June my family visited Grand Cayman and subsequently began the process of purchasing a condo. During the initial phase of this transaction I contact Kerry Horek over the phone to discuss the possibility of her managing our property.
In August I flew to Grand Cayman to inspect the condo and to sign a property management contract with Kerry. This contract was signed August 24.in addition to the typical terms of this type of contract (collect rent, pay strata, etc.) there was a requirement that I would deposit and maintain with Kerry an amount of $CI1,000 as a running balance to cover various expenses.
This amount was paid to Kerry on September 6 on my behalf by our real estate agent (taken from funds I had wired to them to purchase the condo). The amount forwarded to Kerry was CI$1,892 of which CI$1,000 was for the running balance. The remaining CI$892 was to cover water and electricity deposits and to purchase a television and stand. This amount was received by Kerry per her email of September 6 and confirmed by our real estate agent.
I received statements for January 31; March 20; April 17 and August 1. Each of the four statements I received from Kerry and Island Rentals during the 15 months she was handling the property reflect this CI$1,000 running balance.
On December 7 I received word via email that we had our first tenants. They paid a CI$1,650 security deposit. Their security deposit is reflected in the statement received from Island Rentals dated January 31. It is also referred to an email from Island Rentals dated February 8. They had contracted for a monthly rent of CI$1,650/month for a period of one year.
Our tenant was also hired by Kerry to be the office manager at Island Rentals. She worked for Kerry until April or May when she abruptly left Island Rentals.
During the period December to July we received a few statements and wire payments. These wires and statements were not on the timeframes agreed upon in our contract, but there was no definitive indication at this time of anything being amiss. The statements spelled out monies collected and indicated that strata fees had been paid.
As of July the statements indicated, and I believed, that Island Rentals was current in the amount they owed us.
August 8 we received notice from Island Rentals that our tenant and her husband had vacated the condo. This voided the rental agreement and sacrificed the CI$1,650 security deposit which then should have been forwarded to me by Kerry.
The unit sat vacant August and September. We ran a half off first month's rent special and received notice October 4 that we had new tenants at a rate of CI$1,550/month.in subsequent discussions with the new tenant, she has indicated that in addition to paying CI$775 for October and CI$1,550 for November, she also paid CI$1,550 for a security deposit. She has proof thereof. Also, I have a copy of the rental agreement that she signed with Kerry which confirms payment of the security deposit collected by Kerry.
During the August through September timeframe I made several attempts via email and telephone to contact Kerry and request that she provide the statements that she owed to me for the period after July. She rarely answered her telephone forcing me to leave voice mails which were never returned. My attempts to contact her via emails were similarly usually ignored.
I made calls on August 27,30 and 31, September 12 and 13, and October 23 and 24. Emails were sent October 4,15, 16,24 and 26.in my last actual phone conversation with Kerry during late October she stated that she would send me statements immediately and wire me all money due as soon as she collected the November rent from the tenant. Additionally she mentioned that her website was down due to some problem with the host or developer. She stated that she was losing US$3,000 per day in business due to this.
During November I again left several messages and emails with Kerry repeatedly asking that she send statements and the money she had collected on my behalf. Calls were made on November 16,19, 20 and 26. Emails were sent on November 19,21 and 26. Around November 20 or 21 her fianc, Andre Jackson, left me a voice mail indicating she was off island for a family emergency and would wire me the money as soon as she returned.
Finally on November 26 I sent her an email terminating her services and recapping the amounts that she owed to me, net of amounts that were due to her. November 27 she did respond to my termination notice falsely claiming to have sent me statements in the previous week, claiming to be laid up from surgery and that she would close out our outstanding business when she was able'. November 28 I sent her an email asking that she turn over all outstanding documents to my new property manager. I also repeat the amounts that she owed to me. She responds from her Blackberry noted'.
On November 28 my new property manager wrote to Kerry and requested that she get things wrapped up. November 30 and December 4, I get emails from my new property manager indicating no response from Kerry.
By the end of December, I believed that Kerry owed me about $CI3500 based on the following:
Collected by Kerry as my agent
CI$1000 running balance'
CI$1650 forfeited deposit from tenant #1
CI$1550 security deposit from tenant #2
CI$775 October rent from tenant #2
CI$1550 - November rent from tenant #2
Minus:
CI$1200 strata (August November)
CI$300 Prop mgr fee (August and September 2 x 150)
CI$620 - Prop mgr fee (October 40% x 1550)
CI$155 - Prop mgr fee (November 10% x 1550)
CI$395 Mattress
CI$300 (Estimated misc expenses for which Kerry had never provided detail or amounts)
Net CI$3555
During January I established contact with other former clients of Kerry's all of whom I understood Kerry had been accused in one capacity or another of stealing or misappropriating funds. Additionally, I discovered that Kerry has served prison time for this type of crime under the name Kerry Tibbetts (not sure of exact spelling).
On December 21 I wrote to Grand Cayman Police to explain my situation with Kerry Horek and my belief that her misappropriation of funds falls within the definition on embezzlement. Over the next few weeks there were miscellaneous emails exchanged between the police and myself.
On February 11 the police contacted me via email and reported that he had spoken with Kerry who said she was holding the balance and waiting until she received from me, a signed letter of instructions to that effect, as she had requested for some time. The police suggested that I try to re-establish contact with her in an effort to resolve the matter. Based on recommendations from them on February 12 I contacted her with specific instructions via fax at 345 946 7223 AND by email for records purposes. I copied the police on the email and notified them within minutes of sending the fax to Kerry.
As of February 15 I still had no response from Kerry so sent a follow up email to her. I copied the police on this email for which they acknowledged receipt.
On February 29 the GC police emailed to say that after receiving my last email they tried to contact Kerry without success, but left voicemail messages for her. She contacted him to say that she was expecting my new property manager to collect a packet with original receipts, invoices, cheque etc., as she had requested but, no one came by.
Also, that she had the documents delivered to the new property manager's office and a cheque for the amount due mailed to me. I emailed my new manager who confirmed that no package had been received from Kerry nor had anyone in her office heard from her. Upon checking my bank account and mail, no money had been wired or mailed to me.
On February 29 I received word from my new property manager that Kerry never paid any of the strata for the period January through November. This adds another CI$3,300 to the amount that she owes to me. It also indicates that Kerry falsified the statements she sent to me as she did indicate that the strata had been paid. The April 17 statement indicated payment of the January strata. The statement I received August 1 states that the February through July strata had been paid. Kerry was my manager through November but has not provided any statements since July.
This brings the total of the amount she has collected and subsequently misappropriated to about CI$7,000, or about US$8,500. This amount could be even higher if I wanted to make the argument that she is not entitled to any management fee.
Kerry has a history of stealing from landlords who live off island. I know of four others not including myself. If you are thinking of using her as a property manager, find someone else on Grand Cayman.
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