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twitterUnflattering Time magazine story puts agent in hot water
Since bragging to magazine about unethical practices she’s off job, under scrutiny
Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun Blog
- Las Vegas' woes hit Time Magazine cover (8-13-09)
Beyond the Sun
- Time Magazine: Less Vegas: The Casino Town Bets on a Comeback
A Las Vegas real estate agent who landed a prominent role in a Time magazine cover story is being scrutinized by state licensing officials because of her comments, has left her employer and is lying low.
The story by Joel Stein in the Aug. 24 issue, “Less Vegas,” is a high-spirited and high-altitude view of the troubles facing Las Vegas, which he calls both “our most American city” and “an entire city of John Dillingers.”
In the story, Brooke Boemio — “a bouncy, sweet, recently remarried 31-year-old mom” — is cast as one of the Dillingers. She helps Stein break into a foreclosed home and brags about helping clients who are underwater on their mortgages buy a second house on the cheap and stop making payments on their first mortgages, pressuring the bank into selling the houses for a loss. Everybody’s doing it, she says in the story. In fact, she said, she did it herself.
Since the story appeared, Boemio and her employer have, in the words of Coldwell Banker Wardley Real Estate President Jeff Sommers, “parted ways.”
Sommers also said his company has conducted an internal investigation and has been unable to find any cases of Boemio engaging in the behavior described in the story. The buy-and-bail tactics described in the story, he said, are serious allegations and “really just in direct opposition to everything in our policies.”
In a further statement released online, Sommers said Boemio told him she had been misquoted and misrepresented by Time.
Boemio did not reply to the Sun’s telephone, text and e-mail messages.
When the story was published, it referenced a video on Time’s Web site titled “Breaking and Entering,” of Stein and Boemio entering an unoccupied home on the west side of town. Since then, the video has been removed from the Web site for what Time spokeswoman Betsy Burton described as “some sensitivity with various issues.”
A Metro Police spokeswoman said Stein’s description of his and Boemio’s entrance into the home appears to meet the definition of misdemeanor trespassing.
Boemio could face further trouble with the agency that licenses Nevada real estate agents.
The Real Estate Division of the Business and Industry Department is “aware of the article and is taking appropriate action,” spokeswoman Elisabeth Daniels wrote in an e-mail. Real estate agents are required to deal fairly with and disclose relevant information to all parties in a transaction and by statute must have “a good reputation for honesty, trustworthiness and integrity.”
Sue Naumann, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors, released a statement Tuesday saying that although Boemio had applied for membership, she is not a member of the association. Officials with the organization said Boemio had not taken its ethics class.
Buy-and-bail real estate purchases may not be as common as it sounds in the Time story.
Darren Welsh, general counsel for Prudential Americana Group, said the practice was common earlier in the recession but is rare these days. Lenders, having been burned by buy-and-bail real estate purchases, are more cautious today and won’t sell a buyer a second home unless the buyer can afford both homes.
“They’re on to it,” Welsh said.
Reporters Brian Wargo and Emily Richmond contributed to this story.
Discussion: 119 comments so far…
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but but i thought all real estate agents were honest ....lol lol
What did this young, beautiful real estate agent think she was going to do, end up in Hollywood? In my opinion if proper training and supervision had been in place it would not have happended. Do you think she learned these pratices on her own? Why do you think these problems began in the real estate business, not enough proseutions and convictions? Has this type of behavior stopped? You be the judge.
This is fraud.
Get ready for prison Brooke.
This is the classic mouth. Now the trouble is starting.
as a realtor...i read that article and thought "girl...are you freaking STUPID?"
PLEASE...PLEASE read this article VERY closely.
it clearly says she had APPLIED to be a realtor...but she is NOT...i repeat NOT a realtor!
not everyone that works in real estate is a realtor. PLEASE understand that. you do not get a "realtor license" as many people think.
you get a real ESTATE license...and that allows you to represent someone in a real estate transaction...it does NOT make you a realtor. you have to apply, and pay, and take classes to be a realtor.
when people like this girl want to operate on the fringes of the real estate business...and therefore work with the "fringe" buyers and sellers...that think it's ok to cheat their banks, break into homes, and everything else...you will get this kind of behavior.
if there weren't freaky, fringe people to keep her in business...she wouldn't BE in business.
i knew something was fishy when she had to break into that home. i mean, it did look like it had a realtor's sign in front, so it should have had a lock-box on it...there would have been no reason for her to break into the home.
Sorry, I'm all for sticking it to the banks. They are run by incompetent, grossly overcompensated fools totally incapable of properly assessing risk. They couldn't do it during the bubble, and they can't do it now during the bust. They created this mess, and now they can't find their way out of it, in spite of getting billions of our tax dollars. To the guillotines with the know-nothing bankers!
Only in Las Vegas
correction: only in Las Vegas???
A message from the Coldwell Banker Wardley President:
I, along with many of you, have recently been receiving phone calls, e-mails, inquiries from other brokers and even recruiting calls, that have cited a recent article in Time Magazine. In this article, a former Coldwell Banker Wardley agent was interviewed and many incriminating statements were published by the magazine. The agent, no longer with Coldwell Banker Wardley, has stated that she was misquoted and did not make the statements as represented by Time.
To set the record straight on behalf of Coldwell Banker Wardley, our Company policy is as follows:
We NEVER tell or recommend to a seller and/or client that they should stop making payments on their mortgage(s).
We do not encourage, advocate or participate in "Buy and Bail" transactions in any form or format.
We NEVER participate in a transaction in which we are aware of material terms agreed to between buyer and seller which are withheld or hidden from the lender. (This includes both the short sale lender and the purchase loan lender)
We do not take ANYONE other than bona fide buyers into listed properties.
We do not allow clients to climb through windows to obtain access to properties, even if the window is unlocked or open. We use the lockbox and enter through the appropriate door.
We do not make remarks or comments that would be disparaging to other REALTORS.
If you have any concerns about this article or feel a need for further clarification you can call me on my cell phone (702)281-1927.
