FRIC, LOWENSTEIN & CO. LLP

I was recommended to Fric, Lowenstein and specifically York Campbell by a colleague. Since then me and my family have used York with multiple real estate transactions. We really appreciate his thoroughness and ability to be nimble to changes

We've had a terrible experience with this firm in the matter of my Father's estate which has taken 3.5 years to resolve. On top of many errors, omissions and the constant need for us to "encourage" the firm to move forward due to a severe lack of communication between parties, we have received incredibly poor value. This firm over-charged the estate more than $3000 for probate, basing their fees on erroneous and incomplete numbers. Fric & Lowenstein hired a 3rd party for accounting of the Estate with fees exceeding $9900. The vast majority of time and effort resolving the estate including funeral/cremation arrangements, obtaining statement of death, arranging for care of pets and property, securing the home and assets, obtaining insurance, paying for funeral, taking stock of assets, cancelling credit and debit cards, notifying asset managers, cancelling subscriptions, notifying utility companies, setting up mail forwarding, meeting with and dealing with realtors, assessing, valuating and appraising property including vehicles, facilitating the sale of all assets, arranging for transfer of assets passing outside the estate, liquidating remaining property, daily maintenance and checking in on a remote rural property for over a year, etc, all was completed by my Brothers and I and NOT Howard Lowenstein or any employee of the firm. When finally presented with the final statement, many entries just said "NO RECORD" or were missing. An entire bank account was overlooked and not included. No account for the executor's time or detailed reasoning for their charges has been provided other than what the "usual" rate is. We've explained that they have not undertaken the "usual" expectations and duties of an executor so their fees should be smaller or we should be able to claim for our time. In the end, this firm has charged $18000 for probate, $9900 to a 3rd party accountant and $37,500 for executor fees and offered very little value to earn that fee. We've asked for the firm to split the fee 50/50 and credit back the estate half of that fee since significantly less effort was required on their side as we performed most of the tasks and they have been obtuse about it and arrogantly indicated that they would not budge. They have refused... this is on top of the fact that they paid themselves for probate (one of the "no record" entries as well as the executor's fees years ago (without consent of the beneficiaries). I would recommend you look elsewhere if you're looking for a firm that has integrity and honour... we have not seen evidence that Mr. Lowenstein has either. ***Update Sept/21 - The firm agreed to reimburse the estate an agreeable value. This was a pleasant surprise and we appreciate the firm addressing this matter. Unfortunately more errors were found on the final NC11 and ACC12 forms (Including mis-spelling the beneficiaries names, the Estate name and the name of the court) so we had further delays resolving the matter. Review score revised and increased to reflect the outcome, but these steps should NOT have been required and I really hope that others do not have to go through all this... many would not speak up or push back as we did and I find that unacceptable.**

I had a small claims matter that I needed some advice on and contacted Lawyer Referral. They refer people to legal counsel that will give 1/2 hour of advice for no charge. I was given Anthony Di Lello's name and he assisted me and his advice helped me win my small claims matter. I then had him do an updated will and was quite satisfied with his knowledge, the pricing and his professionalism in the middle of the Covid Pandemic. That really affected how we interacted. I can only comment on those two matters but if in need of a lawyer, he would be a good person to consult with.

They were easy to deal with on a simple cash real estate transaction but their quoted disbursement fees went up 65% when I got the final bill because they admittedly made a mistake on the quote.

We recently had our new mortgage done at Fric, Lowenstein. It was quick and easy and the price was fair. The communication was great and we would highly recommend them.

I was referred to Tami Fric by my realtor to handle the closing of my new condo in Calgary. Tami was amazing to deal with and very knowledgeable about real estate transactions. My situation was a bit complicated as I was moving from Ontario but Tami calmed my stress and my closing went extremely well. I would highly recommend this firm for real estate. :)

York Campbell was beyond amazing to deal with! We have bought and sold our house using them. We have found him and Pat to be responsive, informative, and made the whole process a breeze! Would highly recommend using this firm.

Love using this office. York was great, his communication was on point. When faced with difficult situations I always felt like I was in great hands with this team. Highly recommend trusting this group.