John L Scott

RE: CASE ID *** {***} Dear Ms***: Thank you for allowing John LScott Real Estate and Mindy S*** to respond to Ms*** *** concerns expressed in the above-referenced case numberI have reviewed the file to confirm the details of MsS***'s handling of the buyer's
termination of the contractThe file shows that our buyer had a contractual right to terminate under an inspection contingency and the notice and procedures followed were in compliance with the contractMsS*** then prepared additional documentation requested by the listing broker in order to further memorialize the contract termination and disbursement of the earnest money to the buyerThis procedure included the seller signing instructions to escrow to release the earnest money to the buyerAs a postscript, we have checked the current status of the property, and it appears that it went under contract to another buyer on the same day that our buyer terminated and that sale has already closedThank you in advance for allowing us the opportunity to address the complaintThroughout the transaction, MsS*** communicated promptly and professionally with the listing broker and provided notices and documentation in accordance with the contractWe hope this concludes the inquiry, but we welcome the opportunity for further discussion

I cannot believe that you “closed” this without giving me sufficient time to respond.  My complaint was filed on May 7th, the business responded on July 22nd.  I have been moving and without access to the internet for the last 10 days, and while you allowed them ample time to respond, you did not afford me the same opportunity.
 
The response from their attorney basically stated that the end (the eventual sale of our home) justified the means.  And that is NOT correct.  Ms. Smart violated the terms of the purchase and sale agreement, specially the allowance and response for “additional” inspection items to be addressed.  Nowhere in their response did they admit that she did NOT file the correct form, or that she allowed for and changed the terms of a binding contract.
 
This issue is NOT closed, I will seek resolution through the National Association of Realtors.
 
[redacted]

Review: My husband and I hired Yelm Prairie Properties DBA John L Scott to manage our home located in Yelm beginning in 2010 due to us being PCS'd out of state. We did not begin having major issues with their management until the end of 2012 and in 2013, when they began being unresponsive. On 14 June 2013 we drove by the property (we had been PCS'd back in state in 2012) because we had received complaints from the HOA. We were horrified with the condition. The grass was over grown, the landscaping and driveway had been taken over by weeds, and there were car parts on the front porch. We immediately emailed our manager at John L Scott ([redacted]) about our concerns of the condition and requested access to the interior to assess the condition of the interior. I had also requested to see a copy of the lease to be sure maintenance of the landscaping was included. We never received a response to this email or request. I then sent another email the next day (15 June) requesting that notice be given to the tenants that we wished to end their month-to-month agreement and again requesting walk through of the interior; she gave the read receipt, but never responded. On 24 June I sent another email asking for a response, she responded that the tenants had been given and said that she would coordinate the walk through within the next week; however, she did not email back to coordinate that. I called the office on Friday, June 28th, to ask about the requested walk through and the lease. She asked if July 3rd would work and informed me that I coudl not get a copy of the lease. We were due to be out of town for the 4th so I let her know the 3rd would not work, she said she would call the tenant back to reschedule. In short, a walk through was never scheduled. After another email sent by me, [redacted] informed us on 8 July that the tenants were in the final processes of moving out of the home. She then emailed us on 9 July that she had done the walk through and was hiring a cleaning service for the interior and was arranging for the yards to be "edged and weeded". I received a phone call from a few days later informing me that they were having a couple doors and light fixtures replaced, painting done, and that $325 had been taken out of the tenant's deposit for stains on the carpets. I asked for access to the home so that we could get the carpets replaced, take photos, and begin showing the home to prospective tenants. On 12 July I emailed about some concerns about the condition of the property, she responded addressing only one concern. Not all of the concerns have been addressed/remedied to my husband and I's satisfaction. I, again, requested a copy of the lease for the 2 tenants that had been in the home under John L Scott's management, to verify that only one garage door remote had been given to them (there had been 2 left with the house originally). I was again denied the right to see the lease or inspection forms. There is a missing garage door remote, missing lights in the garage (she has said she would leave the bulbs for me at the house, but has not done so yet), and yards are now overgrown again (much longer than how it was when we turned the property over to them for management) because the repairs have taken so long. In addition to this, a thermostat is not working. Under normal circumstances I would agree that this is our responsibility as home owners, but the switch for it had been turned off on the fuse box. We were never notified of an issue with the thermostat. This may be nothing, and I am going to replace the thermostat, but it is concerning that someone knew of an issue and never informed us. In line with this, there was repair done to the ceiling in the master bedroom. We were never notified of any repair work needing to be done, and so are not sure if this was water damage of some sort or purely cosmetic.Desired Settlement: I would like copies of the lease and inspection forms for each tenant. If privacy of the tenants is the issue, then I would like copies with tenants' personal information blacked out/removed. I would also like the garage remote to be replaced, and the yard to be mowed.

