A determined California homebuyer named Marty Ummel is suing her real estate agent, Mike Little, for selling her a home for $1.2 million, a figure she now claims was above the market price at the time.

Ummel and her husband purchased the home in 2005 when the California market was beginning to shake like an earthquake tremor, but it was still in a boom market. She claims that Little concealed information from her about comparable homes that had sold in the tract-home neighborhood, where the homes were built with very similar features and amenities including granite countertops in the kitchen.

Ummel told reporters she found out about the comparables when only days after they moved in, a listing agent for another neighborhood home put a flier on her door disclosing that home had sold for $105,000 less than the Ummels had paid, and it had a pool. Another nearby home that closed the same day as the Ummels' sold for $175,000 less. She feels that her home should not have sold for more than her neighbors.

Complicating the issue was the fact that Little apparently served as the couple's mortgage broker, and declined to show the couple the bank appraisal, Ummel claims.

When interviewed by The New York Times, Mr. Little didn't do himself any favors when he referred to Mrs. Ummel as a "nut job." In that interview and a video that played on the Today Show, Mrs. Ummel's take-no-prisoners personality was called into play, but she denied being obsessive-compulsive -- despite picketing Mr. Little's office on weekends for over a year.

The judge of the San Diego Superior Court can't be pleased that the case has become a media circus, but frankly, it couldn't be more intriguing.

There are numerous questions that deserve answers like: who is responsible for determining value, at what point should disclosures be made, and where does an agent's fiduciary duty begin and end?

In the court of public opinion, Mrs. Ummel appears to be attempting to make the case that Little did not serve as her fiduciary, and put his own interests ahead of hers. Little is likely to use the defense that he complied with state laws and regulations in his duties to the Ummels.

Whatever the outcome, agents can take a lesson from this:

1. Don't just suggest a home is a good deal. Prove it with comparable sales to back you up. Then document the comparables you showed the client.

2. Disclose at the earliest opportunity who you represent and what you can and can't do for your client.

3. Document every exchange with your client, so you will have a meaningful record of what actions you took on your client's behalf and when.

Remember, anyone can file a lawsuit, whether they have a case or not.

Published: February 1, 2008

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