Dear George: I read your column weekly, but feel that your responses are consistently biased toward REALTORS®, even when there is blatant abuse, such as the question about the sale of the home of the 85-year-old woman, which should have elicited a firm condemnation of such tactics on the part of the REALTOR®. Yes, you did provide options for the daughter/son to pursue, but your mild reply of "it appears the REALTOR® in question may not be representing the best interests of your mother," is inadequate and disappointing.
Answer: We can appreciate your comments but regret that you felt our response was inadequate and disappointing. Additionally, you state that we are biased toward REALTORS®. In fact, we are biased toward real estate licensees, many of whom (but by no means all) are REALTORS®. And, because my co-author and I are licensed real estate brokers, we do not condone to the slightest degree a real estate licensee violating the Texas Real Estate License Act, the rules of the Texas Real Estate Commission, or any of the numerous federal statutes to which Texas real estate licensees must comply.
As to the e-mail you referenced, we heard only the reader’s side of the story. The REALTOR® involved might have been guilty of the allegations made by the woman’s son/daughter, plus some others that were not even brought up. We do not know if all the allegations, some of the allegations, or even if any of the allegations are fact-based. What we do know is that the son/daughter felt strongly enough about it to take the time to send us an e-mail, and that the Texas Association of REALTORS® has the free Ombudsman Program, and that a specially trained ombudsman will determine the consumer’s options based upon having heard both sides of the story.
Additionally, the other options – filing a complaint against the real estate licensee with the Texas Real Estate Commission (which can result in suspension or revocation of the agent’s license) and litigating against the real estate agent, were pointed out in the article as also being available to the consumer regardless of whether the consumer used TAR’s Ombudsman Program. We try our best to direct the questioner to avenues that are less expensive, and can get them a result fairly quickly. Litigation is traumatic, time-consuming, expensive, and doesn't always achieve the result desired. Whenever a person wants to sue, the answer to the question, Have you ever been in a lawsuit before? is almost always no.
| Dear George: I purchased my house three years ago. Upon closing, I was told that the survey showed my neighbor's fence encroaching about 19" at the end of the property line. I talked to the neighbor about curing the encroachment and patiently waited for him to resolve this issue with his builder. After six months of getting nowhere with his builder, my neighbor did indeed remove the encroachment by putting the entire fence about 4 inches inside his property. This is all well and dandy; however, there is a gap of five inches from the end of my fence to his fence. In essence, he is forcing me to pay $350 for half of his fence if I want to close the gap. What remedies are available to me?
Answer: OK, we think we understand your dilemma. However, you are not going to like our answer.
We suggest you hire an attorney who is successful in handling this type of boundary dispute. However, one call to such an attorney could cost you as much as your neighbor has requested you to pay for “your” half of “his” fence. Sometimes there are unintended consequences when one tries to do the right thing on one’s own (there are better, less costly ways to resolve boundary disputes).
Our answer to you is to pay your neighbor the $350 he has requested conditioned upon his “allowing” you to close the five-inch gap. The alternative to this reasonable alternative is to engage in a legal dispute with your neighbor costing you both unnecessary amounts of money and expended energies and which may ultimately end up in a resolution with which neither of you will be happy. Suck it up and pay the man $350 and be done with it!
Dear George: What is the procedure for finding a registered sex offender a home if this person is not required to have a sign in the yard and would like to buy a home in Texas? What steps need to be taken to properly disclose to existing home owners in the area?
Answer: The Texas Department of Public Safety provides information regarding registration of sex offenders. In addition, we recommend that you contact the local law enforcement agency in the subject city (or county if the intended residence is not within the city limits), to get a detailed answer to your question regarding proper disclosure to homeowners in the area.
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