Thanks,
Jeff
Jeff L. Sommers, President
Coldwell Banker Wardley Real Estate
7670 W. Lake Mead, Ste.100
Las Vegas, NV 89128
(702)281-1927 Cell.
(702)207-4115 Fax
I am a co-agent who worked with the agent mentioned in this article. I would just like to say, on behalf of our company, that this type of activity (stated in the article) is not taught or endorsed in any way. Any practices the article "claimed" were done are not seen in our company. The article has sent a shock wave through our company. We pride ourselves on being honest and ethical Realtors who want to help Las Vegas Residents, not take advantage of them.
This behavior has been addressed by our president and broker at meetings, and by email to every agent in the company stating the company policies and how we don't ever practice in this fashion.
Please do not punish an entire Valley, or a specific company based on one agent's quoted comments or supposed actions. Upon investigation, it was found that these quotes were unfounded. The files were audited and these actions were not performed as stated.
I am not defending the article or the agent in general, but I will say that you must be careful about what you read in this world. Some people seek attention and there is a backlash as we saw.
I am very proud to be a Realtor of Las Vegas and Coldwell Banker and want Las Vegas (North Las Vegas and Henderson too of course) to be confident in hiring our services and the services of other Nevada Realtors.
Every type of business out there has people that you may choose to not do business with. Those people, however, do not represent the views and business practices of the entire company.
Sincerely,
Lori Ballen
Proud Las Vegas Realtor - Proud Coldwell Banker Agent.
http://www.teamcoldwell.com
WOW, they circled the wagons pretty quick.
So maybe the other "bad" agents do these dastardly deeds? Coldwell is different? Hmmm
They should give their agents lie detector tests. Now THAT that would show commitment rather than lip service to ethical behaviour. While we're waiting, I do have an honest agent that will sell you a bridge in Brooklyn....
The only reason Realtors even exist is because of MLS. They have an antitrust stranglehold on MLS. If it were available to the public then there would be no need for a realtor.
lvspectator - these people aren't sticking it to the banks, they are sticking it to the rest of us who keep paying our mortgages and who apply for loans. Anyone who believe a business doesn't pass the cost on to all of us is an idiot.
To Coldwell Banker Realter
For all these Coldwell Bankers Presidents on here trying to save face and prove your your story is pathetic. In every office people talk, they gossip and etc, with all the employees you should be way atop of this scam or scheme. I hope to god that they investigate you. When someone here is trying to prove your Innocent on a message forum is truely remarkable pathetic and obviously you and some your your employees are hiding information. Say goodbye to your business and get ready for some good K-Y Jelly:)
the whole article was over the top anyways. the one wrote it, that Stein guy, made Vegas look like nothing that it really is. i was even surprised by how he described thisplace.
that young gal has no brains. it's one thing to be talking to local reporters but to say thos things to TIME magazine shows no sense in that pretty little head ofhers.
This is one reason for the economic collapse in real estate. Agents who lie to sell for the commissions and for the crooked developers. This is the perfect example.
SEC Please investigate Coldwell Bank, I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg
ooopsss.... I forgot, the SEC works for the banks!
"honest and ethical realtors"
Hoo boy, you're killing me, Lori... just spurted coffee all over the keyboard!
Let's bail out some more homeowners that cannot make their mortgage. I feel so sorry for these poor people caught with loans they never wanted and only need our tax dollars to save their way of life.
Today the Boston Herald reveals thousands of stimulus checks sent to prisoners that when notified of the problem the federal government never responded to the state so the money is now gone. Millions for prisoners of your tax dollars.
Get the federal government out of our lives. Let them return to national defense and get out of running the economy.
Well its been clear for awhile that any of us who bought in Vegas got taken advantage of by these Realtors. The whole business needs to be dismantled and never again allowed to exist. They have a way of practicing that is clearly predatory. The agent needs to be taken out of the buying and selling process.
31 years old.....breaking into a house.....bragging about a unethical and/or criminal activities and a "mom." I wonder what she will be doing in 20 years and most importantly, I fear for the future of the children who are obviously being raised with no morals or value system of any kind.
vegasstudent - I agree. We, the tax payers, are paying for the bankers' incompetence. That's why I suggest we erect a guillotine in front of Paris Las Vegas, dedicated to bankers. That would be a tourist attraction people from all over the world would rush to Las Vegas to see.
As for this agent, I believe she has the talent Wall Street is willing to offer a VERY generous compensation package. She just needs to polish her act, and she can go as far as Angelo Mozilo, founder of Countrywide. FDIC takes over several banks every week, not because they've been robbed by some guy walking in through the front door with a gun, but because of the men and women in suits, like Angelo Mozilo, who are walking out the back door with suitcases of money. Contracts, ethics, honesty, that only applies to us "the little people". The fat cats always win. Always. Angelo Mozilo is just one example of many... so if you want to succeed in business, vegasstudent, just study Angelo Mozilo, and you, too, will be a success.
Why is it that I keep hearing the word "guillotine" so often now?
Looks like the industry people are trying to put everything on the whistleblower. The reason she was so free with information is because it is clearly common practice. She should come forward and quit hiding out. She should be hired by the states AG to help investigate and procescute Realtors and the business that they work for. Clearly she was the victim of and industry gone bad. Its time for the FBI and any other Federal and State agency to step in and investigate these businesses. All transaction involving Realtors in the state of Nevada should be stopped immediately. These office involved should be shut until the FBI has finished its investigation.
