Vegas Condo Chaos

Las Vegas, NVAttorney Shahram Shayesteh says his clients just want their money back. As they see it, they put their money down six years ago and they still don't have the Vegas condos that were slated for completion in 2007. "It's been five years since they turned over their deposits to the builder and now Deutschebank is saying the project won't be completed until July 2011," says Shayesteh. "That's six years of our clients having their money tied up!"

The story of the Cosmopolitan Condo Resort in Las Vegas is, in a way, a peek into the Vegas real estate business, which went from hotter than handful of aces to near bust in just a few years. "These units that were going to $600,000 to $1.5 million are now worth about half that, if you can even get a buyer," says Shayesteh, referring to the condo/resort units his clients bought under the impression that they had a sure bet.

Deutschebank stepped in several years ago when the original developer defaulted on his loan from the German megabank. It offered condo buyers approximately 60 percent return of deposits. Many took the deal, but 220 people refused, demanding a full refund from Deutschebank.

Some of Shayesteh's clients are very wealthy people. They include professional poker players and Robin Leach, host of the once-popular TV show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."

"Sure, some of those people could live with the loss," says Shayesteh. "But it's the principle of thing."

For others, it's more than that. "There are some clients that decided to put their life savings into this thinking it was sure thing. They're in a bad spot. And they are the people that make you think you really have to do something here."

Meanwhile, Shayesteh says Deutschebank has been less than forthcoming about its plans for the project. "Based on Deutschebank's filings, the plan is to convert it to a hotel-only project," says Shayesteh. Yet the bank still has not been straight with buyers.

"Instead of telling the buyers, hey, this isn't going to work, it continues to play this charade."

At this point, Deutschebank is sitting on about $33 million in original deposits for condos that will never be built, Shayesteh believes.

"That money was placed in escrow. It is not coming out of Deutschebank's pocket and should have gone back to the buyers. We are dealing with a stubborn group of people, and there's a certain arrogance a big company like this has, thinking it can do what it wants."

If Shayesteh gets his way, it won't.

Shahram Shayesteh is a graduate the University of California, Los Angeles (BA 1995) and the Loyal Law School, Los Angeles (JD 2000). He specializes in brain injury and paralysis cases, business litigation, class actions, entertainment litigation and product liability.