Today I received this letter from the Arizona Department of Real Estate:
I have obviously blocked out indentifying information.
Here’s what is really quite special about this letter. I am not the listing broker for the property mentioned in the letter. Hence it would be impossible for me to publish the lockbox code or “fail to protect the interests” of a client that is, well, not my client.
The Department of Real Estate, in their infinite wisdom, decided that since the printout of the listing that was attached to a complaint came off this very blog you are reading, yours truly was to blame for the lockbox code being published to the world. As far as I know, none of the other tens of hundreds of local agent and national listing sites displaying exactly the same information received an accusatory letter.
Here is the text of the complaint, reprinted here with the permission of the complainant. Again, personally identifying information of the complainant, the actual listing brokerage, and the property have been changed.
Dear Madam or Sir:
This is a complaint that comes from the file of there is no bottom on stupid. Please refer to the attached listing printed on August 2, 2009. The listing agency “JOE’S REAL ESTATE AND GRILL” listed a property at 123 Main St. On the listing, the agency listed the lockbox combination code in a public area. I am not a real estate agent and I have no interest in the property, but this should be grounds for the listing agent to lose his/her license. To make maters worse, on Friday, the agent updated the listing to reflect that an offer was accepted and noted, “key is missing for entrance.” You think ?!?!?!
By listing the lockbox combination, this agent told the whole world that the front door was open to this property. Apparently, someone decided to keep the key, and that does not surprise me. What surprises me is that this agent is allowed out in public without an escort. The amusing thing for me is that the agent updated the listing and did not see anything wrong with publishing the code.
If he/she has a license with your Department, I would suggest the status of that license be re-evaluated.
Personally, I couldn’t agree more with the complainant I’ll call “Concerned Citizen”. And good for him for taking the time and making the effort to bring this travesty to the attention of the Department of Real Estate. It wasn’t too long ago that I opined about agents giving lockbox codes out over the phone. At least in those cases the whole freaking planet doesn’t literally have access to the front door key.
What’s going to happen to the actual listing agent and broker who really did fail to protect the interests of their client?
I don’t know. These things aren’t publicly disclosed. Obviously the broker, who is ultimately responsible, failed to exercise proper “broker supervision”. My guess is they might get a little slap on the wrist, possibly a modest fine. More likely the broker will fall on his/her sword, propose some “check and balance” to ensure this will never happen again, and they’ll all go on their merry way selling real estate.
What will happen to me? I got to spend time composing a “statement” for something that if the Department has just paused two seconds to engage their brains would have never been issued. Welcome to bureaucracy and the joys of running a real estate brokerage. Surely, hopefully, the Department of Real Estate will see how utterly asinine it was to accuse me of something I have zero control over.
For those interested, here is my “statement” regarding this ridiculous accusation:
This is my statement regarding the above named complaint, #c09-xxxxxx filed by “Concerned Citizen”.
In your letter to me you state, “ADRE is in receipt of a complaint filed against you by Concerned Citizen alleging you published the lockbox code on the MLS for the property located at 123 Main St in Phoenix and; therefore, failed to protect the interests of your client” (my emphasis in bold).
Actually, Concerned Citizen filed the complaint against the listing agency, Joe’s Real Estate and Grill, as is clearly stated in all capital letters in the third sentence of his complaint dated August 2, 2009 (see attached).
The listing at 123 Main St is not a Thompson’s Realty listing. Concerned Citizen simply printed out the listing from my web site, www.PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com. That site complies with all IDX rules and regulations and clearly displays the listing agency, which Concerned Citizen also circled for emphasis at the bottom of the printout he attached to his original complaint.
I did not publish the lockbox code, as I have no access to edit the public remarks field in the listing of another brokerage. I did not “fail to protect the interests of my client” because the owners of the home at 123 Main St. are not my clients. They are the clients of Joe’s RE & G and the listing agent, Ima Fool.
