They are coming to arrest me. - Posted by Tim Jensen

Posted by ScottE on April 02, 2000 at 24:29:44:

so you can READ what you posted originally. Apparently you’ve been sitting at the pc too long.

Jack, since you insist on accusing me of having no pride in my town, I feel it necessary to respond. I am sure Tim and I have plenty of respect and pride in each of our respective towns.

In case you forgot, Tim’s original post had to do with the threat of ARREST, remember? Your response to that was “You know if the signs are on public lands the guy is most surly breaking some laws, so if he was smart he really should not get to upset.” implying that Tim should keep his mouth shut so as to not call attention to his egregious behaviour. SHHHHHHH

Jack, as I described in my post, LITTERING would be the only charge (besides trespassing) that could reasonably be pursued. Last time I looked at local, state, and Federal laws, having a LACK OF PRIDE IS NOT AGAINST THE LAW.

I am not condoning littering- anywhere. But once again, are there any elections that take place in your proud, clean little town? And are there any candidates that place “self serving” signs around town? And after those elections are there any signs left, even by the prevailing parties, in your town?
My guess is yes, just like every other town. Do the police go out and ARREST those folks, even the newly elected Congressman? Ummm…NOPE. They instruct those folks to pick up their signs or they will be fined.

If you don’t like the signs, great. Call the city hall in your town. The point is, no matter how much or how little pride someone has for their town, the chances that they will be arrested for a few signs is as close to zero as you can get.

Scott

They are coming to arrest me. - Posted by Tim Jensen

Posted by Tim Jensen on April 01, 2000 at 08:14:39:

Yep Folks,

You heard it right! I am threatened with arrest. Now let me explian.

I get a call Friday at 7AM, the guy on the phone asks me if I’m the one with the signs about cash for your house. I inform him that I am. At that point he tells me that I have until 1PM to remove all my signs. So I ask him where are the signs? He proceeds to tell me that I know where they are and remove them and in the true fashion of a coward he hangs up.

So, I use caller Id and call him back. Seems that he called from Century-21. I tell him that I am the guy he just called about the signs and what was the problem. Why did he hang up? From there he explains that I can not have signs like I have up only realtors can and basically Realtors are the only ones that can advertise we buy housse. (I guess realtors are the only ones that can advertise to buy houses) He continues to tell me that if I do not have them removed that he will go to the Board of Realtors and have me arrested! I proceed to ask him if only realtors can have signs like that(we buy houses, why are there so many “we buy houses” ads in the paper? At that point, he gets a more angry and informs me that he will not debate this matter with me anymore and get the signs down. Then hangs up.

Is this too funny or what?

So, Friday I went around taking down my signs? Why do you ask?

Simple, I had new signs made up with my new number. I hope this guy calls me back, that way I can tell him it appears that he is having money trouble. (Why else would he bother with me if he was making lots in commissioms) And I would be more than happy to lend him a thousand dollars to make it through the month.

Has anyone else ever had this happen? A realtor calling them up about their signs?

Tim

Re: They are coming to arrest me. - Posted by Eric

Posted by Eric on April 02, 2000 at 22:34:02:

I am a licensed real estate agent in Florida. I was also a Realtor when my license was active. It is inactive right now, I have been wrapped up in my non-real estate computer career. I am now starting to gravitate back towards RE and will be renewing later this year. I can tell you, that as far as I know, in Florida at least, you can pretty much buy as many houses as you want whether you are licensed or not. BTW, not many people know this - just 'cuz you have a license doesn’t mean you’re a realtor. Realtor is just basically a trade association for people who hold licenses, that’s all. They are a powerful political lobby, but being a realtor doesn’t afford you any more legal rights than anyone else, in and of itself. Only the license does. It’s a point of semantics, I know, but if this guy is saying “only Realtors can do this or that”, he is showing his own ignorance from the start.