Business

Response:

Consumer's Final Response /* (-5, 6, 2013/07/25) */

After reviewing the lease from the tenant that had lived into the home prior to John L Scott taking over management, it appears that John L Scott would have received only one garage door opener. So I would like to remove that from my list of requested remedies from the business. I would still like the other items listed, and have documentation to support the requests.

Review: Our relationship with the property management associate at John L. Scott, in Yelm, WA began quite well. We enlisted the services of [redacted] who seemed to be quite through detail oriented,to manage a rental home for us beginning in March of 2013. After an initial walk through of the home, we were given a list of items needing attention or replacement on the property. We addressed all of those issue, painting, staining of decks, professional cleaning of carpets and such. We were told that she does monthly drive by inspections and quarterly inside inspections. As of yet our relationship was great, no complaints. She had found a tenant promptly for us and a lease was signed by the end of the month, awesome!! or so we thought! Deposits' and rents were paid on time for the first 3 months. Communications were easy and responses were timely. In July of 2013 I drove by the property and saw it was empty. The landscaping was grown over, weeds were 4-5 feet tall in the flower beds, the grass was nearly 2 1/2 feet tall. This was a far cry form the well kept landscaping that was present at the signing of our contract. The electricity had been turned on, but that was the only sign that it was not an abandoned property. After inspecting the property, I took photos and made attempts to contact the agent August. Two emails were left un responded to. Finally, near the end of August I was able to make phone contact with the agent. At that time requested that the issues with the landscaping be addressed, and that photos be sent to verify this. September, response that the tenants were unable remedy situation due to a broken lawn mower. Mid September, I received a notice form the HOA that the property had trash and personal items strewn about the front and the landscaping needed to be addressed to avoid fines. The information was forwarded to the agent and she would address the issue. October, an internal and external inspection was preformed and I finally received pictures. November, rents were paid late. December, rents paid late. Mid December we decided that we would like to work with the tenants to terminate the lease early, which they agreed to discuss after the first of the year. Mid January, the tenants agreed to vacate the property on month early, some time in February. The agent failed to get the agreement in writing, and when we showed, expecting the property to be vacated soon, it was told to me that was not going to happen. An HOA record water usage bill is still yet unpaid and the property is in disarray. Desired Settlement: Active and efficient communications with [redacted]. We want the management fees for the month of March 2014 waived and returned. For the agent not to make false claims of services to potential clients. An apology from the company and agent, for a distasteful and disrespectful relationship for the last year.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 7, 2014/03/24) */

With regards to the complaint filed by [redacted], please see below:

1. Our property management contract does not state we perform monthly drive by inspections nor interior inspections done quarterly, no was this communicated verbally to [redacted].

2. When notified by the HOA Association with regards to the front exterior landscaping issues, this was addressed to the tenant and tenant remedied the situation. The tenant husban is military and was serving our Country in Afganistan for 9 months.

3. Our Property management contract states that all money owed to property owners will be paid by the 25th of each month. [redacted] was paid by the 10th of each month.

4. The tenant said she would consider moving out by middle to end of February but would need to discuss with her husband as he was away at training for the military. He did not return until the end of February and said they would move at the end of March, per their lease.

5. The tenant did provide in writing that they would be leaving upon the termination of their lease.

6. [redacted] decided that he wanted to move back into his home and wanted the tenants to vacated before the end of their lease. Per tenant laws, and their lease, the tenant decided to remain in the home until the lease expires.

Review: My wife and I rented a home on Monday July 22nd located at XXXX XX[redacted] Lake Stevens, Wa 98258. We gave the alleged owner $3,805.00 for 1st months rent plus security deposits. We were given the keys and told we could move in anytime.

Turns out John L. Scott realtor [redacted] gave a criminal the keys to the lockbox and this criminal leased the house to us when the house was "pending sale". He also scammed two other families. Complaint is broker violated code of ethics by allowing this criminal to stay in this house when he was not supposed to do this.Desired Settlement: What we request is due diligence from John L. Scott Real Estate and be fully reimbursed for $3,805.00. for the 1st months rent plus security deposits.

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 14, 2013/08/28) */

You have the wrong John L. Scott office. This is not us, our agent or our office or our property.

