Social justice, biases (often times implicit), and discrimination have been hot topics throughout the real estate market over the last few years. As the North Carolina Real Estate Commission works to bring awareness and enhance the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in real estate brokerage it requires all hands on deck.
The Commission is open to, and welcomes, all feedback on new DEI initiatives and ways to successfully implement them. Additionally, if you have witnessed or been subjected to racism or discriminatory behavior in any real estate related activities it is important that you provide this information to the Commission. To provide feedback or information on your experiences with racism or discrimination in real estate related activities contact the Commission’s DEI Officer here.
The North Carolina Real Estate Commission is pleased to announce that it will be holding its January 18-19, 2023, business meeting and hearings in Wilmington, North Carolina. You are cordially invited to join the Commission members for coffee on Wednesday, January 18th at 8:30, before the meeting begins, and to stay or attend the meeting at any time throughout the day. The business meeting is expected to begin Wednesday at 9:00 and to last until mid-afternoon.
The meeting will be held at:
EMBASSY SUITES WILMINGTON RIVERFRONT – SALON I
9 ESTELL LEE PLACE, WILMINGTON
The Commission members welcome the opportunity to meet you and hear your thoughts. While not required, we will appreciate your RSVP by January 11th to exec@ncrec.gov for planning purposes. We look forward to seeing you in Wilmington!
Fred Moreno, Chief Deputy Legal Counsel, spoke at the North Carolina Vacation Rental Managers Association meeting on December 6.
Nick Smith, Auditor/Investigator, spoke at the LOTSAR meeting on December 8.
PAUL DAVID TILLEY (HERTFORD) – Following a hearing, the Commission permanently revoked the broker license of Tilley effective November 9, 2022. The Commission found that Tilley failed to provide and review the Working with Real Estate Agents Disclosure with prospective buyers and sellers, failed to enter into written listing agreements before providing brokerage services, and forged client signatures on an agency disclosure, on agency agreements, and on agency termination agreements. The Commission further found that Tilley failed to provide the broker-in-charge with whom Tilley was affiliated with copies of written agency agreements and agency disclosures and that Tilley failed to report a criminal conviction within 60 days of judgment.
CONNIE B BYRD (RAEFORD) – By Consent, the Commission suspended the broker license of Byrd for a period of 12 months, effective December 10, 2022. The Commission then stayed the suspension in its entirety. The Commission found that Byrd acted as a property manager and maintained a rent trust account and a security deposit trust account. Byrd improperly commingled funds, maintained no records beyond the bank statements themselves and had excess overages in each account. Byrd allowed her property management firm license to expire. Byrd affiliated with a new firm and broker-in-charge but could not provide transaction documents related to property management in the new firm name.
TIFFANY MARIE BALANDA (Fayetteville) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Balanda, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission found that prior to licensure, Balanda participated in a social media exam study group that actively shared confidential exam information or encouraged others to gather exam information.
TIFFANY KATHRYN BOYD (Clayton) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Boyd, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission found that prior to licensure, Boyd participated in a social media exam study group that actively shared confidential exam information or encouraged others to gather exam information.
ELIZABETH GROGAN (Granite Falls) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Grogan, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission found that prior to licensure, Grogan participated in a social media exam study group that actively shared confidential exam information or encouraged others to gather exam information.
DESERAE NICHOLE HARRIS (Moyock) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Harris, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission found that prior to licensure, Harris participated in a social media exam study group that actively shared confidential exam information or encouraged others to gather exam information.
LAKEISHA GAIL MILLER (Jacksonville) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Miller, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission found that prior to licensure, Miller participated in a social media exam study group that actively shared confidential exam information or encouraged others to gather exam information.
EMMA NICHOLS (Mount Airy) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Nichols, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission found that prior to licensure, Nichols participated in a social media exam study group that actively shared confidential exam information or encouraged others to gather exam information.
VICTORIA GREEN SMITH (Fayetteville) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Smith, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission found that prior to licensure, Smith participated in a social media exam study group that actively shared confidential exam information or encouraged others to gather exam information.
ALEXIS MARGARET SYPNIEWSKI (Jacksonville) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Sypniewski, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission found that prior to licensure, Sypniewski participated in a social media exam study group that actively shared confidential exam information or encouraged others to gather exam information.
ERIN DENISE ULRICH (Rolesville) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Ulrich, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission found that prior to licensure, Ulrich participated in a social media exam study group that actively shared confidential exam information or encouraged others to gather exam information.
ANNA PATRICK WOMACK (Linden) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Womack, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission found that prior to licensure, Womack participated in a social media exam study group that actively shared confidential exam information or encouraged others to gather exam information.
