Signature at MGM condo buyers ordered into arbitration

A group of condominium buyers at Signature at MGM Grand has again been ordered into arbitration over its complaints about sales tactics at the off-Strip property.

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge James Mahan affirmed a recommendation written last month by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Johnston upholding the arbitration clause in the sales agreement. The 102 buyers involved in the case sought a judicial hearing of their claims that they were entitled to damages under federal securities law for their purchases of condos between January 2004 and October 2005.

According to the recommendation, Signature buyers have now filed nine different cases. Rulings by another Nevada federal judge and the Nevada Supreme court came down in favor of arbitration.

Several other condo-hotel projects have gone the same route. When the real estate market imploded, buyers sought ways to break purchase contracts and receive refunds of their deposits, running into the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.