I cannot possibly control what every licensed agent enters into the MLS, nor can I possibly verify that all of the current 59,010 listings in ARMLS are accurate. Yes, my website, along with thousands of other websites that employ an IDX search solution, displays listing information – including whatever the listing agent enters into the public remarks.
We have to trust our fellow agents to be professional and to exercise fundamentally sound judgment. In this case, clearly Mr. Fool (or whoever entered the listing into the MLS) did not exercise any judgment or even common sense for that matter.
I have spoken with the complainant, Mr. Concerned Citizen, and he is more than willing to issue a clarification if necessary as he is perfectly aware that neither I, nor any member of the Thompson’s Realty brokerage, is responsible for the Joe’s Real Estate and Grill agent entering a lockbox code in the public remarks section of their listing. Please let me know if you need a clarification from Mr. Citizen.
I appreciate your prompt response to this matter and hope to hear from you soon regarding the complete dismissal and removal of this matter from any record associated with myself, or the Thompson’s Realty brokerage.
Good grief, what a complete waste of time that was.
Home Sellers – I’ve said it here dozens of times. The sad fact is, you need to check on everything your agent does. Ask for a printout of your listing. Look at that listing on their web site and a few others. No, you shouldn’t have to ensure your agent is doing their job. That’s their broker’s responsibility. Let’s face it though, not everyone is competent. When your safety is involved, it is prudent to ensure your agent’s brain hasn’t fallen out of their head.
.
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Wow. This whole thing has stupidity written all over it from so many directions it's not even funny. Isn't business ownership fun?
Jay- Another fine example of Big Brother-Bureaucrat-Statist being complete incompetents..what a waste of time. Wow what would we do if the Nanny State was shut down!
Here is what I would have written: Whoever sent this letter to me must be as stupid as the agent in question. It is not my listing. Please fire whomever is responsible for this as soon as possible because they are not intelligent enough to be in that position.
This is crazy Jay, you published the lockbox code in the public remarks? You should be ashamed of yourself. OK so maybe you didnt publish it yourself, but you did provide the information via your website. Maybe this is just proof that this whole IDX thing is a really bad idea and all agents should remove it from their site. Please take this into consideration when you head to your next NAR board meeting to discuss the IDX issue. Thanks for the consideration.
/sarcasm
Hmmmm, Ima Fool, I know I have done business with that agent before, LOL.
Sellers, keep an eye on your agent. I have found cases where sellers just “trust” that their agent will do the right thing. Then when they find out that their home has not had any showings because there is only one pixelated picture up on the MLS they get angry. Your agent should be updating you on what they are up to and how they are working to market and sell your home.
-Tyler
Empirical evidence that when it comes to DRE's and/or Boards at every level, the true stories are far more entertaining than fiction.
That is hilarious! I get the same thing all the time but most of it comes from agents who are not MLS members. They do a Google search for a home and call to ask about availability, lockbox information and where they can send an offer. The response is always the same thing. Become a Realtor member and get your own access to the MLS!
I am not trying to be rude but if you plan on working in this business, invest a little bit of money in yourself and in your business!
LOL. Wow. I've had a complaint like this before, but I was more infuriated than you.
It makes sense to check everything someone does for you (real estate agent, contractor, mechanic, etc). Unfortunately, unprofessional people could be found everywhere…
Unbelievable! Should you do something? Thanks for sharing your story. By the way, I know a great Kentucky home that might interest you too. Thanks.
Under the “Aren't Lawyers Stupid” heading, I had a process server try to serve something to me at the office a few weeks ago.
I told them to deliver it to the DB (Designated Broker).
Yeah, that's her job.
Anyway, some lawyer was complaining that I published the sale price of a home in one of my blogs. Huh? The DB was going to call the lawyer and explain Arizona law. I don't know how the phone call went because the whole thing was too stupid to waste any more of my of DB's time.
