In this 2021 file photo, the building at 50 S. Steele St. in Denver is topped with signage for Keller Williams Integrity Real Estate. (BusinessDen file)
A realty office in Cherry Creek is bankrupt as two of its co-owners sue each other.
Integrity Real Estate, which is affiliated with Keller Williams, filed for Chapter 11 on Nov. 15. It has debts of only $44,000 for now, but faces the possibility of large court judgments.
The firm, now at 50 S. Steele St., is run by the realtor Brendan Bartic. In 2020, realtor Kimberly Austin joined the company, setting in motion events that would end in its bankruptcy.
Austin said that she was Colorado’s top-selling Coldwell Banker realtor five years running before going to Integrity, then sold 83 homes worth $50 million in 2020 after joining. In the wake of such success, she bought a 7-percent stake from Bartic for $94,500 in 2021.
In court documents, Austin now claims that the sale was a bait and switch. Bartic wanted out of Integrity, so he sold his shares to unsuspecting buyers, recruited 34 Integrity agents to his firm Elite Home Partners, and left Integrity weakened, according to its minority owner.
“But for Bartic’s conduct in cannibalizing Integrity’s business, preventing its growth, and causing (others) to leave, Integrity would have substantial profits,” she claimed on June 7.
Bartic has a different story to tell: Austin bought shares of Integrity when it was surging in 2021 and “has since experienced buyer’s remorse” as the market has cooled and the realty office’s value has declined. Now she refuses to accept a buyback offer, in violation of their agreement.
Bartic sued first, last December. He seeks an undetermined amount of money for Austin’s alleged breach of contract and wants a Denver judge to order her to sell back her shares of Integrity. He said Elite Home Partners is “within” Integrity, not a competing firm.
Austin then countersued over the summer. She wants her $94,500 back, along with $340,000 she has reportedly put into the company, and at least $1 million in lost revenue. She accuses Bartic and Elite Home Partners of fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
A week-long trial initially set for March is being rescheduled and will likely be further delayed by Integrity’s bankruptcy. That company is both a plaintiff and a countersuit defendant.
The company reports more than $100,000 in assets, which its bankruptcy paperwork does not list, and $44,000 in debts, which it does list. It owes Keller Williams $27,000 in franchise fees and owes $13,750 to a former landlord at 4500 E. Cherry Creek South Drive, along with a few minor office expenses. Whether it will soon owe Austin money remains to be seen.
Bartic, who maintains the title of operating principal and who filed Integrity’s bankruptcy case, did not answer requests for an interview last week to discuss that firm’s future.
In this 2021 file photo, the building at 50 S. Steele St. in Denver is topped with signage for Keller Williams Integrity Real Estate. (BusinessDen file)
A realty office in Cherry Creek is bankrupt as two of its co-owners sue each other.
Integrity Real Estate, which is affiliated with Keller Williams, filed for Chapter 11 on Nov. 15. It has debts of only $44,000 for now, but faces the possibility of large court judgments.
The firm, now at 50 S. Steele St., is run by the realtor Brendan Bartic. In 2020, realtor Kimberly Austin joined the company, setting in motion events that would end in its bankruptcy.
Austin said that she was Colorado’s top-selling Coldwell Banker realtor five years running before going to Integrity, then sold 83 homes worth $50 million in 2020 after joining. In the wake of such success, she bought a 7-percent stake from Bartic for $94,500 in 2021.
In court documents, Austin now claims that the sale was a bait and switch. Bartic wanted out of Integrity, so he sold his shares to unsuspecting buyers, recruited 34 Integrity agents to his firm Elite Home Partners, and left Integrity weakened, according to its minority owner.
“But for Bartic’s conduct in cannibalizing Integrity’s business, preventing its growth, and causing (others) to leave, Integrity would have substantial profits,” she claimed on June 7.
Bartic has a different story to tell: Austin bought shares of Integrity when it was surging in 2021 and “has since experienced buyer’s remorse” as the market has cooled and the realty office’s value has declined. Now she refuses to accept a buyback offer, in violation of their agreement.
Bartic sued first, last December. He seeks an undetermined amount of money for Austin’s alleged breach of contract and wants a Denver judge to order her to sell back her shares of Integrity. He said Elite Home Partners is “within” Integrity, not a competing firm.
Austin then countersued over the summer. She wants her $94,500 back, along with $340,000 she has reportedly put into the company, and at least $1 million in lost revenue. She accuses Bartic and Elite Home Partners of fraud, breach of contract and unjust enrichment.
A week-long trial initially set for March is being rescheduled and will likely be further delayed by Integrity’s bankruptcy. That company is both a plaintiff and a countersuit defendant.
The company reports more than $100,000 in assets, which its bankruptcy paperwork does not list, and $44,000 in debts, which it does list. It owes Keller Williams $27,000 in franchise fees and owes $13,750 to a former landlord at 4500 E. Cherry Creek South Drive, along with a few minor office expenses. Whether it will soon owe Austin money remains to be seen.
Bartic, who maintains the title of operating principal and who filed Integrity’s bankruptcy case, did not answer requests for an interview last week to discuss that firm’s future.
