Be warned against working with Australian broker Cheyenne
Morrison
| In the interest
of protecting the international real estate community, at this time Private
Islands Online is issuing a strong warning against engaging the services
of broker Cheyenne Morrison. Click
here for an update on this topic. Our company received the
following complaint from a former client alleging serious misconduct on
the part of Mr. Morrison. After verifying the author’s claims to
our satisfaction, we feel it necessary to share his letter to protect
the safety and reputation of our industry. We encourage any individual
who feels they have been treated unethically by this or any other private
island broker to contact Private Islands with
details of their issue. We will make every effort to connect you with
the appropriate authorities to have your complaint addressed. |
 |
To anyone considering buying or selling an island,
Be warned against working with Australian broker Cheyenne Morrison.
This man is a liar and a fraud and far what he presents himself to be.
I engaged him to help me negotiate overseas property purchases, and he
grossly misrepresented his expertise, misused thousands of dollars of
my money, and wasted a year of my own research by breaking our confidentiality
agreements. He manages to convince journalists that he’s the “World’s
Biggest Island Broker” by associating himself with a prestigious
real estate franchisor, when in fact he’s flat broke, lies about
islands he has sold and gets his listings off the internet- some of which
aren’t even on the market. The “leading” private islands
real estate company he says he owns can’t prove a single island
sale. Before you let him take advantage of you, take a minute to read
my experience with him.
I’m a businessman, so I did my research on Mr. Cheyenne Morrison. He
said he owned the world’s most successful private island brokerage under
the umbrella of a major real estate company, had large numbers of listings
(only later did I find out they were almost all open listings obtainable by
anyone), and was prominent in the media. He claimed to have negotiated the
sale of over a dozen islands in a single year, to be an “expert”
on the area I was interested in, and so well-connected that he even had special
security codes to access information from NASA. He agreed to keep all information
relating to my property search confidential, including prior research I had
gathered such as images and contact details. He seemed trustworthy and I took
him at his word. He was in Forbes articles and said he had a prestigious franchise-
who wouldn’t believe him?
Before we went to see properties overseas in Tonga, Mr. Morrison confessed
that he was broke because a former business partner had stolen money from
him, and that he needed me to pay all expenses for the trips, including flights,
transportation to the islands, accommodations and meals. He also instructed
me to buy expensive camera equipment to take pictures of the properties I
was viewing, and demanded thousands of dollars up-front for his “expert
time”. This was unusual for a broker and made me a little suspicious
that someone so successful didn’t have cent to his name, but I agreed
on the condition that all information and images gathered on these trips was
my property. This stipulated that under no circumstances could he use it for
his own commercial purposes or provide it to third parties. He agreed- in
writing.
When we arrived to look at properties, it turned out that the only information
he had on the region was copied and pasted from a couple of websites,
and he knew next to nothing about local real estate law or geography.
The information he claimed he would be getting from “NASA”
were just print-outs from a Google search. He was pretty much useless
and I was unsuccessful in buying a property. Only much later did I find
out that after our trip, he was passing my confidential owner details,
images and information on to other people and using it to create listings
for his web site.
But after I returned home and before any of that had come to light, Mr.
Morrison persuaded me to give him a second chance. He claimed he had my
dream property- a beautiful, surprisingly inexpensive island. If only
I would go and see it, it would be the chance of a lifetime. It sounded
more than perfect. Still broke, he told me he couldn’t afford to
view the island on his own, and required that I pay all expenses including
another up-front payment that he promised would be deducted from his commission
when I bought the island. Again, he agreed to abide by a strict confidentiality
agreement
When we viewed the island, it was ideal and I agreed to negotiate the purchase.
A little fact he had neglected to tell me before I agreed to pay thousands
in expenses for the trip was that the island’s title was being contested,
and the group of locals he was selling it for were just lobbying the government
to “reclaim” the island. But Mr. Morrison swore that the title
was close to being clear, and that he would reserve the island for me alone.
Once I had returned home, I received a call from a boat chartering company
alerting me that someone Mr. Morrison’s “office” was showing
the island to other clients. Initially I called him and he denied it that
he or anyone associated with him were showing the island to other clients,
he then said he had every intention of abiding by our agreement. At a later
stage after I proved to him he had lied to me he admitted that he told one
person who was a Brazilian and then months later changed his story again and
told me that this person had never even looked at it. To make a long story
short, he’s a bald-faced liar. When the title was finally clear, Mr.
Cheyenne Morrison quickly sold the island behind my back to someone else,
using the trip I paid for and confidential images and information I owned.
That could easily have been his plan all along.
All of the appropriate Australian authorities have been made aware of the
way Mr. Morrison operates but are powerless because he only deals with overseas
properties and keeps out of their jurisdiction. I’ve written to his
employer to let them know that he’s using their name to gain legitimacy,
and based on an in-depth look into Mr. Morrison’s past I sincerely hope
that they’ll take action to prevent other clients from being ripped
off. I found out that not only has he lied about the number of properties
he sold, but the Philippine company he was part-owner of has been implicated
in the theft of deposit money from multiple clients. Mr. Morrison fled back
to his native Australia and was not charged, but there are warrants out for
the arrest of his former partner.
I’m sure Mr. Morrison will write a long defence of his behaviour that
puts the blame everywhere but himself, even though he is well aware that I
can back up my experience with hard evidence. It’s actually very simple
to verify that he is a fraud, however: all you have to do is ask him a few
simple questions. Does he have a full broker’s licence? (no, but he’ll
pretend that his 5 day “sales certificate” qualifies as a full
real estate license). Can he prove that Morrison’s Private Islands has
actually sold any islands? (I have cast iron proof that Mr. Morrison has lied
about islands he has sold). Does he have an office or staff? (he works off
a laptop in his cheap apartment). Does “Morrison’s Private Islands”
even exist as a company? He’s a smooth talker and manages to fool clients
and journalists into his believing his grandiose claims, but I cannot stress
enough to avoid this man at all costs. Not only does he hurt clients, but
the owners and brokers of listings he tried to sell- under no circumstances
would I consider buying a property he advertises, and I doubt I’m the
only one. I strongly encourage anyone who has had a negative experience with
this individual to contact me, and I will be happy to answer any questions
or provide more extensive details.
Sincerely,
Mr. Bryan Comerford
CEO
Opportunities Unlimited
P.O. Box 38-435
Te Puni Mail Centre
Petone
Wellington
New Zealand
0064-274-519-530
bryan.comerford@gmail.com