Just for giggles here's the 2007 post the lawyer was complaining about.
http://www.mccormickranchrealestatehomes.com/20...
This does not surprise me at all. First of all, there are thousands of agents (to be conservative) out there who couldn't be trusted to write a greeting card, much less a legal contract or an MLS listing. It's important to remember that not all agents are Realtors, and the standard of care is higher for Realtors, so Realtors wouldn't make this kind of mistake
But aside from the predictable errors and omissions of the agents, the response by the Department of Real Estate is very disappointing. I'm let to believe there is an eagerness on the part of a lot of DRE and NAR bureaucrats to find fault and/or penalize agents for using IDX (or RETS) on their websites. There is still a complaint pending which alleges Google is a scraper site. It would seem that there are a lot of eyes and ears open for anything having to do with publishing MLS listings on the Internet. Surely this one will blow over for you, and hopefully my other concerns are false too. I completely disagree with deanouellette's comment that IDX is a bad idea and agents should have it removed from their sites. Why should the agents remove their MLS listings only to let Realtor.com, Trulia, Zillow, and others corner the market on our hard work? The public demands the MLS listing information, and distributing the listings through email, through the web, by direct mail, or by any other channels helps agents sell homes.
“There is still a complaint pending which alleges Google is a scraper site.”
Funny you should mention that. I got assigned to the NAR's MLS Committee work group to dig into this very matter. We're meeting in Chicago on Monday.
“I completely disagree with deanouellette's comment that IDX is a bad idea and agents should have it removed from their sites.”
Dean was being sarcastic. (note the “/sarcasm” at the end of the comment). I know Dean, believe me he doesn't think IDX is bad. Sadly, and mysteriously, there are agents though that do feel that way.
Well that's just stupid. Obviously the lawyer never reads the regular (weekly I think) column in the AZ Republic that lists not only the sale price of the most expensive homes, but also the names of the sellers and buyers.
Apparently the definition of “public information” escapes this guy.
Sorry, if you want all the sexiness that comes with being “the boss” you have to deal with too common stupidity of these types of people. Unfortunately, as you probably know, this won't be the last of these types of ridiculous and time wasting complaints.
Lol, wow now that's got to be frustrating to receive in the mail. I bet they feel stupid about the mistake after reading your response.
Thanks for the laugh -
WOW just another example of how govt runs things – sad isn't it? But good for the concerned citizen and I sure hope the listing agent gets fined or loses their license.
For those following, I received a letter from the AzDRE today “Dismissing the case” against me. They do however, retain the right to reopen it should further evidence warrant such action.
What ever. At least they acted swiftly…
Wow – Jay this is very disappointing that the effort and time spent on sending this letter out to you is paid with an hourly (maybe salary even) wage! My first thoughts go to the ADRE might be looking to collect a penalty fee, hey there could have been a fine had you just 'blown it off' …seems logical, right? After all, we are hurting financially according to the AZ Commissioner, with our dues only being collected every four years now and the economy down, perhaps finding all avenues to make revenue is feasible!! Anything is possible, 'that's $11,000.00 'Thompson Realty', thank you very much!!” Sorry that happened and glad to read it worked out (sort of) in the end! Oh and btw – that Dean guy, he likes the IDX solution, I can vouch for him!
Wow! Not just about this ridiculous complaint, but I am very impressed how quick the whole thing was started (Aug 2, 2009) if I read correctly, and letter sent by August 24th, 2009, and then resolved by the 28th of the same month…and even year.
I will give AZ DRE props for that…even if they don't understand the difference between Google and scrapers, OR public remarks, and Private Remarks.
Wow! Not just about this ridiculous complaint, but I am very impressed how quick the whole thing was started (Aug 2, 2009) if I read correctly, and letter sent by August 24th, 2009, and then resolved by the 28th of the same month…and even year.
I will give AZ DRE props for that…even if they don't understand the difference between Google and scrapers, OR public remarks, and Private Remarks.