There is no crime in leaving your job to work for a competitor, but when you leave, you cannot take your former employer’s confidential information with you. In Santa Barbara, California, Coldwell Banker is suing startup real estate firm Compass for luring away a top manager and stealing confidential information. The stolen information in question relates to top performing agents. Continue reading
Category Archives: Agents Behaving Badly
New York Man Earns Big in $200,000 Scam
Due to the nature of real estate transactions, scams can be very lucrative. In this $200,000 scam, a New York man scored big. Continue reading
Deceiving Photos May Result in $22,000 Fine
Deceiving photos happen in real estate from time to time. Photos are always taken to make a room look as big as possible and show a property in a positive light. Few, however, go as far Australian agent Ray White, who had an ugly neighboring building removed from photos completely. Continue reading
Mother Son Duo Scam Team
Most real estate scams we’ve covered on this site focus on an agent or other criminal behaving badly. On some occasions, we see a team or a big group in on the fraud. This is the first time, though, that we’ve seen a mother-son duo scam team. Continue reading
Ohio Realtor Gets 18 Months in Agent Fraud Case
Rotten real estate agents are a dime a dozen, but usually the unethical actions do not end up with time behind bars. In this agent fraud case, however, the agent ended up right where she belongs: in jail. Continue reading
Buyer Wants out of Serial Killer House
Buying a new home is exciting, but requires spending some time on due diligence. As part of the deal, your agent should do some checks into the history of the property. Sometimes that brings up deaths, criminal activity, and other undesirable history. Other times, it brings up nothing, until it is already too late. Continue reading
Some Agents Should Lose their Real Estate License
If someone gets hit with a lock box, the attacker belongs in jail, not on the street selling real estate. However, the Minnesota Department of Commerce decided a seven month suspension was plenty for this dangerous agent.
Not only did agent Bill Bernier, a licensed real estate agent in Minnesota, beat a client with a lock box, he also violated a restraining order and threatened employees of a Saint Paul based inspection company. Continue reading
Are Realtor Lockboxes Safe?
A string of lockbox thefts came to an end when Arkansas police arrested Amanda Tester, an executive at Cooperative Arkansas Realtors Multiple Listings Services. One would hope that a licensed real estate agent would do the right thing, but readers of this site know that not all agents are as trustworthy as they would lead us to believe. Continue reading
Agent Discharged for Mailing Feces to Another Agent
Real estate agents have lots of reasons to mail a package. Forms, paperwork, and maybe even keys could be shipped through the postal service or a company like UPS, FedEx, or DHL. However, agents typically do not mail their… personal refuse… in a package to another agent. Continue reading
Houston Realtor Sells $389,000 House for $150
Aside
Houston real estate agent Michael Wachs has a trick up his sleeve. He is selling his nearly $400,000 Houston home to one lucky winner for only $150!
But if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. In this case, your $150 enters you into a pool, and Wachs will only sell if the home draws enough sales to reach the market rate. At $150 each, it will take about 3,000 entries to reach the level he wants to sell. If he does not reach his target, he will refund all applicant entry fees and sell the property with a standard listing. Continue reading
Agent Affair Ends with Death Threats
Having a one night stand is not an uncommon phenomenon, but having one with your boss rarely ends well, as was the case with real estate agent Megan Moody in Australia.
The then 31 year old made the poor decision of sleeping with her boss (in her defense, her boss made a poor choice as well) in 2007. Afterwards, things went along smoothly until Moody was fired from her job in 2009. That is when things got weird. Continue reading
Beware the Snake House
In a scene that sounds like something from a Samuel L. Jackson movie, a Maryland real estate agent has been accused of selling an infested snake house to an unsuspecting family in Annapolis. Continue reading
Convicted Sex Offender Fights To Keep Real Estate License
A real estate agent is a trusted person responsible for representing your best interest when buying or selling a home. Asking good questions can help you know if you are compatible, but few of us ever worry about our safety when meeting with an agent one-on-one. Continue reading
Real Estate Agent Steals House
Agents work hard to bring on new clients and earn their trust. As the saying goes, trust is much easier to lose than it is to gain. One agent in Otaki, New Zealand lost the trust of someone who didn’t hire him in the first place.
A home owner decided to sell his home privately rather than hire an agent, but that just hit the wrong nerve with agent Brendon Heenan, who took down the “for sale by owner” sign and replaced it with his own. Continue reading
Sexy Real Estate Advertising
There is a reason people say “sex sells.” In many cases, turning something boring into something sexy gets people excited, but is that an ethical sales tactic in real estate?
One Australian agent thought so. He hired a sexy harem of beautiful, scantly clad women to pose in an advertisement for a home listing. The women wear bikinis and other revealing attire while taking a bubble bath, eating whipped cream covered strawberries, and hanging out around the property. Continue reading