Jury backs Realtor in Carlsbad lawsuit

Remember the Carlsbad couple who sued their Realtor, arguing he gave them bad advice that led them to overpay for their house? They lost.

From the Voice of San Diego: "A jury sided Thursday with Carlsbad real estate broker Mike Little in a closely watched lawsuit that pitted a local couple against the agent that helped them buy a home. The couple, Vern and Marty Ummel, claimed that Little neglected to mention recent sales in their neighborhood, leading them to overpay by about $150,000 for their home in July 2005."

The jury wasn't buying it. From the North County Times: "Mr. Little did what he was supposed to do," jury forewoman Wendi Brick said. "The bottom line is that you (as a buyer) are responsible when you sign a contract and purchase something."

Personal responsibility, what a concept.

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo Credit: Associated Press
Hat tip: KB via e-mail

Comments

[Laker]

Well, it is very simple to understand this. If the buyers won that case, that would have led to thousands of similar law suits....like this, and all RE industry would have been done.

I would check the bank accounts of those jurors for any incoming direct deposits with Sender name NAR/CAR.
Somebody got paid there...and somebody's been had.

[Cal]

OT: I was wondering if anyone went to the REDC home auction last weekend at the LA Convention Center? Any impressions?

[TakeFive]

The Ummels left the courtroom without making comment, other than to say "when we bought our big screen at Circuit City, we got a price match guarantee. How is this any different?"

Ok, so I made that up. But were being turned into a no-risk society. I’m glad these folks didn’t prevail.

[sfvrealestate]

I eagerly read both of the articles. Now, even though I'm a Realtor, I'm not going to automatically side with another Realtor -- because, yes, there are crooks and idiots in the business. However, knowing the facts as they have been presented, I'm really surprised that this ever got all the way to trial since the Ummels' case was so weak. Don't judges have the discretion to order stuff like this to arbitration to avoid tying up the courts?

[brad]

Good result. Realtors cannot be held responsible for market fluctuations. And every house is unique so the fact that another house down the road sold for less than the home these people purchased is not sufficient cause for legal action. They ought to kick back and enjoy the garden someday the value will rise again.

[mike]

LAKER YOU ARE RIDCULOUS.

MOST repeat MOST people in the world still own houses the right way and have no need for sympathy for this couple. you must remember that 99.9 % of people on this blog feel the way you do, and that is what you are hearing.

peter , can we find out how many homes have been bought over tha last 10 years or so nationwide that ARE NOT in distress or forclosure???
i am sure the blog family here would be far more shocked about the amount of people in this country who aren't facing forclosure. i would bet if the media would broadcast in that light, we would not have all the financial trouble we are having in the world right now.
the jury obviously got homeowners who aren't in trouble or renters who don't know any better.
THE WORLD ECONOMY WAS OVERHEATED. WE NEED THESE GLOBAL LOSSES TO EVEN THE PLAYING FIELD!!!!!

[JW]

I am no advocate for real estate salespeople and think that the overwhelming majority of them are lying, thieving, scum of the earth........But, in this case, the buyers were idiots and over 21 years of age (and did I mention that they were idiots?). The R.E. agent did what he was supposed to do and the buyers got what they paid for. They bought a home in a bubble market............while the bubble was deflating. Can you spell........... PUTZ?

[Enlightenment]

RULE#1 - Never trust any salesperson on commission. They only care about making money for themselves. A salesperson is NOT your friend, so you better think twice about everything they say to you!!!

No matter what a salesperson told you...it is your responsibility to filter out the lies, and 100% of your responsibility when you sign your name on the line. No one is putting a gun to your head to make you sign, so shut the heck up.

[bullwinkle]

any other "service" this would have fallen under professional, liability I think the jury hit the nail on the head, most real estate sales folks like to think themselves "professionals" in the end they are just commission based sales people - just like used car salesmen

used car salesmen have a bit more oversight though

[Inland Empire]

Because there are so many ways that a buyer could sue a real estate agent (and win!) I think that most agents are cautious. Sure there are jerks out there. But there are jerks everywhere. The buyers in this case thought they would win at "lottery by lawsuit" and they didn't.

[GDC]

This should be a valuable lesson for all buyers. Don't trust a real estate agent. They have no duty to tell you what the comps are and can "hide" certain information in order to induce you to buy an overpriced house.

The market will adjust to this ruling. Now, buyers will do their own homework, do an independent price analysis and proceed at their own risk. Come to think of it, why do we need a buyer's agent at all then?

[JonM]

In this case, the buyer knowingly and willingly contributed to the bubble. Now they are left holding the bag, serves them right. No sympathy.

[left of lefty]

Cal,

i went to the redc auction at the long beach convention center (not l.a.) this past saturday. i wrote down all the high bids except for one (almost felt asleep near the end :-)). email me privately if there's any particular property you're looking for. left_of_lefty at yahoo.

