DISQUS

James Malanowski · 3 months ago

Wow. This whole thing has stupidity written all over it from so many directions it's not even funny. Isn't business ownership fun?

markeibner · 3 months ago

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!

tonyarko · 3 months ago

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.

deanouellette · 3 months ago

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

jeffreydouglass · 3 months ago

Hmmmm, Ima Fool, I know I have done business with that agent before, LOL.

Portland Real Estate · 3 months ago

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

BawldGuy · 3 months ago

Empirical evidence that when it comes to DRE's and/or Boards at every level, the true stories are far more entertaining than fiction.

Carlos @ San Diego Real Estate · 3 months ago

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!

Gainesville Real Estate · 3 months ago

LOL. Wow. I've had a complaint like this before, but I was more infuriated than you.

Vancouver · 3 months ago

It makes sense to check everything someone does for you (real estate agent, contractor, mechanic, etc). Unfortunately, unprofessional people could be found everywhere...

John Wake · 3 months ago

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...

Jay Thompson · 3 months ago

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.

San Diego Foreclosures · 3 months ago

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.

Jay Thompson · 3 months ago

"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.

Matt · 3 months ago

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.

Garage Doors NJ · 3 months ago

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.

IreneHammond · 3 months ago

Thanks for the laugh -

Cindy Knight · 3 months ago

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.

Jay Thompson · 3 months ago

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...

AZRealEstate · 3 months ago

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!

Jay Myers · 3 months ago

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.