When buying our home through Edina Realty, we were ultimately defrauded of $90,000 due to false information on the MLS. They listed the home at a sq footage that turned out be 600 sq ft over the actual value. To hide the fact that the home had been on the market far too long, they closed the first MLS and reopened a new one on the very same day – with the highly exaggerated square footage.
We strongly believe the highly questionable re-listing, with a bogus sq ft value, was a deliberate attempt to inflate the perceived value of the home (we don’t want to say they outright lied, as no doubt they would then unleash their highly-paid army of sleazebucket lawyers on us). An independent appraiser estimated we overpaid by $40K due to the dishonest square footage figure.
Edina promotes itself as a company of integrity, but in our sad experience with the Lakeville office, they will say and do ANYTHING, even falsifying an MLS listing, to get a sale. They have nothing to fear, as they are well able to simply crush any citizen bold enough to call them out.
Underneath their gleaming public image is a long trail of consumer abuse well-hidden by a very friendly media and a blatantly anti-consumer arbitration system. See, for example, Dismuke v. Edina Realty, Inc., No. 92-8716,1993 WL 327771 (Dist. Ct. Minn. June 17,1993).
I would suggest that the only difference between 1993 and now is that they have hired smarter lawyers and made sure all their deals go to binding arbitration. That solves the consumer having their day in court nonsense
Customer beware: if you have a problem with Edina, know that they have especially cozy relationships with all levels of the government and judicial system, and with their deep pockets and close ties with the very arbitration company they hire to hear a complaint, you have zero chance of obtaining justice.
Note: In arbitration, Edina uses Construction Arbitration Services (CAS). The watchdog group Public Citizen finds that in 95% of the cases brought to them - big surprise here - CAS rules in favor of the companies who hire them. The arbitration system is deeply flawed, weighted very heavily against the consumer, by signing the arbitration clause you de facto give up all your rights to have anything resembling a fair hearing.
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