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Robin Leach, others sue Cosmopolitan
Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Entertainment columnist Robin Leach and Las Vegas show producers Norbert Aleman and Jeff Gitlin filed a class action lawsuit Thursday in District Court, alleging the operators of the Cosmopolitan fraudulently induced them into buying condominium units at the unfinished Strip resort.
Named as defendants in the 19-page complaint are former Cosmopolitan owner 3700 Associates LLC and German financial giant Deutsche Bank, which foreclosed on $900 million in construction loans to 3700 Associates last year. Deutsche Bank affiliate Nevada Property 1 LLC, which the suit said now has “all or part ownership of the Cosmopolitan,” also is a defendant.
Leach, whose “Celebrity Watch” column appears on the Sun’s Web site, and his fellow plaintiffs alleged in the suit that when they bought their units, they were misled into believing the resort would open by the end of 2008. Instead, because of construction delays, the default on the loans and the foreclosure, the project may not be completed until the end of 2010 or later, the suit alleged.
As a result, the suit charged, the Cosmopolitan defendants breached their legal agreements with the trio.
Leach, Aleman and Gitlin all are demanding to be let out of their agreements, and they want the return of their deposits, as well as additional restitution and damages.
Aleman is the creator of the Riviera production shows “Crazy Girls” and “An evening at La Cage,” which just closed. Gitlin produces “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding” at Planet Hollywood and elsewhere in the country.
The three men also say in their lawsuit that they meet the requirements to sue on behalf of 500 people from across the nation who made similar down payments on condominium units.
A Cosmopolitan representative said late Friday that the resort and Deutsche Bank do not comment on “matters of pending litigation.”
Discussion: 20 comments so far…
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Let the chips fall where they may.
i smell problems at city center, job to big gone up to fast
Everyone will come to see it, but how many will spend?
These buyers should get their deposits back, plus escrow accrued interest.
i am one of these buyers that would like my deposit back. I can't get any information from the developer.
City Center will more than likely face major financial problems.
Cosmopolitan is NOT City Center. City Center is owned by MGM Mirage. The article clearly states that Nevada Property One has "all or part ownership of the Cosmopolitan". City Center ends at Harmon avenue. Yep, City Center ends at Harmon.
I am an owner. Are you? Are you worried about your deposits? Looking for like and similar to talk with. Robin Leach will just bring more attention to this issue but we already have a plan in motion. DO contact me ASAP! Do not hesitate. Join us!
ruffus327@aol.com
I am also an owner of a unit at the unfinished Cosmopolitan, I can't get any information at all regarding the property. I would like to get my deposit back as well. Can someone out there help me at ALL?
I put a down payment as well a few friends of mine. The general consecus is that we are all outragged a the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. They never give any pertinant information to their sales staff or owners. I have never heard "I don't know" or "Information no that topic is coming shortly" or "Once we know you will know" so many times in my life.
When i put my 100k+ deposit down it was a seller's market and 3900 Associates defiantly took advantage of that fact with what they made us sign. A very one-sided agreement - but i signed it anyway because they balanced that piece of crap paper/contact with the risk/reward with the representation that the Cosmo would be completed at the end of the 2007. When i purchased my option at the friends and family release - before the general public release - it was supposed to be completed 1/1/2008 (a big bag for new years day 2008).
An example of how one sided the agreement and the rental agreement was - was that we had to purchase flat screen tv's and fridges for the hotel rooms, insure them and carry all maintenance costs - but we would never receive one penny from movie fees or fridge fees.
Again, I made the decision to sign it because the crap was leveraged with risks/rewards which represented to us, the home owners, that it would be finished on time.
Continued from above - But that reasonable time has long gone and now the risks are completely changed because of development blunders. And just as a surety contract is terminated when the collateral or the risks of the surety changes "materially" without the surety's consent - this situation and my risks have changed "materially" i wish to receive my deposit back with the lost interest.
