I have a listing of a condominium in a hi-rise 55+ retirement community in Silver Spring, Maryland. The property is vacant and agents have access for showings using a Sentrilock lock box which hangs from the door. In the showing instructions it is specifically states that agents are to contact the listing agent prior to showing the property. I ask they contact me prior to touring the property so I can explain to them that the door has a security feature which requires you to pull up on the key as you turn the knob.
A few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon, I received an e-mail notification from Sentrilock that an agent had toured the property. The next evening I received a voice message from that same agent saying:
“I tried to show your property yesterday and the lock is messed up. Just thought I’d let you know.”
Since this agent had neglected to follow the simple instructions of calling me ahead of time, I knew the issue was she could not figure out how to unlock the door... or at least that’s what I thought due to her lack of details in the voicemail she left.
The next day around 4pm I received a message from the property manager stating she was getting complaints from residents in the building that the door was wide open and that they were fearful since it was a security risk! Apparently the agent had been able to get in the property after all, but had left the door wide open when she left!
I immediately called the agent but received no response. I then called her broker and explained the issue and also that I was out of town for the holiday. He assured me he would have one of his agents take care of the problem immediately. I asked him to call me back once the situation was resolved.
At 6pm I received an angry call from the agent. She was immediately hostile. When I asked her if she left the door open she said “What did you expect me to do?” I explained she should have called me prior to visiting the property (per the listing instructions) or even while she was there if she were having trouble. She then said I should get a locksmith and hung up on me.
I again called the broker to see if the situation had been rectified. He did not answer my call, so I packed up and left immediately to secure the property. This ignorant and belligerent agent had forced me to leave vacation a day early and drive 2hours to the property. As if this situation weren’t bad enough, I recently had reconstructive knee surgery so this was not an especially pleasant ride.
Fortunately when I arrived at the property the unit had been untouched and no damage had been done. Needless to say, despite the agent’s outbursts and attitude, the lock was in perfect operational order.
The next morning I sent an e-mail to the broker detailing all of the events from the previous day. I also mentioned that his agents should be more careful as they are exposing his brokerage to serious liability by not securing properties.
The broker didn’t even bother to return my e-mail or voice-mail to follow up. This was a clear indication to me that the agents in this large brokerage learned their business savvy from their neglectful manager.
So my question to you, what would you have done in my situation? Do you think I was wrong for being upset with the broker and agent?
Comments(12)