Gil H. Vilkas, Attorney

Please avoid this thief and his unsolicited “Fixed Price Closing Special”.

THIS IS A SCAM! ! AVOID AT ALL COST ! 
Shortly after I decided on the apt to sell, I received an mail brochure advertising $750 for real estate closing. Too good to be true! The closing delayed for about 5 months. Everytime I called to inquire, the person who answered was extremely rude. The day of the closing, the lawyer showed up very late, and handed me sloppy and unprofessional looking documents. When I extended the check for the $750, he said, “Your fee is paid already”. That’s when I found out I had been duped.

Just like the other reviews I read, this "lawyer" offers a fixed price for closing but ends up added many fees to that original fee.

I was charged $1,650 more in added fees. At the end, he ended charging $2,400 because of several fees: $275 for reschedule of closing and $275 for traveling, among those. Since he had access to the funds, he had paid himself already. When I inquired and protested about these, he showed me the “fine print” somewhere in the contract.

This lawyer is a thief!

Please avoid this thief and his Fixed Amount Closing Special!

In my opinion, Gil HVilkas is possibly the worst law office on Long Island to handle real estate closingsI felt they lacked the tenacity to argue on our behalf: They made concessions on our contract that we were ill-informed to make because of their lack of communication, even on the day of closing I felt like I was the intermediary between Gil HVilkas's office, our mortgage broker, our real estate agent, and our other real estate attorneyThey were oftentimes unresponsive to simple requests that were made by our other attorney, and I became increasingly frustrated with every phone call I had to make to Gil HVilkas's officeThey should have taken care of this without me; it was incredibly unprofessional Their knowledge of real estate law was either incomplete, or they did not disclose certain changes in NYS law, causing headaches across the board for all, especially when it came to obtaining a preliminary HUDWhat should have been a routine closing turned out to be the most logistically stressful three weeks of my life

I am surprised there are not more negative reviews on this guy! He does not handle the case himself and farms a real estate closing out to per diem attorneys that have no knowledge of the transactionWe closed on a deal in Dec after the buyer was in default on the terms of the contractWe had to pay extra after hours fee's for the closing and also for the default letter to go to the buyerHis per diem Attorney, was not smart enough to force the buyer to pay the additional feesWhat started at a fee of $750, became $I spoke with him only onceYou only get to speak with his secty SandyStay clear and use a reputable real estate attorney

In my opinion, Gil H. Vilkas is possibly the worst law office on Long Island to handle real estate closings. I felt they lacked the tenacity to argue on our behalf: They made concessions on our contract that we were ill-informed to make because of their lack of communication, even on the day of closing.
I felt like I was the intermediary between Gil H. Vilkas's office, our mortgage broker, our real estate agent, and our other real estate attorney. They were oftentimes unresponsive to simple requests that were made by our other attorney, and I became increasingly frustrated with every phone call I had to make to Gil H. Vilkas's office. They should have taken care of this without me; it was incredibly unprofessional.
Their knowledge of real estate law was either incomplete, or they did not disclose certain changes in NYS law, causing headaches across the board for all, especially when it came to obtaining a preliminary HUD. What should have been a routine closing turned out to be the most logistically stressful three weeks of my life.

I am surprised there are not more negative reviews on this guy! He does not handle the case himself and farms a real estate closing out to per diem attorneys that have no knowledge of the transaction. We closed on a deal in Dec 2014 after the buyer was in default on the terms of the contract. We had to pay extra after hours fee's for the closing and also for the default letter to go to the buyer. His per diem Attorney, was not smart enough to force the buyer to pay the additional fees. What started at a fee of $750, became $1800. I spoke with him only once. You only get to speak with his secty Sandy. Stay clear and use a reputable real estate attorney.

In my opinion, Gil H. Vilkas is possibly the worst law office on Long Island to handle real estate closings. I felt they lacked the tenacity to argue on our behalf: They made concessions on our contract that we were ill-informed to make because of their lack of communication, even on the day of closing.

I felt like I was the intermediary between Gil H. Vilkas's office, our mortgage broker, our real estate agent, and our other real estate attorney. They were oftentimes unresponsive to simple requests that were made by our other attorney, and I became increasingly frustrated with every phone call I had to make to Gil H. Vilkas's office. They should have taken care of this without me; it was incredibly unprofessional.

Their knowledge of real estate law was either incomplete, or they did not disclose certain changes in NYS law, causing headaches across the board for all, especially when it came to obtaining a preliminary HUD. What should have been a routine closing turned out to be the most logistically stressful three weeks of my life.

Review: We hired [redacted] to assist in closing on the sale of a property in [redacted]. At the time he quoted a fixed fee of $695 to close the transaction. At closing he quickly runs through all of the closing costs which at the time seemed high but I was rushed because it was late, so in the spirit of trusting that my attorney was looking after my interests I signed the documents. When I got home and looked at everything in more detail I noticed he charged over $4,000 for his services, over 4 times what we agreed to. While there were some delays it all related to to buyer and required his attorney to spend more time not ours. We requested a detailed break out of the hours spent if any, above and beyond a traditional closing and requested a refund. We have not heard anything and its been almost a month.Desired Settlement: We would like a refund for the difference between the 695 agreed to and what was ultimately charged.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by The Law Office of Gil H. Vilkas regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted], In response to your e-mail request to me with respect to the above matter dated March **, 2015, I offer my apology of not having prior notice of this complaint but offer the following prompt response. I was hired by [redacted] and her husband ([redacted]) on or about May **, 2012 to represent them in the sale of their cooperative apartment. My agreed upon fee was to be $675.00 pursuant to a written Client (Retainer) Agreement further enumerating what was included in said fee and what, if any, additional charges could be incurred in addition to the $675.00 fee. [redacted] & [redacted] executed the Client (Retainer) Agreement on May **, 2012 (see attached). While co-op real estate transactions usually are consummated within 3 to 4 months of time, the [redacted] transaction was far more complicated and took over 7 months to complete (May **, 2012 to December 19, 2012). The complications involved an un-cooperative purchaser who could not abide by the terms of the Contract, complications with the way that the [redacted]’ mortgage liens were recorded as well as extensive interaction with the [redacted]’ New Jersey attorney, at their insistence, to avoid an impending default on the purchase of their new home. The full scope of my work and the charges incurred thereby are detailed in the attached Invoice which was provided to the [redacted]’ at their Closing of said apartment. I note that the work performed on behalf of the [redacted]’ was far in excess of the time actually charged and that any actual charges were in conformity with the Client (Retainer) Agreement that the [redacted]’ executed at the outset of the legal engagement. The [redacted] Closing took over 4 hours to complete due to problems with the purchaser’s lender. Only 2 hours is allotted in my $675.00 fee and the [redacted]’ were not charged for the additional time incurred, nevertheless, the [redacted] did not question my legal fee during the closing and voluntarily “signed-off” on my Closing Statement during the Closing authorizing all charges incurred in the transaction, including my fee (see handwritten authorization on the top-right corner of the Closing Statement attached), I note that this same explanation was provided to [redacted], at her request on December **, 2012 via email. I am not sure how or why [redacted] & [redacted] would believe that they should only be charged a total of $675.00 for over 7 months of work, most of which fell outside of a routine transaction, but it is for that very reason, that I make it a practice to have each Client’s sign a comprehensive Client (Retainer) Agreement to avoid such potential mis-understandings. Please let me know if I can be of any further assistance in this matter. Sincerely, [redacted]