Try: John L. Scott Real Estate

Mill Creek Town Center

XXXXX [redacted]

Mill Creek Wa 98012

Phone XXX-XXX-XXXX

Fax XXX-XXX-XXXX

Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 20, 2013/09/12) */

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

The tenant of the property did not have a written lease agreement from John L. Scott. Instead and based on the evidence, the tenant was given unauthorized access by [redacted] and as stated above there was no lease agreement between John L. Scott Realty in Mill Creek and [redacted] Finally, I will not let this situation go unresolved until John L. Scott accepts and admits wrongdoing to consumers by enabling this criminal to occupy the home. The resolution I request is full reimbursement from John L. Scott in the amount of $3,805.00.

If they want to keep apologizing for this unfortunate outcome, I appreciate that but the only resolution we will accept is our money back from John L. Scott. Otherwise, My wife and I are in the process of initiating legal action against John L. Scott - Mill Creek Office in Small Claims Court.

Sincerely,

Final Business Response /* (4000, 18, 2013/09/09) */

We at John L Scott Mill Creek Town Center are very sorry for the losses that [redacted] and [redacted] incurred as a result of the fraudulent actions of the tenant of one of our listed properties. The tenant of the property was never allowed access to the property via a keybox. The tenant came to our office and received the keys after it was agreed that he and his family be allowed to occupy the property. The tenant misrepresented himself as the homeowner and committed the crime. The listing agent for the sale of the property never met with the [redacted]'s as part of this unfortunate fraud. The contract was entered into by the tenant and not the owner of the property nor our real estate company.

We are again very sorry that the [redacted]'s lost there money and that they were victims of the crime.

There has been a criminal investigation opened and all of the information has been provided to the local police handling the case.

Review: In 2012, my fiance and I were interested in buying a home. We found a realtor in the phone book named [redacted] who worked for John L Scott. We went to his office, looked at some listings and he showed us a few houses. At the time we hadn't been pre-qualified yet so we really had no idea what we could even afford, let alone being ready to purchase. He was showing us houses in the $220-250k range, and which was way out of our budget but we had no way of knowing and neither did he. At any rate, one of the houses that we looked at that was $240k, he called us and told us we needed to make an offer or we would lose it. We told him that we hadn't even been qualified and had no idea if we were even kind of close to being able to get a loan and he urged us to anyway. He said we would have to put down earnest money but that was no big deal. Obviously we knew nothing about the process so we called our broker, and she told us to ABSOLUTELY not put in an offer as our credit scores were in like the 500's and we had a long ways to go before we could start putting offers in. At that point I got red flags that maybe this guy wasn't necessarily looking out for our best interest, but also we weren't even close to being approved. I sent him an email telling him we were going to hold off for a while and maybe try again in another year or two when we got our credit stuff taken care of.

Just a few months ago, when our credit scores were up and AFTER we had gotten a pre approval from the bank, we found a realtor MUCH closer with more knowledge of the area.

At any rate, we ended up purchasing a home last month, through the realtor closer to home.

A few minutes ago I got an email from [redacted] asking how we were doing and if we were still interested in purchasing a home. I emailed back and thanked him for checking in and told him that we just purchased last month. About 45 seconds after I hit the send button my phone rang. I answered and this was our dialog:

Me: Hello?

Him: Hi...[redacted]?

Me: Yes

Him: Hi, this is [redacted]. Why on EARTH didn't you guys call me when you were ready to purchase?

Me: Oh actually we had a friend refer us to another realtor who was a lot closer to us, he just worked down the street and had a lot better knowledge of the area.

Him: Well, to be quite frank, I spent a lot of time working with you guys, I invested a lot in you guys and so basically all of that time was WASTED!!! THANKS A LOT!!! (And yes, he was yelling!)

AND THEN HE HUNG UP ON ME!!!!!!!!!

I do NOT appreciate being spoken to in that manner. We have every right to shop around for realtors and make a decision on who we ultimately want to go with. He did NOT spend a lot of time with us, in fact we met at his office ONE time and went to look at houses that same day with him, and only looked at about 4. That is not ALOT of time in my opinion. Also, when someone urges us to do something that is not in our best interest, obviously we are going to shop around. However, regardless of all of that, what gives him the right to call a former client and YELL at them, and then HANG UP ON THEM???!! That is HORRIBLE customer service. That is NOT professional by ANY means, and I do not believe he should be allowed to speak to people in this manner.

I think John L Scott should screen their employees better. I will NEVER recommend this company to ANY of my friends, in fact I will urge them to go elsewhere, ANYWHERE else really! Totally unprofessional and absolutely NOT OKAYDesired Settlement: I would like [redacted] fired from John L Scott, his realtor license revoked and at the VERY least a written apology from both the company AND Mr. [redacted].

