Kelemen Real Estate

I generally don’t like to write negative reviews (see my Yelp account, where this review also appears) but I would be remiss if I did not share my experience of working with this brokerage. If I can help one other landlord - or seller/buyer/tenant, for that matter - make an informed decision, then this review has served its purpose.



Let me start by saying that - at the time of writing - this broker is unlawfully holding onto my keys with the specific intention of denying me access to my unit, and the opportunity to lease the unit. He states he will release them when I pay his "earned commission" though no lease was sign, and the listing agreement between us cancelled. Regardless, my keys are held hostage. Are these the actions of an ethical and law-abiding professional?



I engaged this brokerage to help lease my Century City condo. Four months into the engagement (and two – wholly unsuitable – prospects later), I had to cancel the listing agreement on grounds of Henry’s:



1. Breach of fiduciary duty of utmost care, integrity, honesty and loyalty.

2. Breach of express covenant to exercise reasonable effort and due diligence

3. Breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing



On account of the above breaches, I cancelled the Listing Agreement, which Henry agreed to. However, he did not remove his MLS listing and refused to return my keys, making it impossible for anyone else to list or show my condo. He held, and continues to hold, my keys hostage. He stated that he would only release them when I paid him his “earned commission” though no lease was ever signed, and the Listing Agreement was cancelled! He continues to unlawfully hold my keys.



You can decide for yourself whether this brokerage has competent, much less lawful and ethical, business practices.



I myself have submitted complaints to the California Bureau of Real Estate and the Better Business Bureau.

By way of introduction, I own properties worldwide and I have been leasing apartments to tenants for several decades. Accordingly, I have considerable and extensive experience in dealing with estate agents in many countries. Thus, on a comparative basis of worldwide agencies, I can report that Kelemen Real Estate Company in California is unequivocally the worst agency that I have ever experienced. Kelemen and Co. does not put the client first. As our association progressed (I recruited Kelemen and Co to represent me in finding a tenant for one of my US-based properties), to my dismay I found that Kelemen and Co was uncooperative, arrogant and made every effort to construct an agreement that did not accord with what I wanted. Clearly their motto is "The customer is always wrong!" Of more concern however is the wholly unprofessional way that they conduct their business with attempts to coerce me into making decisions that represented their best interests and not mine. They are unreasonable and biased in their negotiations, wholly unreliable and utterly untrustworthy. I am now attempting to extricate myself from all association with Kelemen and Co and frankly I am astounded at what I learn about the history of this organization, with the result that action against them is being organized. I emphatically urge all prospective Landlords and property owners not to deal with these people.