TURNKEY VACATION RENTALS INC (ASHEVILLE) – By Consent, the Commission permanently revoked the license of Turnkey Vacation Rentals Inc. effective December 15, 2022. The Commission found that Turnkey Vacation Rentals Inc. managed a vacation rental property where the tenant cancelled due to a Stay at Home order issued during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Turnkey Vacation Rentals Inc. failed to issue a refund to the tenant despite re-renting the subject property after her cancellation. A review of Turnkey Vacation Rentals Inc’s lease agreements found that they failed to comply with all provisions of the NC Vacation Rental Act. A review of Turnkey Vacation Rentals Inc’s management agreements found that they lacked a definite termination date as well as the required anti-discrimination provision. Turnkey Vacation Rentals Inc. could not provide Commission staff with accounting records sufficient to perform an audit of its trust accounts as these monies are controlled by the out-of-state parent company employees and involve accounts from multiple states.
WILLIAM NATHANIEL THOMPSON (ASHEVILLE) – By Consent, the Commission suspended the broker license of Thompson for a period of 18 months, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission then stayed the suspension in its entirety and prohibited Thompson from acting as a broker-in-charge for a period of three years. The Commission found that Thompson acted as the broker-in-charge of a Firm, whose policy disallowed refunds to tenants who cancelled after a specified period, even if new tenants for the subject property were found for the same rental period. A review of Firm’s lease agreements found that they failed to comply with all provisions of the NC Vacation Rental Act. A review of Firm’s management agreements found that they lacked a definite termination date as well as the required anti-discrimination provision. Thompson could not provide Commission staff with accounting records sufficient to perform an audit of Firm’s trust accounts as these monies are controlled by the out-of-state parent company employees and involve accounts from multiple states.
RALPH JOSEPH TORTORA (WAKE FOREST) – By Consent, the Commission suspended the broker license of Tortora for a period of 9 months, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission then stayed the suspension in its entirety. The Commission found that in June 2021, Tortora, acting as listing agent for a property, advertised in MLS that a roof was 11+ years old and mistakenly checked a drop down data entry box indicating the roof had a 30-year warranty. A buyer offered to purchase the property as-is with no repairs and no due diligence period. In fact, the seller had not disclosed and Tortora did not confirm a roof warranty, and the buyer’s home inspection noted hail damage and needed roof repairs. The buyer was informed of the error and requested the seller make a claim on their home insurance which the seller declined. The buyer proceeded with the purchase.
DAVID H WEYBRIGHT (Nags Head) – By Consent, the Commission suspended the broker license of Weybright for a period of 12 months, effective December 6, 2022. The Commission then stayed the suspension in its entirety. The Commission found from a random audit that Weybright, acting as the broker-in-charge of a Firm, maintained two separate trust accounts whose monies were being “netted” and treated as one entire account, causing accounting issues. Furthermore, bank accounts were being reconciled to the property ledger trial balance rather than to the journal and deposit tickets lacked the information necessary to provide a clear audit trail. Numerous property ledgers noted deficit spending, disbursement records failed to identify the property or owner to whom it related, and a shortage was discovered. No clients or members of the public were negatively impacted, however, and Weybright has now corrected his accounting systems and practices. The trust accounts are now fully funded and in compliance with Commission rules.
KEES HOSPITALITY SERVICES LLC (Nags Head) – By Consent, the Commission suspended the broker license of Keys Hospitality Services LLC for a period of 12 months, effective December 6, 2022. The Commission then stayed the suspension in its entirety. The Commission found from a random audit of Kees Hospitality Services, LLC’s trust accounts that there were two separate trust accounts whose monies were being “netted” and treated as one entire account, causing accounting issues. Furthermore, bank accounts were being reconciled to the property ledger trial balance rather than to the journal and deposit tickets lacked the information necessary to provide a clear audit trail. Numerous property ledgers noted deficit spending, disbursement records failed to identify the property or owner to whom it relates, and a shortage was discovered. No clients or members of the public were negatively impacted, however, and Kees Hospitality Services, LLC has now corrected its accounting systems and practices. The trust accounts are now fully funded and in compliance with Commission rules.
KIMBERLY R SMITH (Charlotte) – By Consent, the Commission suspended the broker license of Goodwin for a period of 1 month, effective November 1, 2022. The Commission found that in June 2021, Smith acted as a listing agent for a property in Charlotte. Smith advertised the property in MLS as having “New HVAC” when, in fact, the HVAC was 18 years old and had only been refurbished. Smith failed to discover and accurately disclose this fact but instead relied on the seller’s statement. The buyers discovered the actual age at walk through and closed with a $3,000 credit.
