Archive for the ‘Real Estate Agent’ Category

Every year the Chamber of Commerce collects what it considers the most ridiculous lawsuits of the year.  At first,  they seem funny but they are costing our economy Billions each year.

I saw a recent interview with a CEO of a major company who stated that he spends up to 20% of this time,  working on defending litigation.  So,  instead of running the company,  they are wasting 1/5th of their time on lawsuits….not to speak of the legal costs involved.

How ridiculous…..and scary. This affects you in another way.  In my capacity as an expert witness, I have seem my share of crazy cases and you are always the target with a claim of negligence or fraud.

What I think is most puzzling is not that some people get crazy ideas that someone one else is to blame for their dysfunctional lives but that an lawyer actually takes the case.  Think they are doing it for free?  I doubt it.  But,  even if  they find a lawyer to take their case,  why doesn’t a judge simply throw out the case and sanction the attorney for malicious prosecution ?  Oh,  I forgot.  Judges are attorney also. And,   judges never  want to be embarrassed if they throw out a case and are later overturned on Appeal.   Never good for their career opportunities.

No matter what the reason,  this should be unacceptable.  So,  when you hear people discussing LEGAL REFORM,  it is not only trying to limit settlements on medical cases.

Click here to link to the full article.

It is great new that CAR now has the many of the rental and lease forms in Spanish,  Chinese, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese on Epubs for ZipForms 6.  They don’t need to be signed but are simply reference forms that will help English as a 2nd language person understand the form they are signing in English.

Hopefully,  we will see the purchase contract in other languages soon.

For more information,  connect to my website:  guyberry.com

Real estate agents have several key duties that I may have discussed before:

• Issue spotting:  As an agent, part of our job is to read the disclosures and inspection reports and point out those issues that might be problems in the future.  Is he warning that there might be a bigger problem? Is the inspector saying there might be bigger problems unless further inspections are made?  Do the seller disclosures conflict with the the findings of the inspectors?  Why?  What is the agent going to do?

• Ramifications: Too often,  when I am testifying as an expert witness in a real estate litigation case,  the agent thinks there job is done when they have done their “issue spotting.”  Unfortunately,  especially in California,  the courts don’t agree.  The agent must also discuss ramifications.   Let me give you an example.   The Pest Inspection calls out the floor in the guest bathroom,  claiming that there appears to be some water damage.  They bid $400 to replace the vinyl floor and too often,  the agent does not  point out the risk.   How do we know what the repair person will find when they open the floor?  What if the main structures are water damaged? Where was the water leak?  In the wall?  Will the tile have to be pulled off?   Do we need a plumber?   You can see where this goes and it is frequently,  way past $400.  All the agent had to do was to point out the issue then warn them of the potential damage under the floor.  And, to expect more than $400

• Advice: The last step in this 3 step process is to give proper advice.  it is not enough to point out the issue or even discuss ramifications.  The client will want to know,  what do I do now?  A good agent will be able to refer the client to the property inspectors,  contractors or even attorneys if necessary.  And,  legally,  it has to be good advice,  that is the agent must give the the proper advice.  I was on a case once where the agent advised a client to contract a foundation engineer regarding drainage issues. The contractor assessed the problem and did several thousands of dollars worth of work. Unfortunately,   he assessed it incorrectly.  The agent should have advised a GeoTech engineer to look at the problem.

If you agent is doing their job correctly,  it is not centered on showing you houses. It is to protect your interest.