As soon as I read this ridiculous article, I wanted to see first of all if the Realtor depicted actually had a license. I pulled her MLS ID number (the six digit number we are all issued when we get licensed) by cross referencing her name in the MLS search criteria. I wasn't all that surprised to find she was a relatively new agent. My MLS number begins with a 09XXXX, I've been selling real estate for about 10 years, agents that have been at if for about 20 years MLS numbers start with 00XXXX, this woman is licensed, and her MLS number start with 29XXXX, again relatively new. I also checked in MLS history, sold and active listings and found she had ZERO listings under her MLS number, so I thought maybe she works as a buyers rep for a team and input her MLS number into the buyers agent catagory and again came up with ZERO properties sold under her MLS number. Basically this article was a sham, the reporter should be ashamed of himself, and the Realtor really needs to have her head examined for allowing herself to be used this way. Most likely the idiot that wrote the article had a lot of Real Estate horror stories he'd heard about, found some hot chick Realtor that fit the "Vegas Sterotype" and wrote what he wanted and attributed it to the foolish woman he'd found to take pictures of. Had he wanted to do a real story about the conditions of Las Vegas Real Estate he would have interviewed long time REO specialists like Jim Hastings, Michael Krien or if he wanted to explore the short sale aspect someone like Brandy White Elk could have given him some real perspective. Of course that would have meant he couldn't pretend he was the next coming of Hunter S. Thompson. Time seriously should have verified the story before throwing it out there. I am considering dropping my subscription now that I know what they are willing to print.
listen guys I had one real estate agent show me around a house which stated warning possible mold on leaflet, she asked me what it meant, i told her it meant perhaps we should not be in house, as it could be toxic, she answered why would it be toxic you dont get poison from mold..
if this is the general level of intelligence then this article does not surprise me..
She is lucky we did not get ill, otherwise it would have been a lawsuit
darn her big mouth!!! she had a nice scam going but she had to brag and totally blow it!!
oh well she can always go back to stripping!
I now expect to start seeing these Realtors (pirates) start defending these practices. They are clearly out of control and running ram shot. We all know this whole recession was caused by these people blowing up the realestate bubble. I agree with a previous poster make them all take lie detector test and see if any of them ever lied to a buyer or a seller and I bet none will pass. Clearly this agent was just doing what see was taught by the people who trained her. I suspect she even got permission to be in the article. It was only because of the blacklash from the victims that the business she worked for started defending their business practices. I want her to come forward and tell us everything else these Realtors (pirates) do. I bet this is only the start of this.
Well it looks like more arrests at Coldwell Banker Realtor offices and lots and lots of more foreclosed home in Las Vegas area
just an average joe I think hit it on the head that she should go back to stripping. That was my first thought also.
Sounds like someone got caught with their hands in the cookie jar!
realtyrob
didn't the guy who wrote the article say he knew this woman, a friend of his?
Journey- I agree but unfortunately there seems to be an entire generation of people without morals or value system coming into being. A lot of people overextended themselves and paid points to get into some of those now foreclosed homes. Bought expensive cars and shopped til they dropped.
Can't blame the banks for the buyer's stupidity. And they wreck the home when the banks foreclosed?
Two friends of mine recently bought houses here in NYC for $800K. Personally I don't see the point in sinking almost every dollar I bring home into a mortgage of an old and overpriced house. Where I live 10 mins away houses go for half as much. When I first moved here 14 yrs ago my house was $275k.
People are lacking in sensibility, and are in the instant gratification & keeping up with the Jones' mode. Until they grow up realize there are some things you just have to work for, things will continue to be tough all over.
I wonder how many people in foreclosure took advantage of the cash for clunkers and went out and bought new cars.
It seems the great white sharks are upset at one of their own who ratted them out to the seals.
In private the great whites know seals are for eating it is just not something you discuss with your dinner.
The jails will be overflowing when all of the real estate craziness comes home to roost.
The agent should be interviewed by the state agency in detail to ascertain what happened or not.
Her broker should be investigated to see if any of those deals happened. Their trust accounts especially should be audited to determine exactly what transactions she had, or not.
If the deals happened license suspensions would be in order. To begin the broker is in hot water for not supervising his agent.
As to the agent, if she's guilty, she's clearly stupid for talking about it and doing it for sure. if she's not, then she's pretty stupid to say what she said. and for God's sake "what was she thinking" in any event.
If it was all made up, then Time Magazine owes a significant retraction and apology.
No matter what, the state agency needs to get to the bottom of all this.
Bimbo..I mean Boemio should be put in jail. As it is so easy to blame big bad banks for our economic troubles, we often times over-look the person creating destruction in our own neighborhoods!
Good reporting found someone to talk...I am sure she is not the only one that is presenting this scenario to people.
I think the TIme writer did some 'creative reporting' by inducing Boemio to break into the house and he also printed her 'fantasy' of buying the same house for less then letting the old one go into foreclosure as if it were true.
I seriously doubt she ever pulled off this scam, just dreamed about it.
Of course that didn't stop the TIme writer from 'enhancing' the truth and blurring the reality.
I also fail to see how anything in the story involves Coldwell. Sounds like a rogue dreamer with a silly plan and a desparate Time writer looking to account for all the 'business' expenses he wrote off in Vegas at the strip clubs.
It appears that in this case what happens in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas. Seriously, in what other city in America could this story have taken place? It's one thing to be a crook, but to be so brazen about it - is priceless.
I'd be willing to bet that this is a common practice and this lady is simply in the ringer for opening up to Time magazine. I'd also bet that Time Magazine got the story 100% correct. Instead of Brooke Boemio being in hot water-The real Estate division of Nevada should be using her to really find out how common this practice is. Where there's smoke-there's fire.
Well all I can say is JABBER JAWS.. Now I know who not to go thru when buying a house.
det munch,
He says he met her "years agao" after describing her as a bouncy 31 year old mom...again, I don't see how she's pulling down over $100,000 last year if I can't find one transaction in MLS with her ID on it..as far as all these posts about this being common practice, its simply untrue. There were rules enacted quite a while ago because when the meltdown started there were quite a few people doing buy and bail's, you now have to have at least 30% equity in your existing home if you want to qualify for an FHA loan...Like all industries, there are some serious scum bags out there, willing to do whatever it takes to make a buck, but the majority of the people that are actually working, day in and day out aren't participating in this kind of program. There are enough people that truly can't make it and a short sale is their best option, followed by a foreclosure if they don't qualify for the short sale by their lender. Short sales jack your credit up for a minimum of 1 year, usually 2, foreclosure will jack it up for 5 and a bankruptcy lasts for 7. With over 11,000 short sales active in our market currently, my hope is that the banks will be more helpful in doing loan mods or finding some way to speed up the short sale process before those all become foreclosures and we're back to square one.