LINDA HAMILTON HARDIN (GREENSBORO) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Hardin, effective September 30, 2022. The Commission found that in October 2021, Hardin acted as listing agent for a subject property. In the MLS, Hardin advertised that several appliances would convey with the property and the dishwasher, range, refrigerator, and water heater were “new.” Hardin did not verify the age of the appliances or the water heater. The actual ages for the appliances and water heater were between 5-8 years old.
BOXWELL INC. (Fayetteville) – By Consent, the Commission suspended the broker license of Boxwell Inc. for a period of 18 months, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission then stayed the suspension in its entirety. The Commission found that when it listed a property for sale, the Firm became aware of issues with the subject property’s roof after a buyer terminated due to discovering these issues during their home inspection. Boxwell Inc. then re-listed the subject property and failed to disclose the roof issues to the second buyer at the time their offer was made. Boxwell Inc. also engaged in property management. An audit of their trust accounts revealed a failure to perform 3-way reconciliations, funds being expended from owner accounts to pay for repairs in excess of funds available, which caused deficit spending, and a shortage. Boxwell Inc. was cooperative with Commission staff during the investigation and has brought their accounts into compliance.
DREW E BOXWELL (Fayetteville) – By Consent, the Commission suspended the broker license of Drew Boxwell for a period of 18 months, effective December 15, 2022. The Commission then stayed the suspension in its entirety and prohibited him from acting as a broker-in-charge for a period of one year. The Commission found that when a provisional broker, being supervised by Boxwell, listed a property for sale, they became aware of issues with the subject property’s roof after a buyer terminated due to discovering these issues during their home inspection. Boxwell’s firm then re-listed the subject property and failed to disclose the roof issues to the second buyer at the time their offer was made. Boxwell’s firm also engaged in property management. An audit of the trust accounts revealed a failure to perform 3-way reconciliations, funds being expended from owner accounts to pay for repairs in excess of funds available, which caused deficit spending, and a shortage. Boxwell was cooperative with Commission staff during the investigation and has brought the accounts into compliance.
The North Carolina Real Estate Commission is pleased to announce that it will be holding its January 18-19, 2023, business meeting and hearings in Wilmington, North Carolina. You are cordially invited to join the Commission members for coffee on Wednesday, January 18th at 8:30, before the meeting begins, and to stay or attend the meeting at any time throughout the day. The business meeting is expected to begin Wednesday at 9:00 and to last until mid-afternoon.
The meeting will be held at:
EMBASSY SUITES WILMINGTON RIVERFRONT – SALON I
9 ESTELL LEE PLACE, WILMINGTON
The Commission members welcome the opportunity to meet you and hear your thoughts. While not required, we will appreciate your RSVP by January 11th to exec@ncrec.gov for planning purposes.
By Tiffany Ross- Consumer Resource Officer & Bruce Rinne- Information Officer
The North Carolina Real Estate Commission has been receiving an increasing number of calls about fraudulent buyers and sellers attempting to scam innocent people, attorneys, and lenders out of due diligence fees, properties, or mortgage payoffs. These scam artists can be located anywhere in the world, yet claim they are local. Here are a few recent examples of calls we received, red flags to alert you to a potential scam, and potential action you can take to reduce risk.
FSBNO – For sale by NOT the owner
A neighbor was driving by a parcel of land adjacent to their own and noticed a For Sale By Owner sign but did not recognize the phone number on the sign. Suspicious, the neighbor, who knew the property owner, called the owner with the phone number the neighbor already had and asked if they were selling. The owner said ‘No’ and called the police to take down the sign and investigate.
Action you can take:
Fake Seller Contacting Listing Agents
A listing agent received a call from the purported owner of a vacant lot located in a new subdivision about listing their lot. The listing agent did their due diligence by pulling the deedto verify that the names matched, and then sent the listing agreement for digital signatures. Once the signatures were received, the agent put their sign in the yard. As luck would have it, again a neighbor was suspicious. After calling the rightful owner, the listing agent learned that the property was not for sale. The rightful owner showed up, called the agent on the sign and had the sign removed 3 days after the listing was posted.. Later that day the property was relisted with another broker who put their sign in the yard. Again this second listing broker was alerted to the fraud and removed their sign. The property owners now look daily to see if the property is listed for sale either on the MLS or on various websites.
Action you can take:
Fake Buyer Dodging Due Diligence Fee Payment
A homeowner receiving a job transfer listed their home for sale. The seller received a full price offer the first day with a quick closing. The seller contracted to sell the property and immediately contracted to purchase a home in their new town and submitted a Due Diligence fee equal to the amount of Due Diligence payment they were to receive from their home sale. The buyer made one excuse after another and the Due Diligence payment never came. The seller was told that the buyer was sorry and offered to raise the price $25,000 if the seller would wait until the closing to get the Due Diligence fee. When the seller went to the attorney’s office to sign the settlement documents, the seller learned that the buyer wasn’t real and was trying to get the attorney to wire the proceeds of the sale to them. The seller was unable to purchase their new house, lost the Due Diligence fee they had paid, and was in serious danger of losing their job because they did not relocate. With the loss of the Due Diligence fee on the new home, the seller also was unable to make their next few mortgage payments.
