Claudia Urbina-Fonseca

We recently went through a terrible real estate experience thanks largely to Claudia Urbina-​Fonseca. We bought a condo in Oakland and Claudia was the listing agent. What happened? Before I get into the details, I want to add a few caveats: 1) we weren’t privy to any conversation between Claudia, Claudia’s boss, and Claudia’s clients; 2) some of my information is based on documents we received through the attorney we had to hire. We received documents after the fact that enabled us to piece some of this story together.
Claudia’s clients received multiple offers for their condo. We later learned that our offer was MUCH higher than the next best offer AND we had already been pre-​approved for the loan. Still, Claudia forwarded signed (by her clients) counter-​offers to two different prospective buyers for the same property, even though one was for A LOT more money than the other. Claudia’s clients would have had to sell their property to the other buyers (at a MUCH lower price) if they had accepted their counter-​offer before we accepted ours. Hmm.
Fortunately, we signed ours immediately and sent it back to Claudia (on May 22 with a June 9 date for close of escrow). Then, Claudia sent an informal email to the other party to let them know that her client wanted to work with us. Approximately, one hour after Claudia sent her email, the other party returned their signed counter-​offer to Claudia. The other buyers’ agent insisted that they had a binding agreement with the sellers because Claudia’s email was not a formal recision. In fact, she discussed escrow companies in one of her emails to Claudia.
So shortly after «accepting» our offer, Claudia told our broker to hold off on ordering inspections and things like that until we heard back from her. She implied that there were some issues with the transaction but didn’t say much to our broker. Our broker assumed that there must be other buyers involved but we really didn’t know for sure.
Then, Claudia stopped communicating with our broker to let us know what was happening, and my daughter fell apart thinking that we weren’t going to get the condo. This went on for several days after we thought we had a binding contract. Even though we weren’t sure where we stood, we opened an escrow and proceeded as though we were the rightful buyers of the condo (appraisals, etc.).
When we weren’t getting some of the usual disclosure documents, I contacted an attorney friend of mine who STRONGLY recommended that we hire an attorney to protect our interests. This cost us thousands of dollars and we still didn’t know what was going to happen.
Imagine how you would feel: your daughter is about to embark on one of the most exciting moments of her young life and she is miserable because she’s convinced that the deal is going to fall through AND WE’RE NOT HEARING ANYTHING from the one person who could have filled us in.
Moreover, the sellers’ had to hire an attorney as well because of the mess they were in with two prospective buyers. So now we had attorneys talking to attorneys over what should have been a simple real estate transaction.
On June 3 (after hearing little from Claudia during this period), we were sent an addendum to the original contract to change the contract date to June 3 and close of escrow to June 21 or sooner. There was NO explanation given and we were extremely suspicious. Who wouldn’t be suspicious? Our attorney contacted the seller’s attorney who said that he was not involved in this addendum. Hmmm. Needless to say, we were suspicious and didn’t sign the addendum. Who knows what would have happened had we done this?
To make a long story short (I know, it’s too late!), we got the condo. I really don’t know what happened with the other prospective buyers but we later learned that their broker aggressively pursued the condo on their behalf. It wouldn’t surprise me if they were paid to go away BUT THAT IS PURE SPECULATION on my part.
After the close, I emailed Claudia asking for some reimbursement for our legal expenses. I think this is a reasonable request given her role in this situation. I also indicated that my daughter wanted to report her to the Board of Realtors and post some online reviews, but that I would rather get reimbursed for our fees.
This is what she sent me in return (for a little comic relief, read the last sentence below Claudia’s signature):
«Our office fulfilled our contractual obligations per C.A.R Real estate purchase contract.
Your right to an attorney was at your judgement/​discretion and at your own expense.
Please have your lawyer contact our lawyer for any further clarifications on this Real Estate transaction.»
Sincerely,
CLAUDIA URBINA-​FONSECA
Realtor — CalBRE# 1 769 109
Realty World-​Golden Hills
Oh, by the way… I’m never too busy for any of your referrals.

Claudia Urbina was my real estate agent in 2011 as I was in search of a new home in San Jose, CA. I can’t tell you how much time and effort she put in as I spent months and months looking for that perfect place to call home. She is very knowledgeable about the areas through-​out northern California and she was very detailed in answering every question I had as I was learning the «pros and cons» of buying a short sale property.
In October 2011 I finally closed escrow on my townhouse and I can’t thank Claudia and her team at Realty World «Golden Hills» for their help with my «not so easy» short sale transaction along with all their hard work they put in to close escrow! I would highly recommend Claudia if you are looking for a awesome real estate agent who knows her job WELL!
Thank you Claudia for making dreams come true! I love my new home!!!
Yours truly,
Maria Cora

Claudia made the sale of my townhouse and purchase of my new home a painless experience. I had complete trust in her and knew that I was not being taken advantage of. If it was not for Claudia, I would have ended up short selling my townhouse. Thankfully, her expertise and marketing enabled me to accept an offer, allowing me to sell my townhouse through a regular sale. During this bad economy and lower market, Claudia was able to sell my property for even more than I expected. Every question I had, she answered and gave me complete confidence in her. I must say she is the best of the best in the real estate game. I will definately refer her to my friends and family. Thank you Claudia!
Mike P

I would like to thank Claudia for all of her time and patience during our home buying experience. Claudia was always readily available to show us homes and answer our phone calls even when they we’re spur of the moment. Claudia is very efficient and goes above and beyond to make her clients happy! We apreciate all she has done for us and we cannot wait to move into our new home! So if you are interested in purchasing a new home or selling the one you are in, contact Claudia! She is great!
Nicole Fonseca