Indy Homes Team - Kristie Smith, REALTOR Reviews

“I bought a home in Florida (seller accepted full-price offer on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2020) with 45 days to close (March 10th) and flew home late on a Tuesday and met with Kristie Smith at 10AM on Wednesday at my home. Prior to meeting, Kristie had emailed me a 32-page marketing brochure that stated Kristie would be selling my home "quickly for the best possible price and with as little hassle as possible." Kristie was going to take charge and I just needed to get out of the way and allow her to make things happen. Unfortunately, I experienced ongoing hassles from day 1. Additionally, I discovered Kristie repeatedly violated ARTICLE 2 of MIBOR Realtor Association's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. Article 2 states, "Realtors shall avoid exaggeration, misrepresentation, or concealment of pertinent facts relating to the (a) property, or (b) the transaction." Kristie said she prepared a "standard" contract, which I signed via dotloop (like docusign) without reviewing (except for the last page where we made a modification). Before executing the contract, I was told the go-live date would be the following Monday. Also, that MIBOR/MLS no longer permitted "Coming Soon" marketing. During our meeting, I told Kristie it was important that I review any MLS listing before it was posted, to help ensure effectiveness and accuracy. After signing, I was told the MLS go-live date actually would be Wednesday. Instead of Kristie taking the initiative to personally lead the strategic execution as I was told, I later learned she went on vacation. After signing the Listing Contract, I was basically told I needed to use Kristie's designated contractor to make handyman repairs, rather than use a friend who had done work for me in the past that I was very satisfied with. (He would have only charged $450 per day.) The contractor Kristie hired on my behalf (that I reluctantly acquiesced to) was EXPENSIVE, thought the work he was doing for me was beneath him and I observed was sloppy in his work, and he failed to complete all tasks. When I disputed his $1,275 charges, he came pounding on my door after I told him to come by after I finished drafting a settlement/release. I had to call the police and have him escorted off my property and given a warning for trespassing. (I later reluctantly agreed to pay him $1,100.) Things got much worse...and I fired Kristie Saturday night at 10:58PM. At that time, I had not been provided with a draft of any MIBOR/MLS listing. Also, under MIBOR ethical rules, I’m told that as the seller I must sign off before a listing can be posted on MIBOR. Without my knowledge, permission or consent, Kristie posted my listing on MIBOR on Sunday (apparently via limited marketing to agents in her office), after being fired. Next, without my signature, she released/withdrew my listing (checking box B) shortly thereafter on Sunday. By checking box “B,” Kristie created a "withdrawn" listing that prevented any other Realtor from marketing my property...and could have remained in that status for up to six months (rather than 45 days). [This morning, Feb. 3rd, Kristie had a KW “post” sign erected on my front lawn.] Next, unbeknownst to me, Kristie represented there was a $5,000 cancellation fee that I needed to pay her for firing her…while she was on vacation. When I later reviewed the "standard" Indiana Association of Realtors (exclusive right to sell) Listing Contract I executed, I discovered: (1) there was no $5,000 termination fee (I reviewed multiple times), and (2) Kristie failed to have the contract counter-signed. Thus, Kristie (a) did not have a valid contract, and (b) there was no legal basis for her to seek to (extort?) $5,000 from me! Furthermore, in violation of Standard of Practice 1-12, Kristie failed to disclose/write in the amount we agreed (3%) she would pay to buyer’s agent (line 79 of our Listing Contract). Furthermore, although signing a “Mutual Release from Listing Contract” (and checking box A) is the standard and custom followed by Indianapolis Realtors, Kristie made a misrepresentation when she stated there was “no release option.” She also stated, “The only thing that we do have is a $5000 cancellation process if you are so inclined. I can provide wiring instructions for that if you are interested.” Also, in collusion with the sub-par contractor, Kristie stated, “We would have no choice but to file the Lis Pendens stopping the sale of the home until a judge would rule on the situation” (and indicated the last one that was filed took four months…and would have a negative impact on my Florida purchase). This anti-client posture is in clear violation of Article 1 which states that under a “primary obligation” to their client: “Realtors pledge themselves to protect and promote the interests of their client.” Additionally, Kristie slandered/libeled me in a January 31st email (cc’ing her contractor and it appears two “kw” co-workers) when she stated when I executed my Florida purchase contract, without a contingency to sell my Indiana home, that I had engaged in “UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR.” In fact, in an email, my Florida mortgage broker said she did NOT believe I had to either (a) sell my home, or (b) rent my home to qualify for my $370,000 Florida mortgage. (Of course, even if I were required to sell or rent my home, I did not engage in unethical conduct to make a non-contingent offer. I would have merely placed my earnest money deposit at risk, with contract damages available to the seller per the terms of the Florida contract they agree to. In my February 1st email (before reviewing our Listing Contract and MIBOR rules), I stated: IN SUMMARY: 1) You misled and fraudulently induced me to sign a 6-month contract, rather than a 45-day listing period. 2) You misled me and promised a minimal hassle free relationship a) See point after point above b) Your failure to sign a release is inherently a major hassle...and thus an ongoing breach 3) You misled me by misstating the quality of your services as being "outstanding," 4) You failed to disclose material facts before signing the contract: a) {Co-worker} was in fact going to execute the contracts (news to me!), when I was paying for you to execute b) Go live date was going to be Wednesday, not Monday...which was already later than I wanted c) You also stated you were experienced selling in Brownsburg; I'm not sure this is true (vs. minimal) i) Recent experience marketing to Pike homeowners wanting to live in Brownsburg ii) I believe you mentioned two other target zip codes d) Minimal hassle free vs. all the hassles above "inherent" in shortcomings in your business process 5) {Co-worker} never provided in-home support before; a) when I discovered Wedns. "go live" date from {Co-worker}, I worked on my FL loan application b) my priorities changed after I learned I had been misled 6) You posted in MIBOR without my review and approval a) You posted AFTER you were fired 7) You made misleading statements after I signed my contract a) {Co-worker} will make sure everything (with contractor) is 100% b) Certainly you won't be paying the contractor w out all the work in excellence!" i) No, far from excellence! c) There is no release option d) Kristie will lose her license over the timing of a MIBOR listing I subsequently reviewed the MIBOR listing, posted internally to KellerWilliams’ agents, and discovered two MAJOR misrepresentations: (1) Kristie had unabashedly grossly overstated the amount of “recent additions” I had made, misrepresenting the amount to be $60,000, when in fact I had told Kristie the amount of the upgrades was about $25,000. Furthermore, these upgrades were made within about six months of my October 2017 purchase, which I would not classify as recent. (I pulled up a Word file I had tracking the upgrades and they were valued at a little over $26,000.) (2) Kristie also grossly misrepresented that I had the best “private” lot in the neighborhood with a “private pond.” In fact, I share the pond/pond view with: (a) at least 16 homeowners with pond lots in my subdivision, and (b) at least 18 if not 24 households that rent ranch apartments on the opposite side of the pond. Best of luck to you when interviewing and choosing a Realtor that will proactively seek to comply with MIBOR’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, and act in your best interest.”