How a South Land Park Realtor Lost Credibility

All Realtors and not just South Land Park Realtors should practice ethics.

The obvious risk management question about relaying a story concerning a South Land Park Realtor who lost credibility (and most likely misplaced his ethics) is whether the person telling this story could be liable for talking about it, and let’s just say the best defense in any situation is the absolute truth. Before you ask, I have also considered filing an ethics complaint against this individual, but a) I am not the ethics police, and b) a first-time violation is a small fine. In my mind, it’s better to bring this action into the open in hopes that another agent won’t be so inclined to do it.

It started with an offer on my South Land Park listing above list price, with about 40% down, prior to our first Sunday open house. I had no record through the lockbox that the agent had even showed this home. Not good. The purchase offer also expired in less than 24 hours. I used to use that trick myself back in the 1970s, and it worked well then, but demanding a fast answer doesn’t work so well in today’s world. It shows aggression for little reason. Moreover, the seller will simply issue a counter offer, which starts the clock again.

As the South Land Park listing agent, my suspicions were aroused by all of this, but then I tend to question everything that seems a bit out of normal. We sent a counter offer.

The South Land Park Realtor replied to report the counter offer was “a deal killer,” because he wanted to use a different title company. First, often when a buyer insists on choosing the title company in Sacramento, which is against normal local custom, it sends up a red flag, at least to this experienced agent, that there could be something the buyer doesn’t want the seller to find out about. Not always, but it’s a possibility. Further, who uses words like “deal killer” anymore? Our transactions are not “deals.” Then, the South Land Park Realtor mentioned he was showing the home “again” on Sunday to the buyer, and there was also a new home that came on the market he would show. Implying the buyer might possess second thoughts.

It made me wonder even more strongly if perhaps he had not shown the home at all in the first place, but that was not the primary issue.

My Elizabeth Weintraub team member held the home open on Sunday, among many homes in South Land Park open that Sunday. We had a stupendous turnout. I asked my team member to keep an eye out for the South Land Park Realtor and his buyer, to try to find out where the other home on the market was located — because I could not find any home anywhere in the vicinity that was like my listing in South Land Park. I wondered if he had lied to me about the new listing. Sure enough, the duo came through the Open House and my team member gave me the name of the street they had mentioned, where the other “new listing” was evidently located.

I love my team!

Hmmm . . . the only home on that street was pending. Very similar to my listing in South Land Park. I’ve done business with that listing agent, so I called. The listing agent answered his cell. On a Sunday no less. Asked if the name of that particular buyer meant anything to him. Why, yes, he was in escrow with that buyer on that particular home and had been in escrow for about a week. Holy toledo! The deposit had been cashed, too. The deposit was the same check number the buyer had submitted for my listing in South Land Park. What? My jaw dropped. Unbelievable.

That could be a trust fund record violation, which is heavily regulated by the California Bureau of Real Estate. I would not want to be standing in the shoes of that South Land Park Realtor, and neither should any other agent in Sacramento.

By this time, we had multiple offers on my listing in South Land Park. We issued the alleged buyer a seller multiple counter offer, asking the buyer to cancel the escrow at XYZ title company for that particular property, providing the buyer could not afford to own both homes, and to submit a new deposit check for this transaction. We also requested release of deposit. If the buyer truly had no plans to cancel our transaction, the buyer would release the earnest money deposit, and it was the only way the sellers would feel safe accepting that phony offer.

I’m fairly confident the South Land Park Realtor was a bit astonished to realize we were on to his tactics and discovered his deception. Not only that, but his actions could have placed his somewhat prominent buyer into a difficult legal situation. The moral is a buyer should not ever write offers for more than one home, because it can breach the good faith covenant inherent in purchase contracts and lawyers say it is against the law. But if you’re such a moron that breaking the law doesn’t matter to you, for crying out loud, don’t submit an identical deposit check and possibly violate DRE regulations on top of it.

This home in South Land Park sold at full list price to sweet buyers who deserved it. To buyers represented by a wonderful South Land Park agent who was a sheer delight to work with. We’re going out for cocktails next week at Riverside Clubhouse to celebrate. We’ve never met. It’s a good idea to maintain relationships with other agents in the industry. This other South Land Park Realtor is not an agent I can honestly recommend to anybody, and that’s a shame. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759 if you’re thinking about selling your home in South Land Park. I’m resourceful, and I get to the bottom of nonsense in this business.