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response /* (1000, 7, 2013/06/13) */

I am the branch manager for John L. Scott Real Estate, Vancouver. [redacted] is a licensed a licensed real estate broker with this office. Please excuse the delay in response to this complaint, but it was addressed to an entity that is no longer operating. The complaint was forwarded to me June 11th.

I am aware of the phone conversation between Mrs. [redacted] and Mr. [redacted]. Mr. [redacted] called me the day of their conversation with Mr. [redacted]. I promptly returned his call and we had a discussion in which I apologized for Mr. [redacted]. I explained that I would discuss with Mr. [redacted], but all displinary actions within John L. Scott are confidential. My conversation with Mr. [redacted] was cordial, and he appeared satisfied with my apology on behalf of the company and Mr. [redacted]. I thought the incident was closed.

As part of my investigation and management I discussed the complaint with Mr. [redacted] at that time and talked to him again this morning after receiving the Revdex.com complaint. Although, there appears to be a difference in opinion between the parties,I have discussed appropriate client service and etiquette with Mr. [redacted] to ensure he handles matters appropriately going forward.

Review: I was approached unsolicited by a real estate agent [redacted] from this office. He pressured my into listing the house and promised that he had "Buyers ready to go" and that I should listen to the offers but I was not obligated to sell. I told him that I didn't want to sell but might be interested in a short listing at a higher price as long as I could withdraw the listing if I changed my mind. He PROMISED that "it was all up to me". I didn't have to sell if I didn't want to. I was not obligated to sell if I decided I didn't want to give up the property.

After signing, there were no buyers. The Agent ignored the fact that it's rented and tried to market to a person who wanted to move in right away. A week after signing, there is no for sale sign in from of the house, the realtor had not picked up the keys, there are NO fliers for the home, and he has not had one "investor" look at the house. I contacted the agent and told him that I was not satisfied with the service and was not doing anything he promised to prior to listing the house. Also he refused to provide me with a copy of the listing contract... now I realize why. It was nothing like what we discussed and he promised.

He called me on 4/3/2013 while I had a dinner party. He yelled and screamed on the phone for almost an hour. I put the phone on speaker and set it on the table and I have a room full of witnesses that heard his screaming rant and name calling. It became very clear that his only interest was in his own commission and had no respect for out discussions and my intentions that were discussed in detail before signing.

I simply want to cancel this listing and to NEVER hear from this person AGAIN.

If they will not honor their commitment and allow me to pull the listing I will pursue legal remedy.

Thank you

[redacted]Desired Settlement: Simply want to listing pulled. I want nothing to do with [redacted] or John L Scott ever again..

I realize that the real estate market is very bad and agents are desperate and willing to do "anything" to make a sale. Although, there is no excuse for the unprofessional, insulting and abusive practices of this agent and then his actions are condoned by his office.

Business

Response:

Business' Initial Response /* (1000, 7, 2013/05/02) */

Contact Name and Title: [redacted] Branch Manage

Contact Phone: XXX-XXX-XXXX

Contact Email: [redacted]

To Whom It May Concern,

Thank you for allowing John L. Scott Real Estate and [redacted] to respond to the complaint filed against us.

We hope that you can appreciate that there are two sides to every story. As Manager of Mr. [redacted] and the Real Estate Branch from which he conducts business, I have spoken to both parties regarding the events contained in the complaint with your agency. Per Mr. [redacted]'s request, the listing has been cancelled. While I believe that the issue has been completely resolved, I wish to present Mr. [redacted] account of his representation of Mr. [redacted].

We respect that Mr. [redacted] felt he was pressured to list his home. Mr. [redacted] believed that Mr. [redacted] had thought through the decision, as he took the time to discuss it with his wife after his meeting with Mr. [redacted] prior to authorizing the listing (the conversation was quite cordial and we have text messages that verify this). When Mr. [redacted] gave his consent to listing the property, he was forceful in his request that it be put on the market that same day. As such, Mr. [redacted] didn't have adequate time to prepare the property for listing. He assumes that responsibility and acknowledges that he should have been more forceful in abiding by the strict timeline it takes to prepare a home for the market.

When a home doesn't sell as quickly as a seller believes it should, it is easy to understand why they would think that the real estate market is tough. However, the market in this area has been gaining momentum of late, and we must respectfully disagree with Mr. [redacted]'s assessment that "the real estate market is bad." The data to support the fact that the market is healthy was presented to Mr. [redacted] and inspired him to list his property. While Mr. [redacted] was optimistic in the quick sale of the property, this didn't occur. This may be because Mr. [redacted] wanted to list the home for a higher listing price than Mr. [redacted] amount which was based on a comparative market analysis.

