Dear Editor,
In the Friday June 13, 2008, edition of the Stabroek News, a letter was written by Mr Ovid Holder captioned ‘Unscrupulous real estate agents claimed commission on sale.’ It is totally misleading and I will now set the record straight for all Guyanese who read it locally and those overseas on the internet.
As the person referred to as operating somewhere in Quamina Street, I would like to recall one incident some time ago with the letter writer, who engaged myself and another real estate agent, Mr Michael DeFreitas, to acquire a purchaser for a portion of land he owned next to the Grand Coastal Inn, East Coast Demerara. This was done and the owner of the Grand Coastal Inn, Mr Mukesh Daby, acquired the said property from the letter writer for G$12 million dollars.
All the necessary paperwork and payments were made to Mr Ovid Holder at his bookstore in Water Street, now closed. To date, he has not honoured his obligation to pay us the commission fees on that sale.
Recently he again approached me to find a purchaser for his property at Crown and New Garden Streets, Queenstown at a price of G$75 million dollars. Because of my experience with him and many others like him – to date I have about six matters pending in the High Court for commission fees – I sent another real estate agent, Pastor Roberts, who is the person he states in his letter has an office on Croal Street.
He got a prospective purchaser but the individual did not follow up. I then took personally another prospective purchaser and toured the premises but heard nothing after from any of the parties. But to my surprise I saw the sale advertised in the Official Gazette and after some investigations found out that Mr Holder dealt with the purchaser directly.
We then approached Mr Holder about our commission fees only to be informed that he will not be paying us. As professional real estate agents we objected to the passing of the transport and we will continue to oppose until he pay us. We have also filed a matter against Mr Holder in the High Court for our payments.
In conclusion, I would like to advise all those real estate agents countrywide who have suffered at the hands of these persons to come forward and let it be known to the Guyanese public, and also to continue to seek legal action against them.
Yours faithfully,
Alfred Hinds
Real Estate Agent
Editor’s note
We sent a copy of this letter to Mr Ovid Holder for any comments he may have wished to make and received the following response:
“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to reply to the letter penned by Alfred Hinds in response to my letter which appeared in Stabroek News on the June 13 last.
“As Bob Marley sang in one of his songs ‘Who the cap fits let them wear it.’
“Your readers will now know who the individuals are that I wrote about.
“Hinds mentioned the name of a Mr Michael DeFreitas, someone that I know and regard as a gentleman, who once associated with him but I think he walked away for fear of being tarnished.
“Fact, I have never owned or sold any portion of land on the East Coast to the gentleman he mentioned in his letter.
“I have not seen this man even though I know of him in this 21st century. He seems to be going stark staring bunkus when he mentioned how much my house was sold for. I wish.
“As for Pastor Roberts I am not sure what he looks like; I recall going to his office and being allowed to speak to him on the telephone and giving him a piece of my mind.
“Hinds claims to have personally brought a prospective purchaser and toured my premises. Let him describe in detail what he saw on his tour and who was the tour operator that guided him around.
“When and where did this dreamer approach me about a commission – commission for what? He is suffering from grand delusions.
“Editor, I suggest that you invite readers who may have had to deal with some of these so called professional estate agents and might be willing to share their experiences with us.”