Why would any bank agree to a short sale after this information has been released? The banks need to start suing these Realtors and the average guy needs a class action against all Reatlors and there associations to address these industry wide scams. These Realtors are working both ends of the deal over and stealing from good hard working Americans. From now on when I hear the word "Realtor" im going to spit on the ground an curse. Maybe we can assoiciate the word with theif. These Realtors need to be held accountable for this and all the other scams they bragged about in TIME.
Typical Las Vegas business at it's best.
"I'm shocked, shocked that unethical illegal behavior is going on here, round-up they usual suspects."
Claude Rains, Prudedont Realatater Extraordinaire
Okay I, as a professional in the industry, will INDEED verify that she DID have listings in her name in the MLS as to short sales as our office who lists bank owned properties received a foreclosure assignment on a previous listing of hers. Her lack of communication and professionalism resorted our office having to contact the broker for her to remove the listing out of the MLS as the home had foreclosed!
Ironically when we called the office to request this, her office stated "that doesnt surprise us that she didnt respond to our requests!
In the end, Kharma prevailed. Perhaps she should go back and take that ethics class!
Comment removed by staff.
how is something that WE pay for as realtors to have access to ( the MLS ) and 95% of that data is free to everyone at www.realtor.com an anti-trust situation?
don't want to work with a realtor? fine!
there are many FSBO sites out there.
is it anti-trust for the employee cafeteria at microsoft to not let people that don't work there eat?
nope.
it's called capitalism.
I guess the real estate folks are really circling the wagons......had my post deleted.
If the French Revolution comes to mind, then check out this documentary about how one man's ponzi destroyed France in the 1700's and helped set the stage for that event.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ascentofmoney/fe...
That is Crazy. This agent was 100% right. Ditch the over priced house and buy a cheaper one.
She is helping people make good decisions. What is illegal about buying a house? Nothing illegal about foreclosure either. Good for her.
If you are upside down on your home. Give it back. Common sense.
This is a riot! It's so easy to discern those who unwisely bought a home in the run-up from those "predatory" sellers! Guess what, Brainiacs-it takes two to tango!
So, tell me, if everyone started buying gold and the price kept going up and up because the demand outstripped the supply, and you decided you'd better get you some because, well because everyone else is, and then, suddenly, a whole bunch of people sell the gold they accumulated because it more than doubled in price, flooding the market with supply, causing the price to drop to below the price you bought it at, who would you blame?
Nothing hurts more than realizing you only have your own lack of intelligence or judgment to blame for the mess you're in. Business transactions are big boy games. If you're still having "accidents" in the training pants, it means you're not ready for the big boy undies.
I get Time and looked at the article again. When I first read it I thought she was just a boastful knucklehead, but what a can of worms she opened up! Reading the post's from the realtors she definetly hit a nerve. What's that old saying, I think ye protest's too much!
as long as you stay away from buying property and parking porsches in casino parking lots vegas is pretty well in top shape.
First, Green Dragon....Awesome!!!
I agree that Boemio is probably 12 months out of a strip club or cocktail waitress job somewhere. I am not sure that you can blame the realtors as I am pretty sure they didn't write the bad loans that is essentially the reason we are where we are.
How about those unregulated mortgage brokers who where 12 months out of a strip club or cocktail waitress job, and were successfull in convincing you smart people that houses always appreciate in value and ARM's are good vehicles to pay for houses you can't afford.
If you are looking for someone to blame for you buying a house in 2000, refinancing in 2006 and blowing all that percieved "equity"...look in the mirror. You need to go get a second job and stop writing on blogs like this.
Oh yeah....some pretty hot pictures of Brooke Boemio of Facebook. Looks like I was right on the previous employment
realtyrob has made some great observations. I especially liked the accurate summary at 8:32 am. Thank you! I had the same opinion when I read the article (and saw the picture taken from floor level with the short skirt). It had sensationalism written all over it. There is a lot of heartache with in our communities and I see it from the HOA perspective as well as neighborhood watch. I crave an accurate story of our situation. I'm in the 89149 zip and I see it!
Brooke is getting her 15 minutes of fame.
She is also getting sued for mortgage fraud for admitting in the article how she did the deal herself. She bought another home and ditched her first home leaving the mortgage company holding the bag. She played the system but then she went and told the whole world what she did so the companies are investigating her now. She has been left out to hang by her fellow realtors for exposing how they do business. She not only opened a can of worms for the industry she left her self wide open for law suites related to any transaction she may have handled due to the admission of fraud. Her fame is just now starting. Looks like it might end in prison where most of the realtors need to spend some time.
Green Dragon,
Your analogy comparing gold investing with the housing bubble is incomplete. Yes, it is true that house prices are a function of supply and demand and that buyers should factor this into their analysis. However, I think that nobody on this planet predicted that things would get so bad that previously honorable citizens would choose to abandon morality and simply walk away from their obligations. At no time in modern American history has such a thing happened and it is simply untrue to say that lack of intelligence is the reason so many people are now underwater on their homes.
Many rules have changed since the boom that have contributed to a shift in the supply/demand curves that could not have been forseen at the time. For example, the tax laws governing debt forgiveness have changed so that homeowners no longer have to include as income any mortgage debt forgiven by the bank. This has increased the supply of homes on the market because it makes it more desirable for people to foreclose. This change and the related strategic default by underwater homeowners could not have been foreseen by anyone purchasing a home during the boom.
Unexpected things happen when the rules are changed in the middle of the game. What would have happened if Congress passed a law that allowed banks to garnish the wages of homeowners delinquent on their mortgages and abolished the law allowing debts to be eliminated in bankruptcy? In that case, you would not have seen mass foreclosures and related price declines.
So my point is that you can't look back at the past and say that people are stupid and should have known better, especially when the government is changing the rules in the middle of the game.