[CD]

The Ummels are shameless idiots, looking for publicity and a free trip to Good Morning America or the Oprah Winfrey show.

[mike]

LETS RENAME THEM THE DUMMELS

[Cal]

left of lefty

Thanks for the offer, I was really more interested in impressions, how many people were in the crowd, the number of bids, final prices relative to the quality of the property etc.

I have download the spreadsheet and once things start closing I will see what the real final prices are.

[left of lefty]

Cal,

crowd size: by multiplication and extrapolation on the number of seats, i estimate there were probably 3000 people. though only a few hundred stayed 'til the very end.

number of bids: about the same as before.

quality of property: there were a lot more 'cash only' than at any of the previous auctions. usually 'cash only' means that the property is in such a bad shape that countrywide/other lenders won't fund the mortgage on it. so it seems to indicate that the quality of the properties are way down.

i only visited about a dozen properties during the open house period. the only ones that i felt were in 'good condition' and in above average neighborhoods were all condos. all the sfr's i went to require some work. the three good condos i saw were the ones in glendale, burbank, and torrance (only one in each -- so you know exactly the ones i'm talking about). the glendale and torrance condos went for what i thought were fair prices in today's market, i.e. no real discount. i though the winning bidder paid too much for the burbank condo. however, it was a very nice unit. they're all discounted from the 'previous valued to' price, but those aren't the market prices today. i think countrywide would be stupid to counter these three, but who knows. i do take the 5% into account.

overall, though, the prices are lower, both from the raw and the percentage perspective. however, that may simply reflect the lower quality of the properties.

my feeling is that lenders can now sell good properties on the open market, so only the junk properties end up at the auction. and they're probably targeting more toward flippers now. i ran into a number of flippers at the open houses.

[dave]

Correct verdict by the jury.

First, these people need to take responsibility for their own actions. Second, its not the end of the world. They made a committment and they should honor it. One realtor tried to hook me by telling me "Buying a home is an investment. It will only go up in value". I told him "Any investment can go up or down in value" and stayed on the sidelines.

Nobody forced them to sign the documents. They chose to.

The housing situation will not unwind in 2008. By next year, prices will have fallen another 15 - 20% in most areas.

[Carl Jeffrey]

I watched the Opening Statements and Closing Arguments. With the right fact pattern some plaintiffs could have a legitimate complaint. I see that fact paatern all the time on late night news shows. The evidence showed that the Ummels are bright intelligent folks. The evidence indicated the Ummels saw at least 100 homes in the area before buying this one. The evidence showed that the Ummels made a lower offer than they paid but that offer was rejected. Evidently they accepted the seller counter-offer.
In addition Aviara is a very very nice area (at one time the Hunt brothers were planning personal mansions in the area.). While you could quibble about whether the Ummels bought a mansion, it is an extremely nice house. You should have seen the exhibits of the house shown at trial. 99.8% of Americans do not live in a house as nice as the house the Ummels purchased. Furthermore trial testimony indicated these folks put $900,000 down. It seems to me the Ummels were hard money millionaires.
The Ummels are not the poor disadvantaged souls exploited by a ruthless real estate mogul swept up in the subprime disaster sweeping America. It seems to me they are millionaires who do not know how to say thank for a job well done.
Of course this is only round one. There are still the motions for a new trial. Will there be an appeal? And then what about the attorney fees clause?

[Laker]

mike,
Are you telling me with straight face that our politicians are not paid by NAR and NAHB?

I agree that currently if you bought prior to 2003 AND never pulled money by refi or HELOC, then you are OK. However, if you bought in 2004-2007 with 100% financing...you have very nice chance to foreclose. Simply check the income of the people vs their purchasing price.
We haven't seen yet the true implications of slow economy and rise in unemployment...That should give eventually and cause many people to simply not be able to afford to pay their mortgages (if fixed rate ones)
I've found some houses that are heading now to foreclosure that were bought 2000-2002...These loan owners simply refinanced the sh** out of their houses...

[sfvrealestate]

Left of lefty, re the Burbank condo at the auction. I don't know the address, but here's one thing to consider about why it might have gone "over" on the price. Burbank has terrific public schools, unlike many if not most other local middle class communities. And even if you don't have kids, great schools tend to keep communities and property values stable.

[Lee Halyard]

I truly hope that THE TODAY SHOW and all the other mainstream media who jumped on this horse and rode it hard, will cover this verdict with the same ZEAL they had at the outset of the lawsuite.

[Santa Barbara Real Estate Voice]

Very glad that this went the way it did.

People in our society need to learn to take their own risks and deal with the consequences. Every day has every imaginable risk you can think of...don't just jump to an attorney because you tripped on the way into the office over a little pebble and need to blame someone...crazy.

Blog: www.SantaBarbaraRealEstateVoice.com