Because i am not affluent and need to work for a living i stay close to my investments, this being the greatest i have done. Because i frequented the sales office often i head much that maybe a normal investor that only went to the sales office once would have. I remember that rooms had to be re-done because Brue Ichner hatted the model renditions. But the models not being available for months on end was not the greatest predicament. Bruce decided to put the entire parking garage underground to save on space. Why hasn't MGM Wynn and all others done this to help their overhead - because natives know that there is a water table right under the strip. Because Bruce's geology experts did not do their due diligence or whatever - they were surprised to find water when they started digging. This set the Cosmo back more than 1 year and pushed costs way higher than expected. This alone shows enough negligence to render them incompetent or negligent to have materially affected the project. The Cosmo would have been finished and my rewards/risks would have been entirely different if they did their due diligence. Now the market changed, City Center has caught up - meaning more product will be pushed on the market at the same time driving more prices down worse than the natural recession would, and all of a sudden what was represented to me makes me feel that it was a one-sided contract with the other part creating representing fraudulent possibilities with their limited knowledge of the location.
Anyway i can go on for while and hope this goes class action so i can get 100% of my principal put this behind me. Let me know if anyone else wants to talk.
Hey! I wrote earlier that I am an owner. Are you? We already have a plan in motion. We filed our class action before Leach. DO contact me ASAP! Do NOT hesitate! This article will not stay up much longer! Join us!
ruffus327@aol.com
i am also a owner of a unit at the cosmopolitan , would like more info about the mass lowsuit going on and perhaps participate, and get the deposit back . email me liternum777@yahoo
I am in the same boat! I gave a deposit of $140k and want it back! It is unreasonable for anyone to wait 5 years for a project to be completed after taking a deposit. I sent a letter from my lawyer- and they rejected the demand. It is a breach of contract and they need to return our deposits! Anyone that can help me- please email me at mcpredicts@hotmail.com . THANK YOU!
I purchased about three years ago, when I purchased (over 300K Deposit) the Cosmo had not started, but they had models on site and showed two of them to us. The models looked great and even though they didn't have a Park unit available our associate said it would be equivalent, or higher quality with the same features sense the Park unit is much more luxurious. We were told, because we were in the Beach tower we would move in second (after the casino spa tower), and be in some time in the first quarter of 2009. When the contract arrived I questioned my sale associates about the date on the contract for move in, and she told me that they have to put a cushion in the contract for the bank, but assured me that we will be fine and move in no later then March of 2009. In March of 2008 they finally finished a model of the Park, and we went to look (this being over a year late from when they said they would have a model done of our unit), we were appalled by what we saw-very basic, cheep and not the finish or quality that we saw in the first models when we purchased. We told the lady showing the unit how disappointed we were. Our original sales associate was no longer there so we could not complain to her. We also have talked to people working on the construction site and they have said the there are cutting corners all over the place I believe they said "hang on to your pants when you see your finished product it will be nothing close to what you purchased, because the project is over budget, they had to cut on the finish". What are we to do now? Two attorneys have told us that we are stuck until they finish, and then we go after them. They believed that there would be other owners with the same disappointments. "Hang on to your pants"
I wonder if there is an earmark in the stimulus package for the Cosmopolitan buyers to pay off their units?
Hey all:
I wrote earlier that I am an owner and I belong to a group of nearly 200 other unit owner that have filed our class- action BEFORE Leach. As I said earlier, Robin Leach has brought much needed attention to this issue - but we already are taking action. Don't sit there hopeless and frustrated... join us to get our hard earned deposits back. Many of you on this blog have contacted me and have done just that! Great to have you on board. DO contact me ASAP! Do not hesitate. Thank you!
ruffus327@aol.com
I'm in contract to purchase a unit as well and now wanted to receive my deposit back.
I'm quite disappointed with how the development and timeframe of this project has evolved. Pls send me the logistics on how to join the suit. Thx.
I also am under contract to purchase a unit @ cosmo. I'm very frustrated with the fact that my hard earned money ($$$$ cold cash $$$) has been in some misleading,dishonest companies lockbox for several years and seems as if the key just may be lost.. I would like to see all unsatisfied contract holders like me simply be given the opportunity to have the option of getting back their deposit +plus a fair amount in interest for holding on to the $ for soo long. I feel that there is a legitament just cause for this claim / suit againt cosmopolitan and who ever the owner/owners may be this week!!. I also feel that the unsatisfied contract holders with $ in escrow should also be entitled to a fair amount of additional monies for being mislead (which in my case has lead to anguish/ sleepless nites) .. This is rediculus!!.. If Mr. "wall street" Maddoff got away with such a scheme as he did , whos to say that the ones pulling the strings behind this project is not up to the same type of scheme ,,,....