Good points azbycx. However, there were a few people that knew this was going to come crashing down. When the median home price was $350,000k and median household income in Vegas is $40,000, then people were essentially paying their entire income on their homes. How were these people able to qualify for loans on stated income and in complicated products like, "interest only ARMS." Do the lenders have no blame for eagerly selling these products in a effort to then sell off the bad loan "hot potatoes" to the market? If these loans were good investments, the originating lenders would have held onto them. So who is really "abandoning morality"? The uneducated consumer or the banks who develop these products.
Your parents and my parents had 25-30 year loans with the goal of actually paying off the mortgage over the term. Similiar to a traditional retirement investment account. These products are now are simply expensive rent agreements. After all this, what boggles my mind is how they are still able to write ARM's and interest only loans. This whole bubble is going to burst again in 3-5 years. Wake up.
I there there is a Harry Reid Connection here. Send em all out of Nevada
longtimevegasres,
I agree that a decline of some sort was inevitable, but the crash is so much worse than expected due to the fact that people, banks, and government all behaved in a manner that simply could not have been predicted at the time. Nobody could have convinced me that the government would bail out billionaire bankers, that rating agencies would give AAA ratings to subprime mortgages, that tax laws regarding debt forgiveness would change on the fly, that individuals would voluntarily walk away from their obligations. Events that have not happened in generations all seemed to happen at once, and I don't know anyone who could have predicted it. That is why we cannot say that stupidity caused this problem; however, we can say that greed, dishonesty, selfishness, and self-preservation have all made it much worse than it should have been.
azbycx,
Agreed. I do however think that for the most part, people do what their neighbors/friends do and that is stupidity. To say that these people are immoral by walking away from their investments, in my opinion is not fair. The character flaws lie with the lenders who develop these products that they know are flawed.
I am just happy that I was able to talk my friends and family off the ledge in 2005-2007 when they were cold called at dinner, sent numerous letters and saw commercials from mortgage brokers selling flawed products that these lenders developed. These consumers should be married to these bad investments for their entire lives.
Look, banks assess risk and charge interest based on that risk. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That is capitalism.
Oh yeah...and Lasvegas2009...stop looking for someone to sue for your mistakes. Take ownership in your miscalculations. Once you do, you will be able to get on with your life.
I meant that consumers should NOT be married to these bad investments their entire lives.
Nick, just want to say thanks from one taxpaying citizen to another. IT'S TIME TO END THE NANNY STATE! You SOB's need to be cut loose!
Nothing like a bunch of greedy mofcers to bring down the entire nation! I used to be for socialism, now I realize how many of you fools will take advantage of it while I bust my @ss trying to make this country a better place.
Everyman for himself if you ask me, that's the realtwhore motto isn't it?
So what's different than what's been going on for years by slum lords?
I've met enough of these slime-bags who'll tell you how they've been doing the same thing for years!
There's enough people who are smart enough to figure all of this out without an agent; this has to be one dumb female, to have probably been paid a few bucks to 'fess up' in this story.
Nevertheless, this tactic isn't new to be sure!
I agree with Denro above. The Real Estate Agency should investigate both the real estate agent and the Broker. I noted that this Brokerage "specializes" in pre forclosures and short sales and so I susspect that this young agent learned these deceptive practices ( despite Sommers protests) at her place of employment! I also suspsect that if the Real Estate Agency did a serious look at this, they will find GLVAR involved thru out the valley. However, if you follow the"investigative" work of State Agencies ...ie. Medical Board, OSHA,Finance, Real Estate Agency or Commerice Dept. nothing will be done besides kicking the young agents can down the road and looking the other way regarding these well known industry wide practices! What is needed is an FBI Federal Task Force or RICCO investigation of the whole MLS/GLVAR Real Estate operations and and oversight in this County and the State. My guess the cockroaches are scrambling now to destroy any traces of files or records of these transactions. GLVAR controls the MLS system and with a flick of a finger can wipe out wholesale real estate numbered transactions from the system. Hell,once the Time article hit the stands, my bet is that thousands of these short sale/foreclosed "transactions" have disappeared from Brokerage files thruout the Valley!
This is what happened:
1. Hot shot reporter is ordered to produce a sensational real estate article to sell copies of a major publication.
2. Hot shot reporter obliges so he can put food on the table and keep his job.
3. Hot shot reporter uses the allure of fame and prestige to bait the ONLY subject that could sensationalize his story: A naive, young, sexy, risk-taking female who has blind ambition in obtaining the good life for herself and kids at all costs.
4. Ambitious female takes hot shot reporter down the rabbit hole of a practice some (not all) advanced investors and REO agents participate in to increase the acceleration of cash flow. She also describes to the hot shot reporter some methods she's heard of that some in despair use to get from under water. Hot shot reporter uses the most controversial method which female has allegedly used in her personal life, which may or may not have been off the record.
5. Hot shot reporter spins the information he has gathered enough to satisfy his managing editor.
6. Article is published
7. Ambitious female realizes her naivity by trusting hot shot reporter and a 'trustworthy entity'. More importantly, she grasps the concept she just forced herself out the industry (as an agent).
8. Real estate brokerage makes desperate attempt at damage control.
9. Time gets exactly what they wanted.
stevem,
realtor.com is a realtor created site to drive traffic to realtors. I can't list my home in MLS without the use of a realtor. Isn't that the definition of anti-trust?
there's plenty of information that the public can't see in realtor.com like private comments, listing price history, days on market, etc etc etc.
realtor.com gives just enough info to entice you to contact a realtor.
I requested Brooke to be my facebook friend.
I hope she accepts.
I mean only well for her, she got caught up in a hornet's nest, probably unwittingly.
Friend me up, Brook. I've been a California broker for 33 years.
For all that will appreciate this..
Nick is Brookes husband!!!
Hence his commentary hmmmmmm.......
They actually quoted HORSFORD in the article. How based in reality could it be? Seriously though, the reporter didn't do his/her research.
