Something off?
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 3 years, 7 months AGO
The deal may be done, but what if something wasn't handled right? Where can home sellers and buyers go for recourse?
COURTESY PHOTO/ALENA DARMEL
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | January 13, 2023 1:30 AM
COLUMBIA BASIN — In a perfect world, every real estate transaction would be completely above board, and all parties would walk away happy.
Unfortunately, it’s not a perfect world. Serious disputes between real estate professionals and clients aren’t common, but they do happen. So what is a person who feels wronged to do?
Well, the best solution is not to get into a bad situation. Do your homework first, suggested Logan Hickle, spokesman for the Better Business Bureau.
“Before you even engage a (real estate professional), you should always make sure that they're properly licensed and that they have third-party sources, vetting them,” Hickle said. “You can always look them up on BBB to see if they're accredited with us and see what other people are saying.”
Doing your homework also requires reading everything before your sign it, Hickle said. Take the time to make sure you understand what’s in any contract.
“When you're dealing with a bad agent or property management company, it's always best to go back and see what's in the contract. Unfortunately, in the vast majority of cases, you as the consumer will be held to what's in that contract. So make sure that you're reading that contract up front before you sign it. If somebody is rushing you to sign it, that's probably a red flag and you need to take that step back. It's okay in that conversation to say, ‘I'm going to take my time to review this.’ It's OK to do that and smart to do that. Reach out for legal help if need be.”
It makes a difference what sort of professional you’re dealing with. A real estate agent or broker is licensed through the state, whereas the term “Realtor” denotes a member of the National Association of Realtors, which holds its members to a strict code of ethics, according to Cara McNeil with the Washington Association of Realtors.
“There's recourse for a member of the public or another broker, if they have an issue with another agent, they can file an ethics complaint to the Realtor Association,” McNeil said. “Some local associations handle their own ethics complaints, and some have the state association to it. So a lot of that just depends. And we have a professional standards coordinator here on staff who handles all of that. “
If you’re dealing with an agent or a broker, the avenues for recourse are a little less cut and dried.
“You can always leave a complaint,” Hickle said. “You can go to bbb.org, and on there, you can do a couple of things: you can either leave just a review or you can leave a complaint. A review is just letting people know about your experience out in the community. This doesn't get a response from the business. It's just a general review letting people know what you experienced … A review doesn't solicit a response from the business owner, but a complaint does. What happens here is, you file your complaint to bbb.org on their profile. We then vet that complaint, make sure it meets our standards and make sure it makes sure that all the information is there, and then we send it off to the business. We give the business 14 days to respond before we notify them again, ‘hey, we still need your response to this.’ If they do not respond, then it'll be marked as closed.”
“If the real estate agent who has his license or her license isn't a member of the association, there's really very little that we can do about that individual,” McNeil said. “There's always recourse through the Department of Licensing if there's a licensing violation.”
How about when you find out the person you’re dealing with isn’t even licensed?
“If maybe you were trying to find a place to rent or trying to buy a home and you encountered a scam Realty or maybe property management company, that would probably be a good place to put it on BBB scam tracker,” said Hickle. “And there, you can let us know the person's name you interacted with, how much money you lost, the business name they used, the email they used, phone number, everything like that, and let us know what's going on there. And then we can take that information and look further into it. We do give that information to authorities when they request it, and we also always encourage any type of business interaction in the marketplace within the state of Washington. We always encourage reporting it to the Attorney General's Office. The Attorney General's Office is pretty good about taking a look at complaints and taking action on them.”
“But the best thing, 100% hands down, is to seek legal counsel, real estate legal counsel, when there's an issue,” McNeil said. “And that's by far the best advice that we can give to any member of the public.”
Joel Martin can be reached via email at [email protected].
Where to find help
Better Business Bureau: www.bbb.org
Moses Lake-Othello Association of Realtors: www.mlobr.realtor
Washington Association of Realtors: www.warealtor.org
ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
Quincy National Night Out scales down
QUINCY — Quincy’s National Night Out was more compact this year, which worked out well, said QPD Sgt. Joe Westby, who’s in charge of event planning for the Quincy Police Department. “National Night Out is a big event, and the fact that we’re able to shrink it up is like a breath of fresh air,” Westby said. “If you're always doing the same thing, it's kind of nice to switch things up and see how it works.” National Night Out took place Thursday on the block of C Street next to the police station, a shift from previous years when it was held at Lauzier Park. The smaller space meant fewer emergency vehicles for children to explore, but it also meant less walking for attendees. Grant County Fire District 5 brought a fire truck, and the Grant County Sheriff’s Office had a patrol boat. Renew, the Grant County behavioral health agency, had a booth and so did Quincy Partnership for Youth. Veterans Operation Creation sang the national anthem, and the Quincy Animal Shelter brought kittens that piled over each other making friends with passersby. As before, the QPD served grilled hot dogs.
Quincy Police retirements leave big shoes to fill
QUINCY — There are some big shoes to fill at the Quincy Police Department. “We’re losing 48 years of experience between them,” Quincy Police Chief Ryan Green said at the retirement party for Capt. Jorge Trujillo and Det. Damon Powell Thursday. Trujillo, who grew up in Sunnyside, has been with QPD for 19 years, he said, coming on as a patrol officer fresh out of the military. From there he served as a field training officer, a detective and finally captain. “I consider him my left-hand man,” Green said. “He runs the operations side of the house … He knows the agency very well, and he knows the community.” Trujillo has some projects around the house to tackle now that he’s retired, he said.
Big fun on a small scale
Wheat Land Communities’ Fair opens Thursday
RITZVILLE — The Wheat Land Communities’ Fair isn’t as big or as flashy as some of the county fairs around central Washington, but the folks who keep it going like it just the way it is. “It’s somewhere you can go and get an old-time traditional feeling, and you’re comfortable letting your kids roam the grounds and experience all that it has to offer,” said Board Member Lori Williams. “It’s more of a feeling than (one) specific thing,” The fair starts Thursday in Ritzville and runs through Sunday. Starting Friday, the 56th Ritzville Rodeo will take place alongside the fair at the rodeo grounds. This year the entertainment budget was expanded, Williams said, to be able to offer more fun that’s covered by the cost of admission. For the kids, there’s face painting, balloon art, Lego crafts, races, contests and games. Children can also ride on a little train towed around the fairgrounds behind a tractor.