Regarding Mr. [redacted]'s complaints about the keys to the home, there were several discussions between Mr. [redacted] and Mr. [redacted] about picking them up, but the conversations never resulted in action. In fact, Mr. [redacted] delayed giving the keys to Mr. [redacted] on at least one occasion.

The Department of Licensing requires that sellers receive a copy of the listing agreement. After a review of the transaction file, I can guarantee that Mr. [redacted] received his copy.

The lack of the flyers and a sign on the property were a direct result of Mr. [redacted] not having the proper time to prepare for listing Mr. [redacted]'s home. Again, we apologize for Mr. [redacted] error in judgment regarding the time constraints. The flyers and sign were delivered after Mr. [redacted] had voiced his concerns. Mr. [redacted] has learned from his experience, and this is something that will never happen again.

John L. Scott Real Estate does not condone unprofessional, insulting and abusive business practices. While mistakes do happen, we train and manage our agents to prevent errors and certainly to prevent repeat errors. Specifically, in this particular case, I have reviewed the file, identified the above-discussed errors of Mr. [redacted] discussed the appropriate handling with Mr. [redacted] talked with Mr. [redacted] and have cancelled the listing per Mr. [redacted]'s request. If this situation is not resolved to Mr. [redacted]'s satisfaction, we will do everything in our power to rectify the situation.

Thank you in advance for allowing us the opportunity to address the complaint. We hope this concludes the inquiry, but welcome the opportunity for further discussion.

Sincerely,

Branch Manager, John L Scott Real Estate, XXX-XXX-XXXX, [redacted]

Review: Mr. [redacted] was the Broker responsible for selling us our home. During the inspection of the home. 3 areas with major defects: evidence of water damage in the attic around a vent pipe, evidence of water leakage in the floors of the bathroom, hallway and laundry room, and rodent droppings and related damage in the crawlspace. Shortly after, Mr. [redacted] recommended a contractor to complete the work and received a verbal quote of $4500. Prior to closing on our home, the contractors and Mr [redacted] removed the laminate floors and hardwood floors exposing what appeared to be mold. Several times over the next three weeks we questioned Mr. [redacted] about the appearance of the mold and neither he nor the contractors made any attempt to suspend the work and hire an expert to test the mold. Instead Mr. [redacted] pushed us to close on the sale of the home, promising that the repairs will be completed using the holdback funds from the sellers and no additional expenses. After the closing, Mr. [redacted] attempted to do the repairs himself to the home but his work to the floors and walls are done incorrectly. At this point, we fired Mr. [redacted] and the contractors from completing any additional work.We are advised by a third party to have the home tested for mold and the results proved positive -resulting in $11,000 in mold remediation.Mr. [redacted] and John L Scott are bound to represent the best interests of their clients, the Buyers, and have failed in that duty in a number of ways:Mr. [redacted] did not protect the Buyers interests in investigating the extent of the potential damages (something that is recommended in the home inspection)Mr. [redacted] did not negotiate an adequate method for paying for repairsMr. [redacted] put himself forward as capable for performing the repairs which has been shown as demonstrably false. He is not, as far as we know an expert in mold remediation and should have been aware that he could not ethically or legally make those repairs.Mr. [redacted] failed to have the repairs done, by himself or a licensed contractor. Mr. [redacted] also has left several of the important documents in the sale unsigned or without critical information by one party or the other; the closing documents are missing the sellers signatures on the first section of the inspection response, the repair agreement lacks the contractors signature, the warranty deed appears only partially filled out, as well as other issues.There is also the general conflict of interest with Mr. [redacted] recommending that he perform the agreed upon repairs that the Buyers and Sellers have held back funds to pay for. Regardless of his expertise or skill Mr. [redacted] cannot represent the best interests of the parties paying for the repairs while simultaneously negotiating the price of those repairs on those parties behalf and doing the repairs himself. The fact that the repairs were unfinished and above budget lay this issue bare and compounds the conflict of interest.We have tried to work with John L Scott and treated with disrespect and poor professionalism. We were left with a home full of mold that we were unable to live in for 3 months. No one is willing to accept responsibility for the way this transaction has been handled and furthermore, Mr. [redacted] hired contractors with a suspended license to perform the repairs. This has been the worst experience imaginable working with John L Scott.Desired Settlement: John L Scott take responsiblity for ignoring the visibility of mold being exposed during the repairs made by [redacted] and reimbursing us for the mold remediation costs of $11,000. [redacted] fired for his unethical practices to make a sale on a home.