If so, they would have gone into the insane spending of the legislature last three sessions and how they've driven business out of Nevada.
READERS PLEASE NOTE:
2009 Class Action Lawsuit
Filed against MGM-Mirage City Center Broker of Record Robert Hamrick(coldwell Banker Premier Realty) et al
in the State of California.
Superior Court of California
County of Santa Clara
Filed: January 2009
case # 1-09-cv-133357
Against Robert Hamrick, Shayna Goldstein (Coldwell Banker Premier Realty) and Global Property Networks
*PLEASE ALSO BE ADVISED:
This Class Action Lawsuit deals specifically with the illegal sales of more than three hundred (300) condominiums in Las Vegas by City Center's Broker of Record Robert Hamrick founder and owner of Coldwell Banker Premier and his Coldwell Banker Premier sales agent Shayna Goldstein.
Bobby Baldwin, Hamrick and most egregiously, the MGM-Mirage City Center Board of Directors and their corporate lawyers (Snell and Wilmer) are fully aware, and have (since 2006) been fully aware of these illegalities and have done nothing to protect Buyers at City Center against their Broker of Record, Coldwell Banker Premier's Robert Hamrick.
This is the same corporate procedure and strategy (deception) used in the 2008 Lanni resignation. MGM did nothing to inform Shareholders that their con-man Chairman of the Board, Terri Lanni had lied for years about his credentials. Only when Lanni's perpertration of resume fraud had been "outed" to the Las Vegas press by an independent corporate investigator DID MGM take action. Same deceptive drill here just a different day.
Buyers of the MGM City Center condos' should call FORWITH upon Jim Murren , Bobby Baldwin(whom we all know is holding a losing hand at CITYCENTER buts want the Buyers to take the hit for him) and demand out of their contract based on the legal fact that Hamrick sold property illegally and should not be representing them in the transaction as a legally licensed Nevada Broker.
Bobby Baldwin and the executives should come clean and cashier their Broker, Coldwell Banker Premier's Hamrick for the illegalities by himself and Shayna Goldstein in the State of California where they have never held a California license yet sold hundreds of Las Vegas condominium properties
the web page to look at the case in California Superior Court in re: Hamrick is:
http://www.sccaseinfo.org/civil.htm
Bobby Baldwin's problems are summed up in the few words of a former top Mirage executive. "Let's look at what we have with CityCenter. It started out as a $4 billion project and the price has more than doubled. If I were chief design and construction officer in charge of that I would have to fire myself."
They may have known in 2006 that they were so far behind the eight ball that they would need a partner (DubaiWorld).
So Lanni and Baldwin hired Coldwell Banker Premier's Robert Hamrick to create the illusion of fantastic condo sales. So many sales that most of the construcion costs would be paid off by the condo sales ALONE. The rest, as they probably told Dubai would all be gravy.
Upon review of the class action suit in Santa Clara County involving Hamrick and his sales agent Shayna Goldstein they were willing to stoop to interstate real estate fraud in order to baloon the numbers they needed to convince Dubai that this was going to be a smoking hot deal for the Royal Family.
In my opinion, the Buyers should seek help from the California Attorney General's Office of Consumer Affairs as well as the Inspector General at the California Division of Real Estate.
If Hamrick and Goldstein did indeed accept cash deposits in Santa Clara County you may very well have a criminal act here by Hamrick a man who was desperate it appears to bamboozle the investors at DubaiWorld with awesome pro-formas.
Perhaps a convened Grand Jury could determine if interstate racketeering and corruption was undertaken in this massive fraud. To paraphrase the old expression "50,000 Frenchman can't be wrong" then 300 people saying in depositions that City Center's Broker and Coldwell Banker Premier's owner Hamrick and Goldstein "acted as if" they were licensed California Real Estate agents and even took 300 deposits on the sale of 300 Las Vegas condo's "in California" without a real estate license are telling the truth. This is far more complex than saying the emperor has no clothes. Massive corruption of the real estae laws we all have agreed as a society of civil people to abide by have been corrupted in a massive fashion here. But the community would rather go after a small fry here than the whale of of crime story that lies at the bottom of Hamricks "catch-me-if-you-can" crime spree at City Center and across this great valley of ours, even across state lines into California. These are the Coldwell Banker people that the United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission should be unearthing from their sinister caves.
cradle of liberty, maybe I missed something.
Is your point in those posts attempting to relate to the actions of real estate people in general?
Otherwise I presume you know it's out of context to the thread of this particular story.
if you want to advertise on the las vegas sun's website...you need to pay for it, correct?
so...how is paying a realtor to list your home...so it can be on www.realtor.com any different?
is burger king guilty of anti-trust because they will only give you a whopper unless you pay for it because they are the only place you can get THE whopper?
you want a whopper...you go to burger king and pay for a whopper.
if not, you can go to wendy's, mc donald's, fatburger, etc. to get a hamburger.
if there was no other way to sell your home other than listing with a realtor...i would say YES, then you might have a valid point about anti-trust...but you can go to forsalebyowner.com OR just put a FSBO sign in your front yard.
believe me, idiots...it's not anti-trust or i guarantee some ambulance chaser attorney would have tried...and won a case.
His point is 'don't trust Coldwell Banker' and 'this really isn't news because Hamrick is the real story.'
Cradle, fyi Premier and Wardley are two separately owned franchises. They are not related. Furthermore, this IS news because TIME magazine is involved.
This is difficult to understand.
Are the people that posted in defense of Coldwell Banker, including the local office's President saying that Time Magazine fabricated this story?
If not, why was Ms. Boemio saying what she said?
If so, why would they open themselves up to libel?
An assertion of Fabrication is tough to swallow.
Premier and Wardley are indeed seperate.
