor in Ct. As a realtor in two states I could not bid in Ct because I am not licensed there. The bank had accepted our one and only offer send it was low. It took the bank weeks to get us the contract, but when we did a title search( totally recommend ) from YOUR attorney. The title was bad because in the foreclosure the banks attorney forgot to serve one of the owners the papers. Did the bank and Hudson and Marshall know already and were hoping that we were stupid? I'm sure they did because within days of giving back out deposit it was back up for auction! Beware!

Just am in the process of dealing with Hudson and

I did an online auction and what a COMPLETE joke. I believe they were the only ones bidding against me and running up the bid. I ended up winning the auction or at least so I thought. After that the nightmare really began. Sent the wire for my earnest money, signed the contract, set the closing and wired the monies for closing drove 14 hours to be at the closing and they weren't ready. The home was not what the realtor listing the home said as he completely flat out lied. I was upset so I said I wanted to back out. The listing agent said I couldn't so overnight I thought about it and said ok let's do a mail away closing. Now they have put the home back on the market (technically illegal as the home is technically still under contract with me) and are refusing to refund my earnest money and there is not a cancellation signed! They terminated the agreement. Complete joke, RUN! Don't do it! I am just trying to figure out who to contact next.

Do not bid on a Hudson and Marshall auction...a nightmare experience and frustrations galore!

Hudson and Marshall's auctioneer is not even licensed, I called them 2 times and asked for proof of License and basically told to mind my own business.

Sherman E. Hostetter, Jr. Broker 2425, Auctioneer 784

The license #AB047575L is registered by Sherman E Hostetter Jr of Pennsylvania. The license type is specified as Associate Broker (ab) standard. Based on the information obtained by ProLicenses from the state licensing board on July 31, 2015, this license's status is "expired" with expiry May 31, 2000.Please note that in some cases a later renewal might mean this credential is still active but under a different license number.

makes me think they are breaking the law since they will not verify if in fact their Auctioneer is in Compliance.

Completely agree with all complains here. Adding my story and experience with H&M and Wells Fargo. It is a bit strange, please let me know your opinion.
The house I want to buy was on sale for long time with prices dropping over summer. It has environmental protection agency involved, oil spill from heating tank. Anyway, H&M took it over to be auctioned, on 9/10/15. I contacted the real-estate agent to see the property, really liked it. And agent told us that they would like not to sell it to an investor but I wanted to buy it to live there. The area already has many empty houses for sale. So i placed a bit on 10/8/15, same price as it was listed. The listing agent said that it should be fine to offer the same price as it listed for. The next day, Friday, one of the realtors in the area contacted listing agent that showed us the property and expressed his interest in the property, basically to buy and resell it. Days October 10-12 was weekend plus Columbus Day, so everything was closed. On Tuesday 10/13, in the morning the same realtor that was interested in the house and placed a bit came to the listing agent to sign offer he received from H&M. When he received it!? Meanwhile, I was trying to reach someone at M&H all these days to receive at least a confirmation hat my bit was received on Thursday, October 8.
On Tuesday 10/13, H&M sent me email that higher bit was accepted. Basically they sent me email the same day and time when the realtor-buyer came to the listing agent office to sign the offer. Logically H&M did not have returned, singed, and accepted offer from the buyer at the time they sent me email. When was calling Wells Fargo they did not even see anything, or any offers placed on the property in their system. Next day on Wendsday 10/14/15, H&M changed auction days from being 19-24 to 19-21 of October. My last contact with both H&M and Wells Fargo was on Friday last week, 10/16/15. H&M said that it is closed deal, property has been sold. But Wells Fargo was still did not has anything on files and in their system. Today the shorten, on line auction started. But at the opening the property was listed as sold :(
They did not even let it to be on the auction. I was thinking to place a higher but. The listing real-estate agent called me today and said that the bit on the property was placed sometime in September and the day before I placed the bit the other realostate agent that placed the bit in September received the contract and it just happened that he called the next day and then came to sigh it on Tuesday and so on, assuring me that my suspicious have no base. To me there are soooooo many coincidences have been happening and started to happen as soon as I placed my bit. Plus the house was taken from the auction completely.
Am I crazy or my inner gut feelings are right that there is either back door deal or as a realostate agen the buyer has access to the information on M &H site or something else...
Do not know what to think because has been thinking about a complain to General attorney.
Really the whole experience very upsetting!

I just want to thank everyone that has posted their experience in dealing with Hudson and Marshall. I was interested in a multi-family dwelling that turned out to be one of their auction listings. The shenanigans started off right from the beginning, and I went home after looking at the property and did a search for Hudson and Marshall. Of course, I happened on this complaint board, and several others, and made the decision to walk away and never look back. I have made it a point to inform other investors of this "auction" scam also. Hopefully, when enough people are wise to this monkey business, they will go out of business.

We found a condo that was in foreclosure the listing said the bank wants full asking offer. We thought the price was perfect and fit in our budget. We put in a full asking offer. Got told that night it went into auction with Hudson and Marshall. So we put in the full asking offer as the bank wanted nothing less. We got told no one else had put in a bid on this condo. Then the next day we got an email saying here all the paper work you need to sign and fill out blah blah then the contract would be sent to you right after. We did all the paper work everything they asked then we got told the last hour we were in a bidding war! How after they said the contract for the property was being sent to us?! We went up a little bit but was told the other offer was on the email with us. There was no other person on the email besides us and the auction company. Then get told we lost to another bidder like what the hell!? They make it sounds you won then all of a sudden you lose. Completely wrong and when you ask questions they barely answer you back. Horrible company

I had same experience. I bid online and was constantly outbid to my max. Was backup bidder according to website, but when I called next day was told I was winning bid. Consistent contrary and misinformation. I had a realtor representing me and it didn't help because they told her one thing and me another. I was then told they were dealing with another person who had high bid. I told them I was filing a complaint with the NH Attorney General's office. Then I receive a call from supervisor saying seller accepted my bid and they were sending me a contract. Signed contract within five minutes and sent back with proof of funds. Mysteriously, seller was not available to sign until Monday. Monday came and seller rejected my contract and countered for balance in my account, minus $50. I rejected and despite mire than 28 showings on property it is still not under contract. I then increased my bid. But not for full amount in my account and again it was rejected, after I was initially told seller accepted my bid. Throughout this process and even on the day they sent my contract they kept posting the property and accepting "post auction bids, " despite accepting my offer. I have filed a complaint with the Attorney General's office who is looking into the unethical and potentially illegal way Hudson and Marshall does business. Since filing my complaint, after almost 4 weeks of dealing with them, they mysteriously removed the house from all home search websites and from their auction list. The house remains unsold. Do not deal with Hudson and Marshall!

I was high bidder, auction ended. My realtor was doing proxy bidding for me. Seller considered my bid, had to show proof funds, jumped through all their hoops. Denied sale, put listing back on market. The house roof leaks bad. Seen pictures of mold inside from rain. Was told I had good chance to buy. Had contractor check things, but nobody allowed inside except a squatter neighbors knew by name. Hudson/ Marshall is scam auction.

Yes, its very confusing! There is a house in my neighborhood that has been empty a long time. Its been on the auction, no one bids, then they put it up again. What do they benefit from this foolishness? There's a house across the valley and I called the realtor and she tells me definitely do not get involved. Actually this house cannot even been sold because it resides on two separate lots, so half the house is on the other guys lot. He bids but the company will not let him buy it. This is INSANITY! Why?