"Gang Busting" Agent is Just Gonna Get BUSTED

An acquaintance of mine brought to my attention an agent who is, I was assured, a powerhouse on the south shore, a veritable ball of energy and top producer:

“You know what her slogan is?” my compatriot opined.

“Nope,” I say with naught hint of slogan in mind.

“It is, get this…’I’LL SELL IT IN ONE DAY' ”, that’s what she tells people, and she is going gangbusters!”

“Wow I say,” and I am thinking – yikes! Is this agent stupid or what? Or maybe she does sell ‘em in 1 day, in which case she is not doing her clients any good, ‘cause to do that, ya gotta be dumping properties on the market, not pricing them properly!.

I looked at her “1 day” progress and it appears that the “gangs” she is busting are little gangs (I guess Hell’s Angels, the Tong, and the Winter Hill Boys are out of her market area). She has 3 listings – they are active; one has been active for 100 days. The ONE listing she HAS sold was on market for 164 DAYS (maybe she sells them in her dreams every night and does not remember to wake up!).

To her credit, she is party to another transaction – she was a buyer rep on a condo that was on market for 81 days. So … she has collected paychecks on TWO sales in the first 7 months of 2011 (2 condos; one for 200,000; the other for 329,000 – gang busters or ghost busters???).

But all this is not the issue: the issue that chokes me is that phrase “I'll sell it in ONE day.”

I asked my friend about that -- what if she does not off load in ONE day?: “Well,” I was told, “She says to them that she tried. She is working hard and it is not like she is doing anything wrong or illegal; she tried in good faith to do it.” And my heart goes BLIP!

I should suffer this agent to take a gander at Grynowski v Silvia, (1994 Mass. App. Div 173) before she goes around making “good faith” claims upon which she cannot deliver.

To quote Grynowski as it applies to Consumer Protection Laws here in Massachusetts, 93A (Consumer Protection Law) “imposes responsibility for false statements made in good faith. The broker [sic] can obtain no refuge from liability because of the statement being made innocently on her part.”

This little “gang buster” is attempting to induce sellers to list with her by using a bold and audacious claim. What happens when she does not deliver (and she has NEVER sold anything in 1 day)? What ancillary damages did her irresponsible slogan precipitate? What damage was caused to that owner whose condo languished on market for 164 days? These are great questions, and fairly well cover fiduciary responsibility, ethics and just plain common sense and honesty.

I am confident that NO agent or broker in my organization, COLDWELL BANKER, would spew out such a quantifier and then smile off the failure with an “I tried”. I am relieved that she and I do not share the same logo on our business cards.

And one thing is clear: she may be trying to go gangbusters, but if she keeps this chicanery up, she’s just going to get BUSTED.