In case you did not read about this...this was in the Redding, CA Recoord Searchlight paper this morning, and is a sad story....one person bringing down a company...with Keller Williams Realty leadership knowing about the charges...sad, but true.
From the Redding Record Searchlight, David Benda, Business Reporter,2-16-12
A broker who worked at the defunct Keller Williams Realty office in Redding has been charged with taking property from a bank-owned house he was listing.
The Shasta County District Attorney's Office filed four misdemeanor counts on Feb. 2 against Randall Robert Byrd.
The charges are mortgage stripping, grand theft, attempted mortgage stripping and attempted grand theft, Shasta County Deputy District Attorney Erin Dervin said.
Byrd has not been arraigned.
"We believe that he took doorknobs and the plates that go on the door and locks from a house he was selling that was in foreclosure," Dervin said.
The attempted foreclosure stripping and attempted grand theft charges stem from Byrd's alleged request of contractor Jeterbuilt Construction to perform a carpet exchange, Dervin said.
Byrd asked Jeterbuilt to put a better-grade carpet in a rental he owned and take the old carpet in the rental and install it in a Fannie Mae foreclosure, Dervin said. Jeterbuilt refused the request.
Because the value of what Byrd allegedly took is estimated between $400 and $500, misdemeanor, rather than felony charges were filed, Dervin said.
"We don't think that rose to the level of felony conduct," she said.
Last spring, Denise Smith, then a Keller Williams agent, was representing a buyer who was interested in purchasing a foreclosure on Shining Star Way in Redding, according to the District Attorney's investigative report. Byrd represented the seller, Fannie Mae, the report said.
When Smith went to look at the home with her client, she noticed the doorknobs and handles were missing. Before making an offer on the house, Smith asked Byrd about the missing hardware, the report said.
"Byrd told Denise, 'Well, I took 'em, but if your offer is accepted, I will take care of it,'" the District Attorney's report said.
Smith's offer was accepted, but she noticed after the 10-day inspection period the door handles had not been replaced, the report said.
When Smith asked Byrd if he was going to replace the hardware, Byrd responded, "No, I am not going to do that, take it out of your bonus," the DA's report said.
Eventually, Smith and her husband, Eric Smith, also a former Keller Williams agent, came to the Shasta County DA and were interviewed on June 29, 2011.
Eric Smith told investigators that Curt Largent, who at the time also worked at Keller Williams, filed a complaint with the state Department of Real Estate.
"I was contacted by a Fannie Mae representative last summer," Largent said Tuesday.
The Smiths left Keller Williams to work at Sheldon Largent Real Estate, a Redding company that Largent helped start after he left Keller Williams.
"I quit because of this (investigation). I thought it was serious enough," Largent said.
The Keller Williams office — opened in 2005 by Largent's father, Ron Largent — closed in October.
Byrd has since opened Platinum Properties in Redding.
"This is a messy business and partnership dissolution that has all the nastiness and accusations that a family divorce would have," Byrd said in a statement. "I would say you have to consider the source."
Byrd declined to elaborate.
Eric Smith and Curt Largent said they believe the investigation of Byrd doomed the Keller Williams office in Redding. At one time, the franchise had more than 80 agents.
"It's my understanding that most of the agents left KW in light of these allegations and other concerning allegations," Smith said by email. Smith thinks the exodus crippled the Keller Williams office in Redding, making it no longer a viable entity.
"It's just another sad example of how that the actions of one can affect the lives of so many good people," Smith said.
Ron Largent suspects he was fired by Wayne Hall and Byrd for alerting Keller Williams' corporate office of the potential wrongdoing. Largent partnered with Hall in 2005 to open the Redding office.
Largent said he sued Hall and Keller Williams "relative to financial obligations owed to myself and others."
Hall has filed a "cross-action suit," Largent said.
A phone message left Wednesday at Hall's Roseville office was not returned.
Tom Pool, a spokesman with state Department of Real Estate, said if a licensed agent is convicted of either a felony or misdemeanor involving theft related to real estate, the state can take action, which could result in the loss of license.
"The mere fact of filing charges doesn't get us anywhere," Pool said. "Anytime somebody is charged, there is a due process involved."
Pool said he believes a licensed real estate agent being charged with foreclosure stripping is rare.
Comments (1)Subscribe to CommentsComment