Out of the mouths of babes is one thing. . .

There oughtta be a law. But wait, there IS. (Flickr photo by kolix)

But out of the mouths of experienced brokers is quite another.

The other day, clients of mine lingered in a $2 million loft that interested them in Tribeca.  As we were leaving the newish building in lower Manhattan, they asked the broker who showed us the condo two questions that he should have known better than to have answered.

Q.  Who lives in the building?

A.  A lot of nice people, many like you.

Q.  What’s the neighborhood like?

A.  It’s very safe.

I had all I could do to keep my jaw from dropping.  As anyone in the business worth his salt knows, his answers were clear violations of the Fair Housing Act.  They represented cause for a discrimination complaint.

But, then, this is the same broker who consumed more than 24 hours to respond to my requests, by e-mail and by voicemail to his mobile phone, for a showing on the very day that he finally replied–way too late and ignoring my further urgings for him to call me.

Oh, yes, then he telephoned me 45 minutes before the appointment that we finally made – in writing – to ask where we were.

Wouldn’t it be cool if brokers had an enforceable requirement to report Fair Housing offenses?

I’m just sayin’.

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Malcolm Carter
Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker
Senior Vice President
Charles Rutenberg Realty
127 E. 56th Street
New York, NY 10022

M: 347-886-0248
F: 347-438-3201

Malcolm@ServiceYouCanTrust.com
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