Action you can take:
Fake Seller Disappears After Receiving Due Diligence Fee
Someone claiming to own a property listed the property for sale and got multiple offers during the ‘Coming Soon’ period. A buyer went under contract and delivered a large Due Diligence fee that was wired to the seller’s account. The “seller” was never heard from again.
Action you can take:
Other Red Flags or statements to look out for:
1. The buyer/seller is traveling on vacation (sometimes abroad), claims they cannot meet in person, and has to do everything by email.
2. The seller has a family emergency, needs a quick cash sale, and will accept substantially less than full price if they can close in a very short time.
3. The email address or phone numbers are from another country. Of course, there are legitimate buyers and sellers who live overseas, but this does raise a flag that should be checked.
4. The photo IDs, such as drivers’ licenses or passports, are barely legible.
5. The Seller does not require a Due Diligence fee and/or low or no Earnest Money combined with a quick closing (in order to obtain quick proceeds before a scam is discovered).
6. The buyer/seller makes constant excuses, is not able to perform the terms of the contract, or is not returning paperwork.
7. The buyer/seller gets very angry at the broker as the transaction gets closer to closing and applies pressure on the broker to make sure the deal goes through. Sometimes they offer an incentive such as commission bonuses or promising other opportunities to buy or sell.
Remember to protect yourself and your client by asking questions and doing research when faced with red flags.
As a part of the Commission’s ongoing effort to combat discriminatory behavior in real estate brokerage we are committed to evaluating the annual Update courses to include relevant topics and resources. To this end, the 2020-2021 General Update Course included substantial material on fair housing, and the 2021-2022 Update Course included substantial information on racial equity. This material can serve as a great resource and is available for reference on the Commission’s website.
Janet Thoren, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Len Elder, Director of Education and Licensing, and Mike Gray, Chief Auditor, spoke at the North Carolina Association of Realtors Convention on October 18.
Janet Thoren, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Kristen Fetter, Deputy Legal Counsel, Mike Gray, Chief Auditor,and Chad Wilson, Auditor-Investigator, spoke at the ARELLO Regulatory Investigator Seminar on November 1-3.
Fred Moreno, Chief Deputy Legal Counsel, spoke at the Greensboro Regional REALTORS meeting on November 1.
Sheryl Graham, Consumer Protection Officer, spoke at the Keller Williams Realty office meeting on November 9 and at the Brunswick County Association of REALTORS office meeting on November 17.
Bruce Rinne, Information Officer, Brian Heath, Consumer Protection Officer, spoke at the Longleaf Pines REALTOR Association meeting on November 22.
Are you interested in joining the staff of the North Carolina Real Estate Commission? From time to time, employment opportunities become available. They are posted on the Commission’s website under the “About Us” tab.
The Real Estate Commission is currently searching for an attorney to serve as Associate Legal Counsel II to prosecute cases before the Commission involving allegations of violations of the Real Estate License Law and Commission rules.
Click here for more information.
JOSEPH DAVID CANDELARIA (CONCORD) – By Consent, the Commission suspended the broker license of Candelaria for a period of 6 months, effective December 1, 2022. Commission found on February 4, 2022, Candelaria timely submitted a criminal conviction form reporting four felony convictions of possession of marijuana, but failed to timely respond to two Letters of Inquiry. Candelaria failed to report four additional drug related misdemeanor convictions in 2016 as well as a probation violation.
ANDREA VACAFLOR AYOROA (CHARLOTTE) – By Consent, the Commission reprimanded Ayoroa, effective December 1, 2022. The Commission found that in or around February 2022, Ayoroa acted as a buyer’s agent for a client who contracted to purchase a vacant lot. After the termination of the contract, Ayoroa’s buyer-client filed a complaint with the Commission against the listing agent. During the course of the investigation of the initial complaint, Ayoroa failed to timely provide a substantive response to multiple Letters of Inquiry.
CHRISTINE D COX (HICKORY) – By Consent, the Commission suspended Cox for ninety (90) days, effective September 20, 2022. The Commission found that Cox acted as a listing agent for residential property located on a lake and included a boat dock. After the property went under contract, it was discovered that the boat dock lacked a tag and it was further discovered that the boat dock was not permitted. The buyers terminated the contract a few days later without expending any funds. Respondent disclosed the lack of permit issue to the next buyer. During the course of the investigation, Cox failed to timely reply to multiple letters of inquiry.