How many Realtors actually BUY houses??? - Posted by Carmen_FL

Posted by Carmen_FL on April 02, 2000 at 17:49:38:

Not many! I find it funny, too. The Board of Realtors cannot do a thing about the signs. The city, however, may have rules - but usually they will call you/send you a notice directly - and I’d love to see the day when they can come and ARREST anyone for that! Hah! :slight_smile:

Good Posture! - Posted by Jim-WI

Posted by Jim-WI on April 02, 2000 at 12:26:14:

That was great!

You handled him like a pro! If someone called me up at 7 am I’d still be groggy and probably would have just brushed him off and went back to bed. But it was classis that you dialed *69 and called him on his bluff!

It was a great pleasure meeting you at the convention Tim! Keep in touch!

Jim-WI

Greg Lard…Did you read this??? - Posted by Dax-AL

Posted by Dax-AL on April 01, 2000 at 23:16:40:

Hey Greg, details of your battle with city hall here, please…

Watch out for the sign police! - Posted by SCase_GA

Posted by SCase_GA on April 01, 2000 at 21:51:09:

Time,
I went out one Saturday night and put up about 15 signs throughout town in as many busy intersections as possible. What do you think happened on Monday morning? You guessed it, the sign police called and left a message that putting signs up was against the law. This guy said that I would get fined $100 per day if I didn’t get my signs removed.

Well, I removed all but 5 and decided to see what happened. That was several weeks ago and many seller calls have come in from the remaining signs. Haven’t heard from the “sign police” since that first day. Guess I’ll just leave them out there and bag a couple of more deals before they catch up to me.

Got to love those signs!

Shooter

Re: They are coming to arrest me. - Posted by Lonnie B. Turner

Posted by Lonnie B. Turner on April 01, 2000 at 21:46:26:

I had the same problem with a C-21 agent. He had seen my post on a newsgroup so he decided to drop me a couple of lines by e-mail so we exchange words for about a week & then he reported me to the Real Estate Commission & they were so nice to send me a copy of the statue regulating licenses in Washington state & I had to write them a formal letter or the investigator would have send my case to an attorney. What a bunch of scum bags!

Lonnie B. Turner

Re: They are coming to arrest me. - Posted by Tim Jensen

Posted by Tim Jensen on April 01, 2000 at 20:27:48:

I am surprised that I got such a big response.

I am not worried about this guy at all. I just found what he did was funny.

If I do get a call from the city about my signs, I will know who to blame. If I do get a call from the city at that point I will file a complaint against him with the local board of realtors and the state board of realtors.

Overall, I think this guy is just blowing hot air.

I’ll let you know what happens

Tim

Re: They are coming to arrest me. - Posted by Rob FL

Posted by Rob FL on April 01, 2000 at 20:19:13:

I am a licensed broker and a member of my local board of REALTORS. I always wonder what the other REALTORS think when they see my truck in the board’s parking lot with all the WE BUY HOUSES stickers plastered all over it.

Needless to say in Orlando, if they tried to round up all the unlicensed people who advertise WE BUY HOUSES it would be like a major drug bust. They would have to round up 200 or so people.

I would just ignore this guy. He probably just passed is licensing exam and thinks he knows everything about real estate. HaHa!

They’ll arrest you if you even THINK about it! (nt) - Posted by Rolfe K

Posted by Rolfe K on April 01, 2000 at 15:40:39:

nt

Something Similar - Posted by Bill K. (AZ)

Posted by Bill K. (AZ) on April 01, 2000 at 14:48:30:

Tim,

I had an agent report me to the Board of Realtors based on my door flyers. It seems he, and the Board of Realtors, thought I had to be licensed to buy and sell properties in my company’s name. I even got a “cease and desist” letter from the board with this threat. If I didn’t stop, they were going to haul me into court.

The board was nice enough to send a copy of the applicable statute which describes exactly who needs a license. Of course, an individual acting on his/her own behalf as a principal in transactions has no legal requirement to obtain a license.

I wrote back a note stating that I had no intention of pursuing a license at this time as my activities failed the qualifiers for needing one.

I never heard from them again.

