Pretty Unbelievable – Austin Realtor w/ a BIG Rap Sheet

So apparently what TREC is saying is that we will not protect the public, even though he has been convicted unless he losses his appeal. I would think that with the conviction TREC would at the very least suspend his license until the case is settled.

Government… protect… the people? You, sir, have been misinformed. ;)

Man this is totally crazy, starting this year, in Oklahoma you have to get a background check done and a credit check. So in Oklahoma if you have bad credit you can’t be a Realtor. Its crazy what they allow and don’t allow from state to state.

This is common throughout the US. The state regulatory agencies are a window display. They’re there to sell licenses, collect fees and protect the bad guys.

Gharbi for president!

At Ben,

His credit is just fine.

Not to call you a liar, but do you have a link or something with more information? All we have is your word on a blog, not exactly the most reputable source. Hasn’t this hit the news or something?

For all we know he’s your old boss or competitor and you’re trying to slander him all over the internet.

Do you look at the google much James? http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/index.php/weblog/C14/P30/

Yeah, James – you’re a putz!

Im sick of this “mommy government” !!! I can look out for myself.
Im sure I dont need this screwed up government watching out for
my interest. Bush was busted for cocaine. Is that a felony??? Oh i get it
you can be president but not a realtor !!!!!

Its tuff… innocent until proven guilty on one hand.. a world full of greedy bastards on the other… add in district attorney’s that egsagerate? everything & and liars/lawyers for hire… Who the hell really knows…

Caveat emptor, “Let the buyer beware”

Seriously people, his conviction has not been upheld by the supreme court – and until it has, them letting him keep his job is protecting the people – from a corrupt government. If you people can not make informed decisions and do your own homework before buying a house, then you chose to take a that risk….Would you let a doctor do a twenty thousand dollar surgery on you without a second opinion? Probably not, so why would you buy a two hundred thousand dollar house without a second opinion?

No, Dennis. I beleive the TREC is saying innocent until proven guilty (with the allowance of one appeal).

You know…it’s that whole pesky “due process” thing that people usually ignore when people are accused of being child molsters, etc.

Yeah innocent until proven guilty but he should still be under suspension until resolution. But reality is different. Like doctors he could just go to another state and start over. These types of situations are no-brainers for most governments but instead of protecting you they want to spy on all your phone/internet records and secretly search your home when you are not there. Just what ARE they protecting? HHmmm could it be they desperately want to plug any incriminating leaks BEFORE they leak? Is this the drive behind pre-conviction amnesty in gov’t? Come on you ‘servants of the people’ you better serve the people before yourselves because when law is no longer equally applied then only anarchy will ensue. 15 million fraud and 85K in fines. Just what were the details? White collar crime does pay!!!!!!!

@theo – Unlike a doctor this guy didn’t spend upwards of 8-10 years of post-college education and $200,000 to being practicing his profession.

I can see innocent until proven guilty, but he has been convicted…in the process of appeal, hard to believe they would’t put him on “hold” until its resolved.

I agree with Dennis. That’s really absurd. Where’s the stopping point? What if he was convicted of rape, or worse murder, but appeals? Is it still okay for him to hold his license then?

So much for all of the background checks! I hope we don’t have anyone like this running around in our market. Probably not the car a consumer would want to jump into.

WHAT!! – this is absurd. It wouldn’t necessarily be so bad if his felony was for fighting or stealing a car when he was 20 (20 years ago) but he’s been convicted of real estate related fraud and it’s fairly recent. If you get arrested by the FBI you’ve done something worth a license suspension –

An old friend of mine a few years ago couldn’t get a license in Arizona from a felony he got 7 or 8 years ago. Are the rules similar in Texas? I understand he’s under an appeal so I’d imagine he’ll be losing his license soon.