Home buyer in US court over payment in ‘worthless’ token

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A home seller in the United States has taken the buyer to court after the latter attempted to pay for the house in a worthless token. The two parties had initially settled on an all-cash payment, but the buyer attempted to defraud the seller by introducing clauses that allowed him to pay in tokens.

The seller, Mary Shea allegedly agreed on a $125,000 price tag for her house with buyer Mike Cherwenka, reports Law360. However, the buyer, through his company Best Buy Homes, was accused of introducing clauses in the contract that allowed him to pay for 30% of the house in Troptions Gold. This is a token promoted by troptionsxchange.com.

The buyer hadn’t indicated that this would be part of the deal. Shea instructed her real estate broker to bring in an independent attorney to review the contract. However, as she claimed in her lawsuit, the attorney had ties to Best Buy Homes.

Shea refused to consent to the sale that would have seen her lose $37,500. This led Best Buy Homes to sue her, but it later dismissed the suit voluntarily. However, the company filed a notice of pending litigation against the house. This has ensured that Shea can’t sell the house or even rent it out. She has to continue paying the mortgage in the meantime until that litigation is resolved.

Shea stated in her lawsuit that she intended to use the money from the sale to settle her student debts.

“Every day that Best Buy wrongfully claims an interest in her property, Shea cannot find a buyer who will pay legal tender,” according to the lawsuit.

As Shea claims on her lawsuit, the Troptions Gold token is a “worthless” token that its backers, including the buyer Cherwenka, have been pushing. They have falsely claimed that it can be exchanged for U.S. dollars easily, Shea said. They also claim that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) ruled that the token is a commodity and not a security, which is also false.