They are a very misinformed group of folks.

Bill K. (AZ)

Call his broker! - Posted by Corey (ND)

Posted by Corey (ND) on April 01, 2000 at 12:31:27:

First thing I would do is to call his broker and tell the broker what this guy is doing. He is working for the broker and I would bet that the broker would not be happy that this guy is doing this. Then I would also report him to your state licensing board or agency. I am a licensed agent and do not like to see people like this give Realtors a bad name.

Oh No!! Not The Realtor Police. - Posted by Mark-NC

Posted by Mark-NC on April 01, 2000 at 12:22:03:

I can see it now. A car pulls up with a bunch of Century 21 agents. They jump out and approach you with their yellow blazers on. They arive just when you are putting up your new signs again.

One of them grabs a megaphone and says " Back away from the bandit sign and put down your hammer your under arrest.

Mark

PS.(disclaimer) This is all in fun. I use Century 21 for many of my deals and have had no problem’s like this.

Maybe He Should Try to Remove Those BIG Billboard! - Posted by Rob

Posted by Rob on April 01, 2000 at 09:37:06:

I have seen them when I am traveling. They’re everywhere. Well, almost everywhere. In LA, there is one on 10.

Realtors wants to buy on a discount too. Just like auto mechanics that gets a gooood deal and like a auto dealer. Everyone wants to make money.

The realtors would do the same if they were given the chance, except they are not as creative. It’s a fact, because they do it where I live.

Rob

LOL! Board of Realtors… - Posted by B.L.Renfrow

Posted by B.L.Renfrow on April 01, 2000 at 09:31:37:

…with arrest powers. That’s a good one!

Seriously, if the guy calls back, I’d consider making a complaint against HIM for telephone harrassment. In my area, anyway, they do take those complaints seriously.

Many years ago, a former boss made some anonymous, threatening phone calls to my residence. This was long before the days of caller ID. However, I recognized his voice, and after about the second such call, I called the police. Didn’t hear anything, until a couple weeks later, when I saw in the paper where he had been charged with some misdeameanor, pleaded guilty and was fined. By the next day, he was unemployed!

Brian (NY)

Re: They are coming to arrest me. - Posted by Chenel Moore_MD

Posted by Chenel Moore_MD on April 01, 2000 at 09:29:11:

Well, now that’s new. I am an agent in MD, and according to the laws here, brokers have certain rules and regulations they have to follow. For example, brokers have to disclose and advertise that they buy and sell homes for cash.

Since you are not a broker, I can’t imagine why or what laws you would be violating because you are not subject to abiding by the Code of Ethics (which is what the Board of Realtors would be enforcing).

Check with your state’s local real estate commission and they will be able to tell you if you are violating laws and more importantly what wording and what form of advertising you should use.

As for the jealous agent, he probably lost a listing because one of his prospective clients intended to call you instead of listing his house with him. He is actually in violation of interfering with your business more so than you are of his.

Re: They are coming to arrest me. - Posted by Ken.K(IL)

Posted by Ken.K(IL) on April 01, 2000 at 09:24:29:

I can imagine how intimidating a call like that could be,but is this guy serious? Come on!! With the ‘freedoms’ we have in our’free country’as long as the city/county didn’t have a ordinance against these signs, then what’s the big deal…Can you threathen this guy back? or maybe that would just start something!,better not. I’m curious about the legal ramifications of his actions!
Ken.K(IL)

No joke, I think I’d - Posted by CarolFL

Posted by CarolFL on April 01, 2000 at 09:03:23:

call the dept of professional regulation - of whatever your state has that overseas licencing of brokers.

The guy should be reported. I had a realtor let a buyer move into a home once without my permission and pending a slightly delayed closing. I neglected to report it, and still regret not having acted.

Folks like this are a danger to their own profession!
Have a great weekend.
Carol

Hilarious… (nt) - Posted by Mark (SDCA)

Posted by Mark (SDCA) on April 01, 2000 at 08:44:56:

nt