Integrity Is Everything, Don't Jeopardize Your Reputation

People should really be careful what they ask for because karma does come back around.  I sold a home (which closed yesterday) where I represented the buyers who were first time home buyers. We found a house that they fell in love with in the Lake Davenport community in Davenport, FL. After looking at the comparable sales in the area they made an offer that was just about at listed price and it was accepted.

The contract gave them a ten day period to conduct a home inspection and do their due diligence. The home inspection revealed that the roof was on its last legs so we requested that the seller place funds in escrow at time of closing to cover the replacement of the roof. He agreed and we wrote up an addendum to the contract that stated the seller would put $9,000 in escrow and the roof replacement would be completed with 14 days after the closing date.

The day before closing the seller calls me and says he can’t get his agent to answer her phone and just needed to ask me a couple questions. I told him that probably isn’t ethical and I would rather he just wait to speak to his agent. He insisted on asking me and wouldn’t let me off the phone without being downright rude so I agreed to answer his questions if they were general in nature. His first question was “Why am I putting $9,000 in escrow to cover the cost of a roof replacement when the estimate is only for $6,000?”. I explained to him that most times lenders require that 1.5 times the estimated amount be held in escrow and then any overage is refunded back to the seller when the service provider is paid in full.

He continued to press me about where the $9,000 figure came from and after telling him he really needed to talk with his agent about it multiple times I finally explained to him that his agent had come to the figure of $9,000, not me, and so it was her he really needed to be speaking with. The seller and the buyer had already both signed the addendum and it was a part of the contract so it didn’t matter at this point where the number came from. His response was classic...”there’s no way my agent did that!”. Um, yes sir, she did.

He finally let me off the phone so he could call his agent again. Apparently this time she answered her phone and guess what? That’s right...she lied to him. She told him I was the one who came up with the $9,000 figure. He called me back and told me this and wanted to make a conference call with both agents on the phone to “hash this out”. Obviously that was pointless since the contract is already signed and had been for weeks, but he pressed and pressed so I agreed to a conference call.  

His agent came on the line and he began questioning me about the repair cost and where it come from. I explained again that the seller’s agent had given us the figure and we went with it. He asked his agent if that is true and she broke down crying and apologized for lying when first asked. I was shocked and I think the seller was too. She had blatantly lied to him when asked to explain the situation. It turned from an ant hill to a mountain because she didn’t tell the truth to her client.

All I can say is that integrity is everything in this business so why would you jeopardize your reputation that way...especially when she hadn’t done anything wrong in the first place? I just don’t understand that. All is well that ends well and the closing was completed. But there was just no reason for any of that to have happened. Answer your phone and tell the truth. How hard is that?

Image courtesy of Susan von Struensee at Flickr