Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices The Preferred Reality

November 29, 2017Revdex.comServing Western Pennsylvania400 Holiday Drive, Suite 220Pittsburgh, PA 15220RE: Response to Complaint ID [redacted]The customer statement is partially correct and incorrect. The correct portion is that a sales contract on the sale of his home did fail thru and...

was terminated. What is incorrect is he references to a mortgage contract deposit check. The facts in this matter are in no way relevant to the mortgage. The deposit check Mr. [redacted] is referring to is the hand money check that the buyer wrote at the time of the execution of the sales agreement. The parties to this transaction, after the transaction was terminated, mutually agreed to have the hand money check paid to the seller, Mr. [redacted]. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices The Preferred Realty who is currently holding the hand money check has been advised by the IRS that any payment made to a seller as liquidated damages is taxable income. Therefore, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has requested a completion of a W-9 so the reporting of income can be made at year-end via the form 1099. Mr. [redacted] has refused to complete the W-9 and therefore, Berkshire Hathaway cannot process the payment of the check and remain in compliance with the IRS regulations.If you should have any questions regarding our response please do not hesitate to contact me. Sincerely, James G [redacted]PresidentBerkshire Hathaway HomeServices The Preferred Realty

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
There is no disclosure on the mortgage contract regarding a W9 regarding release of the hand money. Additionally after submitting an IRS ticket [redacted] I was informed that a W9/1099 is not required in this situation. Lastly, this issue is moving forward because of MY efforts. Berkshire Hathaway never informed me that I needed to submit a W9 until I initiated an inquiry on why I had not received the check. A month has passed since termination, and Berkshire Hathaway seemed content to hold on to my hand money indefinitely without informing me that there was any additional paperwork on my part. I hesitate to submit a W9 because I have reason to believe that Berkshire Hathaway does not have adequate protections in place for personal information.
Regards,
[redacted]