[bonrich]

I can understand that the agents in question decided to leave the Company and go off on their own, since the real estate market was expanding and it was time for them to start a new business venture, and not work for someone else. Their mistake, as I understand it was they took files with them. They should have walked away with clean hands and nothing other than their pencils. Period!

[Nick B]

Greed

[Nick B]

They made 500,000 a year to show homes I would have driven the bus no problem.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by bonrich

They should have walked away with clean hands and nothing other than their pencils. Period!

& not worked in the market for 18 months........that's the "non-compete" in the non-compete.

[ithos]

Is there a link to find out what the final ruling was?

[Jayhawk]

[QUOTE=It's about the principal, alright. It's about proving to EVERYONE that you should never upset them, or they will come after you and your bank account. Even after they win a suit, they'll keep coming for more.[/QUOTE]

Why shouldn't they? The business was harmed and continued to harm until the law forced the violators to stop. If they hadn't broken their promise, The Villages wouldn't have been out $400,000+ in legal costs. Lawsuit losers should pay.

[Pedrocarrasco01@yahoo.com]

Originally Posted by TNGary

Still confusing to me as to why the two main agents left TV real estate team, as it looked like a real cash cow for them, literally on the money train. OK so they had to ride a trolley every now and then. What am I missing? what was the business case for bailing out? or was it just poor judgement? any thoughts?

Where they screwed up is when they took the client list and when originally signed a NON COMPETE. Anytime you remove information from a database to use it later, you have lost the case. They could have settled out of court, but they chose to fight it. They lost big time!!!!!

[ithos]

I had heard that they had promised not to develop past Brownwood.

As The Villages grew and grew, the pressure on the sales force intensified, particularly after the decision was made to cross State Road 44, something Morse publicly had vowed would not happen.

https://www.**************.com/2021/...of-gary-morse/

[ithos]

It is interesting that it ended up in Federal and not the state court systems. Non competes are often overturned at the state level.

The theft from their database was pretty stupid though. I wonder if they consulted a lawyer before they quit. The agents who settled for $5000 made a great choice.

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by John41

Any realtor who thinks of working for The Villages better think twice.

Yea. Think twice about the fact that you might make $500,000.

[PJackpot]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I think anyone who sincerely wants to be a real estate agent, will think twice about being an agent/sales person for The Villages from now on. They're forewarned now. If you choose to leave, and try to succeed on your own, they'll make sure neither you, nor anyone associated with you, is permitted to even try. And you'll have to pay for the privilege.

The Morse Family essentially just blackballed an entire real estate company, including employees who never worked for the Villages in the first place.

You can all applaud it but I'm disgusted.

It’s all about a two year non compete contract. You cannot sign a contract and then violate it for some subsequent crybaby reason. You signed it. It is legally binding. This is a no-brainer for any judge. I can’t imagine what those agents were thinking.

[DaleDivine]

One of our neighbors was an agent for The Villages. He was under so much pressure that he eventually quit and went to work at one of the championship courses.

[kenoc7]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

1. it's a tenet, not a tenant.
2. Their right to sell new homes is already protected. It's THEIR property until it's sold, they can use who ever they want - including their own contractors - to sell on their behalf.
3. It's about the principal, alright. It's about proving to EVERYONE that you should never upset them, or they will come after you and your bank account. Even after they win a suit, they'll keep coming for more.

Tenet, not tenant but also principle, not principal.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

And....Mr. Town, I am still annoyed that you were very critical of my use of Hellmann's Mayonnaise and Velveeta. The next time my cousin Vinney comes to visit, I will introduce you.

Hellman's???

You heathen! It's Dukes or nothing!

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

Well no one can say the developers are "Law suit happy". They have ignored many things over the years that could easily be won that to me were libelous or slanderous. They are very quiet people and do not seek attention.

It appears to me that they felt this was important enough to establish a legal "tenet". Probably to protect their rights in some way.

I do not think it was about the money, but about the principal. IMHO

You are right. Other “rogue” real estate agents will now be leery of trying this scheme to increase their yearly income above $500,000. The thing is, while lawyers do pad their billable hours at times, some senior lawyers are charging $1,000 an hour, and this was a long and hard-fought case with lots of interviews and research. That claim for fees may be accurate. I don’t think the “rogue” agents realized what they were facing when they decided they could make even more money by partnering with a nation-wide firm that wanted access to the Villages sales.