Last year we ran a list of the Naughtiest and Nicest Landlords of 2015. It became our most read post this past year. So, we thought we'd follow up with not only a 2016 version, which will follow later this week, but also a list of the other major players in the apartment search process - real estate agents.
Ethical violations committed by members of the National Association of Realtors are often sent out of the court system for the association to handle in-house. This means that a lot of minor offenses are dealt with off-the-record in a non-transparent way. However, agents are not always required to be Realtors, and major crimes are still handled by the justice system.
The murky nature of real estate justice aside though, here are our picks for the best and worst agents who got in hot water over the course of the past 12 months. Most of the ones on the "Naughty" list were pulled from the disciplinary records of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
As for the "Nice" list - many agencies offer charitable activities for their agents so that they can have something to use at the center of press campaigns. The ones we have chosen go above and beyond this normal sort of office activity.
The Naughty:
Agent: Todd Kohlhepp, South Carolina
Crime: Serial homicide of 7 people. Kidnapping a housekeeper he hired to clean his vacant listings and keeping her chained up in a cage in a storage container on his land. May have also robbed a bank. Learn more.
Status: Arrested, charged with seven counts of murder, two counts of kidnapping and three counts of weapons possession.
Agent: Geraldine Blair, Chicago, IL
Crime: Allowed prospective tenants to view a property without being present herself. The tenants took the opportunity to move most of their furniture into the vacant apartment before they were caught. Learn more. (PDF)
Status: Reprimanded and fined $1000 by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR)
Agent: Lauren Houston, Los Angeles, CA
Crime: Posted numerous racist comments about Blacks and Mexicans on Instagram. Learn more
Status: Dismissed by her brokerage. May have moved on to another brokerage.
Agent: Jamie Detwiler, Bloomingdale, IL
Crime: Used her MLS access to get lockbox codes for fake showings in properties throughout DuPage county. Stole jewelry from five different homes. Learn More
Status: Arrested, charges pending. License suspended by IDFPER.
Agent: Jack Shaw, Chicago, IL | Paul King, Evanston IL | Rosita Tsiklauri, Queens, NY.
Crime: Ran a business that claimed to find apartments for people with bad credit and criminal records. Took up front cash as processing fees from clients and failed to deliver rental listings or return the money. Learn more. Shaw was not alone in getting disciplined for taking money without providing service. Paul King of Evanston got into hot water for doing similar things to home buyers. Rosita Tsiklauri of New York was arrested and charged with larceny for defrauding 19 prospective tenants out of $77k in processing fees over the course of 12 months.
Status: Shaw's license was suspended for 3 years and he was fined $18k by IDFPR. King's license was revoked permanently. Tsiklauri's case is ongoing.
The Nice:
Agent: Bobbi Mathues, Simsbury CT
Good Deed: Created the "Hero Homeownership Project" which gives 10% of their commission towards closing costs and other discounts to veterans, active military, first responders, non-profit employees and government workers. Learn more
Agent: Kim Pacini-Hauch, Sacramento, CA
Good Deed: Agreed to foot the bill for all pet adoptions from the Front Street Animal Shelter for six weeks, starting November 16 and running through the end of the year. Adoptions normally cost $65 to $85. On the day the promotion was launched a crowd of people gathered out front of the shelter to take advantage of the offer and all cats in-house were adopted. Learn More
Agent: The New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors
Good Deed: Provided $15,000 to the New Orleans Police to fund the purchase of high definition security cameras.
Agent: Christian Howard, Orlando FL
Good Deed: Created "The Heart that Gives" program, wherein he will donate half of his commission to a charity of this clients choice. Many other agents also offer similar programs, but Howard was also a frequent visitor to Pulse Nightclub, he also helped find emergency housing for victims and their families after the mass homicide in June. Learn more
Agent: Leroy ValentÃn Fernández, Orlando FL
Good Deed: Leasing agent for a Florida apartment complex. Singer, Hairdresser and choreographer. Well-loved drag performer. Killed in the Pulse Nightclub Shooting in Orlando.
