The Connecticut Real Estate Commission meted out 300 disciplinary actions between Jan. 1, 2015, and Nov. 30, 2017, according to state records.
Of the 300 disciplinary actions, 242 were for failure to maintain continuing education requirements. There were 16 for negligent/incompetent work, 14 for making misrepresentations to clients, nine for practicing without a license, eight for employing an unlicensed person and eight for fraud.
The number of actions is relatively small given the thousands of agents and brokers working on hundreds of thousands of sales and rentals that took place during that time, but some of the alleged offenses were big.
Failure to Disclose Material Facts
Judith McGuinness, of William Raveis in Madison, was accused of fraud, misrepresentation and failure to disclose material facts in January 2017.
According to the complaint, a man in the U.S. Navy relocated to the Groton submarine base with his wife and bought a house in Clinton. When they were shown the house, McGuinness, the listing agent, provided them with a septic pumping report. The report said the septic system was in good working order.
After moving in, the new owners coincidentally met another couple who had previously backed out of a deal to buy the same house because an expert told them the septic system was 52 years old, structurally damaged, too small for the house and should be replaced.
In their complaint, the new owners allege McGuinness hid the fact that the house had been under agreement before so they wouldn’t ask why the previous buyers backed out of the deal. McGuinness denied the allegation. She did not respond to a request for comment from The Commercial Record.
In a written response to the complaint against her, McGuinness said she was upfront about the age of the system and was clear the pumping report was not an inspection report.
“I never said that the pump out report was an inspection report or a substitution for an inspection report,” she wrote. “Perhaps this complaint is better directed at their agent for failing to advise them of the importance of getting a septic inspection, especially when I told them it was an old system.”
The disclosure filled out by the sellers also said the septic system had no problems.
The state found that McGuinness had access to the septic inspection report outlining its deficiencies and recommending its replacement and failed to give it to the buyers. The State Real Estate Examiner recommended that McGuinness and her broker, William Raveis, propose a remedy for the complainant, or face actions against their licenses.
William Raveis agreed to pay the buyers $39,025 for the design and replacement of their septic system. In an assurance of voluntary compliance (AVC), which is not an admission of guilt, McGuinness agreed not to “misrepresent or conceal any material facts in any transaction” in the future, a $1,500 penalty and a six-month suspension of her license that expires May 31, 2018.
Personality Conflict Leads to Fine
Christine Sladyk, formerly of Century 21 Classic Homes in Glastonbury, met with clients on Feb. 4, 2017. They told her they’d like to buy a home within six months. Sladyk showed them a property they made an offer on, but it wasn’t accepted.
In an email dated Feb. 12, the complainant told Sladyk they didn’t want to work with her any more. Sladyk asked the broker, Linda Muraski to respond. Muraski’s email response to the complainant said the complainants were contractually obliged to work with Sladyk until Aug. 30, 2017. She said if they could choose to work with any of the 60 other Century 21 Classic Homes agents, or they could agree to a referral fee of 30 percent of the commission if they buy a home through another brokerage.
The copy of the exclusive right to represent buyers contract the buyers were given has no end date filled in. The copy the office retained says the contract is in effect until Aug. 30, 2017. The complainant said they were only given the contract to sign after Sladyk showed them properties. In her written response to the complaint, Sladyk said she had them sign the contract before showing them any properties.
“I swear that I adhered to the code of ethics and standards of practice of the national Association of Realtors,” Sladyk wrote. “I had been honest, truthful, faithful and efficient.”
Sladyk declined to comment on the complaint. Muraski confirmed she is no longer with Century 21 Classic Homes, but said that her departure from the firm is unrelated to this complaint. Sladyk is now with Realty World in Simsbury.
Because the contract is between the prospective buyer and the brokerage, not the agent, the complaint was filed against Muraski. In an interview, Muraski maintained the importance of enforcing the contract between the brokerage and prospective buyers, and said she believes Sladyk acted appropriately.
“We’re all about customer service,” Muraski said in an interview. “If someone’s not happy, we have 60 agents within the company. We’ll reassign them. It doesn’t matter why. It only happens once every year or two. If we don’t back these agreements, they’re not worth the paper they’re written on.”
In an AVC dated March 31, 2017, Muraski agreed to pay a $150 fine, release the buyers from the contract and agree not to show properties to buyers before getting a signed buyer agency agreement.
Sales Agent Brokered a Deal Without a License
According to a complaint, a homeowner facing foreclosure alleged that RE/Max Right Choice sales agent Benjamin N. Keeney, of Newtown, responded to her online ad seeking a tenant for her property in March 2016. He said he had a client with two dogs who was interested in renting her home.
The client eventually negotiated a reduced rent and moved in on April 1. The complainant paid Keeney a commission directly and did not go through his broker. Soon after the tenant’s rent check bounced and the complainant called Keeney asking him not to cash the check. He had already cashed it but reimbursed her.
The landlord filed a complaint with the state and Keeney, who did not respond to a request for comment, wrote in his response, “I am at fault for not diligently producing documents and for accepting cash without informing my broker.”
In an AVC signed in Sept. 15, 2016, Keeney agreed to a $2,000 fine and agreed not to engage as a broker without a license, not to accept compensation without the knowledge and consent of his broker and to follow the rules regarding representation.
Anonymous Tips Leads to Fines
After receiving several anonymous tips, the state audited RE/Max Realty Group in Gales Ferry. It found rep agreements that weren’t signed until homes were shown and documents missing from files. Buyer rep agreements were not present for all buyer clients. Some rep agreements were signed upon writing offers, not prior to showings as required.
In three separate AVCs signed in July 2017, co-owner Carol L. Christiansen agreed to a $500 fine, co-owner Masha Robarts agreed to a $2,000 fine and broker Merry Cassabria agreed to a $1,000 fine. All three agreed not to violate the agency and disclosure rules.
