Joe Miller was the agent for Mary and John Smith. Herbert Hill was the loan officer. Herbert was bilingual, which was a benefit for Mr. and Mrs. Smith, because English was not their first language. Herbert prequalified these folks for $250,000.
Joe Miller showed the Smiths homes for three months. He wrote three offers. All fell out of escrow for a variety of reasons. As of last May, the Smiths said they were going to take a month off from looking at houses. Joe Miller said OK, talk to you soon.
In December Joe Miller went into Mrs. Smith's place of business. This is the first contact he had with the Smiths since May. He found out the Smiths bought a house in July from agent Jill Hill, the loan officer's wife. The house sold for $450,000.
Joe Miller sent a grievance up the chain of command insisting to the grievance committee Jill Hill acted unethically and he is owed the commission on the house the Smiths bought.
Mr. Miller said finding out "right before Christmas caused a lot of emotional strain and stress on his marriage and children. Money was tight and it was a direct result of (Jill Hill's) actions."
The grievance committee spent quite a bit of time on this particular case. On one hand, there is the indication that that Jill Hill "stole" Joe Miller's client. After all, the loan officer recommended his wife and they purchased a home for $100,000 more than they had been prequalified for before.
On the other hand, why didn't Joe Miller follow up with his clients in a timely fashion? He had them sign nothing indicating he was their real estate agent. He abandoned them. They didn't want to be homeless and they moved on.
The grievance committee unanimously sided with Jill Hill. But I have to tell you, I am very pleased there was a discussion about it. We took the case seriously and studied it from many angles. I had never had a case that wasn't forwarded to the High Inquisitor Squad before. I can honestly say true consideration went into our decision.
Here is what I think truly happened. The Smiths were frustrated with their agent (Mr. Miller). They had already lost out on three homes. It is the agent's fault (it is always the agent's fault, right?). They complained to their loan officer who said his wife was an agent. She spoke the same first language as they did and could communicate better.
The Smiths probably had "mattress money" (excuse the stereotype, but a lot of folks who are not originally from here have mattress money. It is more common than you think) and when the homes they were interested in that Joe Miller showed fell through, they decided to splurge and get what they wanted. It just so happened the Smiths did not call Joe Miller back and took his silence that he was done. Apparently they were done with him too.
It seems to me, if you are in commission sales and the only way you get paid is by selling a house, you might be more inclined to stay in touch with your clients.
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