The point here is that the national and local press are missing the whale: the bigger story is Coldwell Banker Premier's Robert Hamrick and his massive co-ordinated operation to commit interstate real estate fraud with his agent Shayna Goldstein. And incidently in regards the sales at City Center, Hamrick as Broker of Record for Bobby Baldwin (the Owl gets bluffed by Broker) took commissions on both ends of the deal representing both Seller City Center AND Buyer (Shayna Goldstein and Coldwell Banker Premier).....he's banking on the hope that his august station will buy him immunity from prosecution. He's probably right. Too hot to handle. Too many lives are at stake. And GLVAR's attitude is, "Bob's a past-president and everybody was doing it!"
Great logic. And nearly everybody in Congress voted to go into Southwest Asia a few years ago looking for weapons of mass destruction. Operators like these----so-called paragons of civic and professional virtue----- are our real weapons of economic mass destruction. Catch-me-if-you-can is their mantra. Hundreds of millions of dollars are involved.Unsophisticated people were duped, hell they were defrauded. You can make excuses if you want but it is what it is.
cradle, I don't understand what you are saying about commissions from both ends?
It wasn't total frabrication but no doubt there was spin. If you've ever been interviewed by the media you know the story is always different than what was discussed in the interview. That's how it works in their world.
When you screw the banks you are only screwing your fellow citizens. Where do you think the banks get their money? From depositors. Right now us depositors are getting next to nothing for our deposits. It is taxpayer money, yours and mine, going to banks to replace our money the banks lost on bad loans. Many banks are not lending because they have to set aside money, called loan loss reserves, to cover current and future loan losses. Many of the banks that are lending are only doing FHA loans. Let's also not forget that every time someone walks away it devalues the rest of the houses in the market.
If you cannot afford the home and walk away then it is a good decision.
I agree with you Cradle, your story is one helluva story. Heads should roll and people SHOULD be held accountable. But in the grand scheme of things your story is regional, TIME makes this one national. And, for you conspiracy theorists, the big cat always escapes the spotlight.
grayback4life, I get that about spin.
If it was a lot of spin it's amazing that the writer wasn't present to the impact on the agent, and the potential for a libel suit.
I also agree that this is big here because it's Time Magazine.
I am not sure I have seen this story on any other media outlets.
Riddle:
What do politicians, lawyers, real estate agents and used car salesman have in common?
They are all pathological liars!
Well, there probably could be some sort of libel suit invloved denro. But, CB Wardley/Brooke B. vs. TIME? Small fries can't touch the big dog.
I get that, grayback4life.
Hey Joe Vegas, go easy on us.
I've been a broker in California since 1976, and I'm not lying!
I read the article last week, and found it to be an outrageous black comedy about the Vegas boom and many of the young opportunists who relocated to that boom, some obviously remaining. That Stein and Time was able to:
(1) secure approval for an interior shot of a house, and
(2) secure such statements from her, statements clearly in violation of professional polcicies and law, and (3) confirm her employment with CBW, and
(4) go to print before CBW interceded
IS AN AMAZING LITERARY COUPE.
How anyone could be that stupid, employed by CBW, in a national publication is beyond belief.
But again, the larger message the reader takes from the story is not that she was doing it because everyone else was doing it too, no matter right or wrong, FOR THE MONEY, but the CONDITION of the homes now vacant, a resounding statement about the QUALITY OF PEOPLE who provided the demand side of the Vegas housing market Vegas in recent years.
More hotel rooms, more nightclubs, more jobs, economic miracle? Hardly. If it was that easy, that DESIRABLE in outcomes, a lot of cities would be doing it.
Good points Gregory.
I would think that a national franchise operation like CB would have a policy in place regarding associates talking to media.
It's one thing too if it's the local rag, but a national publication like Time Magazine. Wow.
It could be more evidence that agents are not being properly supervised.
I'm amazed she didn't want to check with her broker or manager prior to being interviewed.
I find this whole fiasco to be beyond the pale.
I believe they should jerk the broker and the real estaty license of the company.
CityCenter was Bobby Baldwin's vanity piece where it was clearly demanded by all of his peons that he and his Tower of Babel be imaged and obeyed as a diety. But here again, a valuable old adage will prevail: THE BIGGER THEY ARE, THE HARDER THEY FALL. However, with CityCenter's feeble and pathetic construction practices, it should implode quite easily. Too bad, too many lives and injuries resulted from his unchecked zeal for Godship. . .
Anthem CC Resident,
Um the MLS is available to consumers and has been for quite some time. Realtors don't just offer access to the MLS, if so there would have been no Realtors prior to 1960. The MLS was created to help sell homes and maximize gains for consumers, it was however created by Realtors. A good Realtor provides a hell of a lot more service than an MLS link. My business is 80% referral, thats because when I finish helping my clients buy or sell a home and they see the amount of help and customer service they receive, they tell their friends. Over 80% of homes are sold through the MLS, that's not because consumers can't sell their homes on their own, there are many avenues for a consumer to bypass the Realtor and advertise their home for sale. Generally speaking though, a Realtor will assist you in getting a better price, finding a better deal, and ensuring that all the I's are dotted and T's are crossed, so you don't wind up in a law suit or worse getting scammed out of your home or your earnest money.
I heard mention of "firing up the messanger" Well if the messanger is lying about the information, perhaps she should be "fired" oh wait she was. I still think Time should have verified her sales before posting the story.
realtybob, that's a very good point, about Time confirming what she was saying about the sales and purchases.
At the very least they could have verified her own personal transaction.
Comment removed by staff.
Okay for those smart enough to use the County website and also those who have access to the MLS are smart enough to see that she is INDEED in the process of the "buy and bail" scheme herself however indirectly. Its as easy as inputting someone's last name in either County records or MLS to see that she did buy a home last year and now the "other person" HER HUSBAND on title with her at the home purchased at the end of last year now has a "short sale listing" in HIS name and well imagine who has the listing-BROOKE HERESELF! So at the end of the day I think we can all see there is indeed some validity to the article! If they couldnt offord the smaller home why would they buy something MORE EXTRAVAGANT @ almost $300,000...?!!!!!! I dont see a hardship there at all. This is CHEATING the system.
Umm... Mr. Coldwell Banker I think your boat is leaking.
