My uncle told me to always check a broker's license history, not just their website

About five years ago, I was looking at a flashy broker for a condo sale in Tampa. My uncle, who's been in real estate forever, said to look up their state license record online. I did, and it showed three complaints settled out of court that weren't mentioned anywhere on their fancy site. I went with a different, less flashy broker who had a clean record, and the whole sale went smooth. It was a simple check that saved me a lot of potential headache. Has anyone else found a broker's official record told a different story than their marketing?

2 comments

2 Comments

nancybennett29d ago

How do you even look that stuff up? I had a similar thing happen when I was buying my first house. The agent seemed great, but the state website showed a license suspension from a few years back that they never talked about. It's crazy what they don't have to put on their own sites.

evanh2729d ago

Wait, so did you end up working with that agent anyway, @nancybennett? I'm trying to figure out what counts as a deal-breaker. A suspension feels big, but maybe they had a good reason? I saw one agent's record had a fine for not putting "broker" on a business card, which seems silly, but hiding a suspension is different. Makes you wonder what else isn't on their shiny personal website.