Welcome To The Jungle Baby!
February 6, 2008
It seems that while the Ummel case grabbed a bit of the spotlight because of her lawsuit, she in fact was not the trailblazer she hoped to be. Rather, it seems, she is following the course of action of another lawsuit against a real estate agent.
Famed guitarist Slash, from the band Guns N’ Roses is suing his agent and the broker involved for misrepresentation and a host of other charges and based upon their prayer for relief they are seeking in excess of $6,000,000 in various damages and afflictions incurred as a result of the agent’s incompetence. (Copy of Lawsuit courtesy of TMZ)
In the Slash case, the agent Gregory Holcomb and his brokerage, Sotheby’s International Realty, who pocketed over $200,000 in commissions, are being sued on multiple counts of Fraud, Negligent Misrepresentation, Constructive Fraud, Breach of Fiduciary duty, Negligence, Breach of the covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, and finally Negligent Infliciting of Emotional Distress. Wow!
Here’s a guy who has traveled all over the world, been backstage at the wildest parties, associated with some of rock and roll’s most notorious drug addicts, dated a former porno actress….and it takes a real estate agent to inflict the harm and distress that caused the poor gent to suffer and endure “grief, shame. humiliation, embarrassment, anger, worry, disappointment, nervousness, stomach disorders, backaches, loss of appetite and an inability to concentrate on his work”
No wonder Axl has taken so long to release Chinese Democracy. Maybe I can get in on the lawsuit since it has caused me grief, shame. humiliation, embarrassment, anger, worry, disappointment, nervousness, stomach disorders, backaches, loss of appetite and an inability to concentrate on my work because I have been waiting on the new album myself. Yeah…I know, he’s not even in the band anymore but maybe we now know why! It’s the agent’s fault!
I know I will hear the usual statements from agents who read this… “he’s just a disgruntled client”, he’s upset because he made a bad deal..and the most ludicrous of all statements which is bandied about more and more…”he should have done his own homework and known what he was getting into”. Read the lawsuit here, he retained the agent and they were paid big bucks to represent their client, and now the client is fighting mad.
As we have said here on numerous occasions, your business model is under attack. There are so many real estate agents just doing things without any remorse. Now the clientele is fighting back.
Win or lose, it costs a lot of money to defend a lawsuit and most agents do not have the kind of money to wage such a legal battle. The alternative? What’s the agent to do? Disclose, disclose, disclose. It used to be location, location, location. Not anymore!
if you are not a “short sale expert” and you are telling homeowners you are, you may be opening yourself up for a lot of liability. In a hurry to make a big commission and overlook that defect and fail to tell the homeowner, then you leave yourself very vulnerable.
Are you protected? Is your insurance up to date…better still, will your insurance cover you in the event of a lawsuit like this? You may want to check it out so that you know. You never know when that summons might get delivered.
Here’s the worst part of all of this. Most agents, for some reason, do business in their personal name. For some reason they do not have LLC’s set up because of some absurd logic that shielding yourself from liability is “hiding behind a company”.
Well, here’s another antiquated old school real estate agent mistake. When you are named personally, like Mr. Malcomb, the unfortunate agent in this case, everything you own is up for grabs. All of your assets are at risk. Think about that the next time you introduce yourself to a client.
Now let’s get this lawsuit over…I can’t wait for the new album and Slash is preoccupied and feeling nervous and Axl needs him at his best if Chinese Democracy is ever going to be released.
Well, if it doesn’t, there’s always fun and games here..because we’re in the jungle baby!
P.S. If you do not understand this reference, you might be too old. it’s only rock and roll and I like it, like it…yes I do!
[…] Welcome to the Jungle Baby! That’s how we started the show today. As if things were not bad enough for real estate agents right now, they went and made Slash from Guns N’ Roses mad. Mr Slash has filed a lawsuit in LA County alleging, among other things, fraud. Joining the ranks of Marty Ummel in her lawsuit against her realtor, Slash says that he has been had and suffered extreme emotional distress. By the way, don’t forget to read the lawsuit. […]
I would wager that Mr, Slash and his attorneys have intimadated the judge in not troughing out the suit as frivilus. I would guess if this gets a lot of press that it will cost guns and roses more in lost revenue than they could ever win. the realtor will win because he has nothing to lose. Slase is unhappy because the value of his purchase has lost millions.
Mr. Pierce…please step forward..you my friend have won the moron of the day award. Please thank the academy and turn in your real estate license on your way out.