The female agent will get her license ranked because she will be "outed" by the system and made the example for at minimum stupidity for letting the cat out of the bag! The Broker CB will get some heat, but nothing will happen as the juice will be applied thru fellow GLVAR association and the recognition that these practices are rife thru out the system...Real Estate AGency doesnt have the stones to topple the apple cart. Meanwhile the grifters will continue to operate and the cockroaches in the real estate "profession" will go on with the pump and dump, buy and bail scams! The needs to be a Federal Task force like that underway for mortgage fraud...FBI turning over some rocks will get GLVAR and their minions puckered up!
This can of worms is open and in full view. It's time to get the snakes out of the grass.
A guillotine for bankers?? Serious? How about a guilotine for the idiot middle income Americans who thought they could become proficient at flipping real estate with little to no equity? How about another for the regulators who failed to notice the ongoing and continued fraud in the industry? How about a guillotine for the last Administration who deemed that business doesn't need to be regulated and allowed subprime variable rate loans to become commonplace? How about a guillotine for all the appraisers that knew these homes weren't worth what the market was saying, but still doing the appraisals to get the deal done? How about a guillotine for all the California borrowers that came in and bought homes in Las Vegas artificially inflating the price?
Comment removed by staff.
it's all brooke's fault...
damn it...
she figured it all out by herself...
she single handedly masterminded the fall of vegas...
she caused the collapse in vegas home prices...
good god...
talk about a mob mentality...
you people are sick!!!
I wish Ms. Boemio would come on here and state her case.
please god can an author of these stories have a clue and ask the obvious question? no, i didn't think so, i'll ask the question that really matters
HOW THE HELL DOES ONE GET A SECOND MORTGAGE ON A SECOND HOME WHEN THEIR EXISTING MORTGAGE ON THEIR EXISTING HOME THAT THEY QUIT PAYING ON WOULD REPORT THE LATE PAYMENTS ON THEIR CREDIT REPORT?
oh and i'm super impressed with the quality of real-estate professionals in your green-felt s*** hole
Larry...the way it works, is that folks get the same model home down the street for 1/2 the price THEN strategically default. This is not really news, owners in Vegas have been doing this for at least two years. They just get everything done before they stop paying. Very simple.
Larry, mountainbreeze is right, of course they wouldn't have defaulted on the first home until the new loan was approved and escrow was closed.
Naturally these types of transactions would be hard to do right now.
As a broker, I would never have had a conversation with a client to do that.
Never.
Do you think Brooke will get another realestate job, and do you think Mr. Stein is in trouble for breaking and entering?
I think Brooke is laying low on good advice and Mr. Stein is being commended on doing what it took to get the story.
If anything Brooke and the reporter Stein should be commended for informing us of the reality of the situation. It's because of a lack of information and insight that it was so difficult to understand the real estate bubble. By hearing frontline stories, it's easier to make well informed decisions and avoid some serious trouble that comes from just blindly believing realtors and others and not truly understanding what's going on.
The sad truth about CBW (or any other agency in Vegas for that matter), is if you're a Realtor who closes deals and makes money, they don't really care how ethical you are. Jeff Sommers is all about the $$. He has no problem looking the other way for the right people. No "official statement" with strong words and bullet points is going to change that.
Unfortunately, Brooke screwed up big time and not even Jeff can fix this one. He had to let her go and do damage control to protect his precious behind. Time Magazine, Brooke? I really didn't think you were that stupid.
The board is probably investigating CBW now, and they'll find some interesting dirt, that's for sure. I feel bad for my friends who may get caught in the crossfire, though.
Like someone said above, you have to take a look at where Brooke learned these techniques. If she didn't learn them from CBW, she certainly didn't get a slap on the wrist for conducting business that way. If fact, I happen to know she was (indirectly) rewarded for it.
When i was looking for houses 3 years ago. The real estate agent broke into the house that i wanted to view inside. I eventually bought that house, changed out the sliding glass door he broke into, & lived securely ever since.
realtybob-
how many times have you practied that response when questioned on what actual value you bring to the table.
please tell me how I can get a listing into MLS WITHOUT the use of a realtor.
you are all so full of crap its coming out of your ears....the houses are classified as investment properties due to proximity to existing home. clearly loan fraud was commited in securing the financing for these properties.
i love these boards because the guilty parties make it easy for the authorities to find them from their incriminating posts.
One of you has made the point that you can not place your property in the MLS without a Realtor. That is valid but I fail to see the problem. You can place it on Craigs list which is where almost all the Realtors place it. You can place it on so many web sites which are not owned and operated by Realtors. You see what you are asking for is for Realtors only and not the public but everything on it is open to the public by many portals.
You sound upset that this world has Realtors. I find the same argument with lawyers, doctors etc. The problem comes down to when you need them you need them. If you feel you don't need a Realtor then do it yourself. Try that when you need your liver operated on. LOL
Seriously if you don't know how, ask and I would be more then willing to help you. When you find out the liability of it all maybe your tune will change.
Try not to lump everyone in the same lot. No pun intended. They did that during the second world war and it did not work well. Hate is hate and ignorance is costly.
I agree with Nick!!!Bravo!! If it will make your life easier, ditch the overpriced house with expensive mortgage payments for a much cheaper one.
Why not. I would do it. Imagine you can buy a decent sized bank owned home for 99,000 in Vegas and pay only 600 dollars a
month mortgage payments, and ditch home which you owe 300,000 on which is upside down and in an option arm. The mortgage each month is 2700 dollars thats saving you 2100 dollars each
month!!! I think its a great idea.
Check out the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors site and search for Brooke. There she is at The Force Realty. Brooke you need to change that picture. You look WAY better in real life!
If you don't know this is the shadiest business in the valley I'm happy for you. Semantics shades lies for realtors and brokers and the rest of us are suckers.
Thanks for ensuring I'd get my earnest money back because of the way you wrote the deal . . . and then backing away from my 200 page paper trail proving.
Thanks for not having the decency to even man up.
None of the Time Magazine article surprises me.