Useless checks enrage agents - Business

PRINT THIS Popular

Apr. 28, 2009
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Useless checks enrage agents

Commissions lost as Liberty Realty sold

By HUBBLE SMITH
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Real estate agents with Liberty Realty in Las Vegas were left with unsigned commission checks that couldn't be cashed when the office shut down last week, one of the agents said.

In an April 22 memo to nearly 800 agents, Liberty Realty Chief Executive Officer Richard Bell said the agency is being acquired by Century 21 Aadvantage Gold.

Most Popular Stories

Fraud with Portent

Debt-ridden casino operators told to expect pressure

REAL ESTATE: Las Vegas home prices stabilize as threat of foreclosure flood wanes

Expect to pay at Nugget's new tower

GAMING COMPANY EARNINGS: Station drops $455.4 million

THE STRIP: License approved for Aria

GLOBAL GAMING EXPO: Recession over? Don't bet on it

Union wants insiders to help pull Station from bankruptcy

Foreclosure wave continues

INSIDE GAMING: Missouri outburst hurts Lee, Pinnacle

"It is unfortunate, but in the market today, our company model cannot survive," Bell said. "I have weighed many options and talked with many companies and I feel that the best opportunity for all our agents to continue to grow their business is for Liberty Realty to roll into Century 21 Aadvantage Gold."

Liberty ended its administrative operations Thursday and transferred all listings to Century 21.

The Liberty agent, who requested anonymity, said police were called to Liberty's office Friday on Durango Drive to "calm the situation down" and escort Bell from the building.

"There's a lot of upset brokers," the agent said. "I'm carrying around a $3,600 check that's no good. They took the money out of escrow and arbitrarily passed it out to other agents."

The source did not know how many agents had not been paid, but estimated that $25,000 in commission checks were issued and not signed.

Rob Reinders, co-owner of Century 21 Aadvantage Gold, said he's talking to Liberty's staff about joining his agency, but he won't be paying commissions on transactions completed at Liberty. That's between Liberty Realty and Bell and has nothing to do with Aadvantage Gold, he said.

"I have no knowledge of checks going out," Reinders said. "The checks should not have gone out unsigned. That's very questionable ethics there."

Bell, who started Liberty Realty in 1988 and once had 1,600 agents, said he was transferring his real estate license to Century 21 "because of all the value I saw during my talks with the owners."

However, Reinders said Bell had not transferred his license as of Monday. Liberty's Web site has already been converted to Century 21 Aadvantage Gold. A receptionist in the office said Bell would not be returning to the office.

"Nobody's happy with the situation," Reinders said. "Century 21 is here to help agents get beyond it."

Liberty agents' contracts will remain the same except for the 6 percent franchise fee for training, advertising and business tools that come with Century 21, Reinders said. An administration fee of $100 a month and transaction fee of $500 for each closing side is also deducted from the commission.

Transactions in escrow and listings belonging to Liberty agents will transfer to Century 21 Aadvantage Gold. If the broker joins another company, those escrows will be paid, Reinders said.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.

Share & Save

Leave Your Comment	29 Reader Comments
Terms & Conditions The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor. Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. bigtime wrote on June 01, 2009 06:06 PM: "real deal" wrote ,, you have to hire an attorney and you will not get paid in the end. HE IS SO WRONG!! YOU DONT NEED AN ATTORONEY!! THE OWNER OF LIBERTY REALTY CANT HOLD HIS OWN IN COURT!FACT! AND YOU WILL GET PAID!! SHOW PROFF OF THE TRANSACTION TO THE JUDGE AND AFTER YOU WIN ,, ASK THE JUDGE FOR A WRIT 4. YOU WILL GET PAID!! THE OWNER OF LIBERTY HAS STOLEN MANY CHECKS FROM HIS AGENTS IN THE PAST,, MANY!! THIS AGAIN IS HIS LAST RIP OFF!! bigtime wrote on June 01, 2009 06:00 PM: The owner of Liberty Realty stole commission checks from his very own Realtors countless times in the past again and again and was sued countless times for doing such! This is the owners last rip off he can do to his agents. Joe Martino wrote on May 04, 2009 01:51 PM: To all the agents out there that didn't get paid their commissions... We need to band together and get organized to get the money we earned back from Richard Bell. Send me an email at joemartino@cox.net if you have any helpful information or want to organize together. real deal wrote on May 03, 2009 06:45 PM: Know your law the broker owns the commission and he can spend it any way he chooses. THE ONLY RECOURSE THE AGENT HAS IS TAKING THE MATTER TO CIVIL COURT.WHO IS GOING TO PAY A LAWYER 5K TO GET A COMMISSION THAT THE MONEY IS NOW GONE. THEN THE BROKER CAN SAY THE AGENT DID NOT FOLLOW COMPANY POLICY THEREFORE THERE WAS A BREACH IN CONTRACT. ITS RIDICULOUS THIS IS A VERY COMMON OCCURANCE!!! SAD BUT TRUE Joe wrote on April 29, 2009 01:31 PM: Times are hard enough and now this??? Richard Bell, if you are out there and reading these messages, you need to do the right thing and take your broker's share of the commissions and then give the remainder of the money to the agents in which they are owed. You were trusted by many and you will have to live with yourself and the decisions you will make to resolve this. If you decide to steal all the agents' money, then I hope you can live with yourself then. This does not seem to be the actions of a man that was so involved in childrens' charity groups like the Ronald McDonald House. I worked hard to earn a commission only to learn that it is sitting in a bank account that only Richard Bell has access to and now I have to hope that he does the right thing and pay me the money I earned. Times are hard enough right now and no one needs this on top of it all.... justine wrote on April 29, 2009 02:12 AM: I tried to obtain my check for $12,300 and it was not signed. I would prefer not to join C-21. Where does that leave me? I earned my commission and it was paid to Liberty 4/10/09. Yet, Richard Bell chose not to sign my check as the office promised, all the way up to his exit on 4/24/09. I believe this is criminal but am told it is only Civil. The Division will not do anything because it is a commission issue. Where do I turn for help? Who can afford to lose that kind of money?? I worked for Liberty for 12 years and I am sickend by Richard Bell's behavior. David wrote on April 28, 2009 09:34 PM: I'm sure the commissions will be paid out but by the new company instead. Rob Reinders, co-owner of Century 21 Aadvantage Gold, said he's talking to Liberty's staff about joining his agency, but he won't be paying commissions on transactions completed at Liberty. That's between Liberty Realty and Bell and has nothing to do with Aadvantage Gold, he said. I don't think Rob Reindeers' statement corroborates your statement, Former Liberty Agent. ikki wrote on April 28, 2009 09:02 PM: Those agents' commissions were paid to the broker by the seller of the sold property. What did Bell do with that money? He owes his agents their earned commission. Carol wrote on April 28, 2009 07:12 PM: I feel for all of the realtors that worked for Liberty. Real Estate is difficult enough in these times.It sounds like you have been in the middle of a MADOFF sceme in Real Estate. If you are currently looking for a new broker to work with and live in the Summerlin/NorthWest area please contact me @ 481-2000. So Very Sorry for all of you, Carol Carol Ann Gaudioso wrote on April 28, 2009 07:06 PM: I feel for all of the realtors that worked for Liberty. Real Estate is difficult in these times. If you have not found a new broker to work with and live in the Summerlin/NorthWest area please contact me @ 481-2000. It sounds like you have been in the middle of a Madoff trauma. So Very Sorry for all of you, Carol Read All Comments