A trio of brokerages are caught in the legal crosshairs of Jeffrey Soffer’s Fontainebleau Miami Beach.
The iconic oceanfront resort’s ownership entity, an affiliate of Soffer’s Aventura-based Fontainebleau Development, recently sued Benichay Brothers Group, M.A.K. Realty Group and Hillcrest Property Services in Miami-Dade Circuit Court for tortious interference. The March 21 complaint alleges that the brokerages are stealing business from Fontainebleau Miami Beach’s condo-hotel rental program.
The brokerages are allegedly booking guests on Airbnb and other online short-term rental sites for stays in their clients’ condo-hotel units, the lawsuit states.
A Fontainebleau Miami Beach spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Eytan and Ygal Benichay, principals of Miami Beach-based Benichay Brothers, and Stephen Scott and Joseph Lafleur, principals of Hollywood-based Hillcrest, also did not respond to requests for comment. Representatives of Miami Beach-based M.A.K, led by Tatiana Rybak, declined to comment.
The lawsuit alleges that the brokerages are assisting some of their clients to avoid paying fees to the Fontainbleau Miami Beach’s rental program. The clients own condo-hotel units in Trésor and Sorrento, a pair of condo-hotel towers that are part of the resort’s complex.
The buildings, completed in 2005 and 2008, have a combined 748 condo-hotel units. About 674 unit owners are enrolled in the resort’s rental program, which gives Fontainebleau Miami Beach the exclusive right to rent out the units, the complaint states.
The agreements allow owners to hire firms such as Benichay, M.A.K., and Hillcrest to manage the properties. But brokerages must go through Fontainebleau Miami Beach to book paying guests who are not family members or friends of the unit owners, the lawsuit states.
Benichay, M.A.K and Hillcrest represent a combined 100 unit owners, according to the lawsuit.
“Over the last few years, it has become increasingly clear to Fontainebleau that many
owners whose units are part of the hotel program have been renting their units outside of [it,]” the lawsuit alleges. “Notwithstanding that clear prohibition, the front desks for Fontainebleau have repeatedly been provided with printed or digital reservations for purported ‘guests’ from third-party booking companies like Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com.”
The booking website reservations provide proof that “clearly establish the purported ‘guests’ are in fact paying customers of the unit owners, who have rented their units outside of the hotel program,” the lawsuit alleges.
Benichay, M.A.K. and Hillcrest brokers also allegedly coach their clients operating outside the rental program on how to conceal their unauthorized bookings, as well as allegedly encouraging them to terminate their agreements with Fontainebleau Miami Beach, the lawsuit alleges.