Real estate investor sued by brokers over S. Broadway sales calls it a mixup
Saihat Hookah Lounge at 2837 S. Broadway in Englewood. (Justin Wingerter/BusinessDen)
A local brokerage alleges it is owed commissions from two sales along South Broadway, but the real estate investor it is accusing of fraud thinks this is all a misunderstanding.
“I’m not really worried about it,” said Haroon Sulehria. “I think it’ll get cleared up.”
Unique Properties, which has its offices along South Broadway, was hired last spring to find buyers for 2837 S. Broadway and 3787 S. Broadway in Englewood. That gave it the exclusive right to sell those properties for one year, according to the brokerage.
3787 S. Broadway went under contract in August but the sale fell through due to a holdup with financing, according to both Sulehria and Unique. So, Sulehria gave the property, which had a $1.5 million mortgage on it, to a friend of his, Walid Maaliki, property records show.
That was on Halloween. In December, Maaliki sold the property for $1.6 million. Unique considers this a sale that it deserves a commission from. Sulehria does not.
“I sold it for free. I gave it to him for nothing. So, their commission would be zero,” he said.
“I gave it to this guy and he ended up selling it to these other guys, but I had already told (Unique) I didn’t want them representing me on that building anymore. I have text messages, I have recordings. I don’t understand why they would continue to market it or sue me.”
3787 S. Broadway in Englewood is home to a used car dealership. (Justin Wingerter/BusinessDen)
As for 2837 S. Broadway, it hasn’t been sold at all. Property records show it was transferred in December to Saihat Hookah Lounge LLC. Sulehria said there’s a simple reason why.
“They were having trouble getting anybody to look at it, so I said I’m going to open a hookah bar there,” he said by phone last week. “All I did was change the ownership name to the hookah name; it’s still my building. I don’t understand why they would try to sue me.”
Two attorneys for Unique Properties, Nathan Davis and Amanda McKinlay with the Denver office of the Snell & Wilmer law firm, did not answer when asked by BusinessDen why their client considers the transfer of 2837 S. Broadway in December to be a sale.
Unique Properties sued Sulehria on March 6 for fraud, bad faith dealing and breach of their listing contracts. The brokerage believes it is owed a 6 percent commission from the sale of the two properties. That would mean $94,500 from the sale of 3787 S. Broadway. It’s not clear how much it believes it is owed from the transfer of 2837 S. Broadway.
Sulehria, who learned he is being sued when contacted by a reporter Thursday, is miffed.
“They could have at least called me to say, ‘Hey, you owe us,’ or sent an email. Their office is down the street from where I keep my office. They could have just come to me,” he said.
“I have pretty good attorneys but I don’t want it to go that far,” said Sulehria, a client of Springer & Steinberg. “I’m going to call (Unique) and see if we can come to a resolution.”
