Tina Brown, Search, Inc
Commercial Office Space SCAM - Takes your money, then suddenly "Goes Bankrupt" - I lost $4500 CASH!

Saw an ad on Craigslist for office space off of Trimble Road/De La Cruz in Santa Clara off US101 for $500/month for 700sf2. I have a computer repair business, and needed to move out of my home. I was shown a space, and told that if I signed a year lease, and paid $4500 up front, I would get the space for an entire year.

This sounded too good to be true, so I contacted the other tenants in the building. They told me that they also thought it was "too good to be true", but one person in particular, a gentleman that makes custom speakers, claimed that he had been there for over a year. After that reassurance, and touring the speaker-maker's space, I decided to take a chance.

I signed a lease, and gave Ms. Tina Brown $4500 in cash. We agreed to start the lease on January 15th. Around the 15th, I started getting calls from Ms. Brown, saying that her "Board of Directors" wanted me to lease an additional space in order to approve the deal. I told her that I was open to leasing more space, but not until I was settled in so that I could see how my sales were going. She seemed adamant, and kept asking for more and more money. Then she stopped responding to phone calls.

Once I got in touch with her after the holidays, she claimed that her charity, Search, Inc., had gone bankrupt, and that I'd receive a letter in the mail from her attorney about it. I demanded my money back, as I'd never received the keys, thus never received a service. She claimed she'd "help my business out" by referring clients to me, but that she couldn't give me my money back. I never received a letter from her attorney, but spoke to him on the phone, and he more or less advised me to sue. (Even though he was HER attorney, even he seemed hesitant about what she had done.)

Now I am out $4,500 in cash, with absolutely nothing to show for it. I've learned my lesson, and it only cost me two months pay.

Company: Tina Brown, Search, Inc
Country: USA
State: California
City: San Jose
Address: 555 Horning St
Phone: 4088499339

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