[WEHOWL]

The Villages sales agents are licensed real estate agents. All single-agency representatives (those that work for any developer) MUST have a state real estate license. Please do not disparage those/situations you know nothing about.

[WEHOWL]

The Villages sales agents are licensed real estate agents. All single-agency representatives (those that work for any developer) MUST have a state real estate license. Please do not disparage those/situations you know nothing about.

IF YOU GO TO THE FLORIDA DBPR, LOOK UP ANY NAME ON THE VILLAGES TEAM WEBSITE, YOU WILL FIND A LICENSE NUMBER ASSOCATED TO EVERY MEMBER. IF YOU LOOK UP ANY NAME FROM ANY BROKERAGE HERE IN FLORIDA-YOU WILL SEE THE SAME ARRANGEMENT. EVERY SALES REPRESENTATIVE WITH PROPERTIES OF THE VILLAGES IS A LICENSED REAL ESTATE AGENT. THEY DO THEIR BEST TO REPRESENT THE VILLAGES AND THE FINE FOLKS WHO WANT TO LIVE HERE. THEY ALL HAVE VARIOUS EXPERIENCE LEVELS. THE HIRING PROCESS IS RIGOROUS, AND THEY WANT AND DESIRE THE BEST PEOPLE. PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE, AND IF YOU HAVE HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE, YOU MIGHT HAVE A BAD EXPERIENCE EVERYWHERE YOU GO.

[Jayhawk]

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.

Interesting take.

So it's admirable that the sales agents who were making a half-million dollars a year to "try to succeed on your own" after earning the millions with support of The Villages, but the developer is an evil, greedy menace?

Seems like disgust might better be referenced as envy.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by WEHOWL

The Villages sales agents are licensed real estate agents. All single-agency representatives (those that work for any developer) MUST have a state real estate license. Please do not disparage those/situations you know nothing about.

Some posters don't like facts.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by TNGary

This will be interested to follow to the conclusion. The story continues,

They are following the advice from the same attorney who told them not to worry about the non-compete.

[Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

They are following the advice from the same attorney who told them not to worry about the non-compete.

[newgirl]

Real estate sales is a career that every agent that has ever sold a home has learned what they were doing by the broker that held their license. The license does not teach you how to sell. Every agent learns from every deal they do more then by anything a broker can teach them. I was surprised that the Villages won since these folks first and foremost we're 1099 independent and as such, owned their careers outside of the brokers umbrella and I have never heard of any broker being able to tell a agent they could not move on, what you sign is a agreement not to use the brokers name if the broker no longer holds your licence.
If you owned a store, this outcome says you can not sell your store and buy another store , different name if you sell the same items or buy product from the same warehouse. Sounds crazy huh..this is exactly from what ( little) I know about this lawsuit. If they took computers given to them to use under the broker then I could see a problem, but experience...this sets a scary picture for all sales people from real estate to furniture sales people.

[Ben Franklin]

Originally Posted by WEHOWL

The Villages sales agents are licensed real estate agents. All single-agency representatives (those that work for any developer) MUST have a state real estate license. Please do not disparage those/situations you know nothing about.

IF YOU GO TO THE FLORIDA DBPR, LOOK UP ANY NAME ON THE VILLAGES TEAM WEBSITE, YOU WILL FIND A LICENSE NUMBER ASSOCATED TO EVERY MEMBER. IF YOU LOOK UP ANY NAME FROM ANY BROKERAGE HERE IN FLORIDA-YOU WILL SEE THE SAME ARRANGEMENT. EVERY SALES REPRESENTATIVE WITH PROPERTIES OF THE VILLAGES IS A LICENSED REAL ESTATE AGENT. THEY DO THEIR BEST TO REPRESENT THE VILLAGES AND THE FINE FOLKS WHO WANT TO LIVE HERE. THEY ALL HAVE VARIOUS EXPERIENCE LEVELS. THE HIRING PROCESS IS RIGOROUS, AND THEY WANT AND DESIRE THE BEST PEOPLE. PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE, AND IF YOU HAVE HAD A BAD EXPERIENCE, YOU MIGHT HAVE A BAD EXPERIENCE EVERYWHERE YOU GO.

They are real estate agents working for TV. They are not single agencies, and they are not Realtors. Look at your paperwork, there is NO Broker relationship. A single agency works exclusively for the buyer or seller, and MUST be loyal to whomever they represent. There is no loyalty wording in a No Broker Relationship.

There are three types of relationships one can have with a real estate company in Florida. 1. Single Agency (Very few still left in FL) an agent can not work with both buyer and seller - must transfer to a transactional relationship to do so. 2. Transaction relationship (facilitates the transaction). 3. No Broker Relationship (you are not fully represented, IMHO.

With that said, my TV agent was very nice and knowledgeable.

Statutes & Constitution
:View Statutes
:

Online Sunshine

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

From the Villages website:

In addition to being licensed Florida real estate agents, our team of over 280 agents receives frequent, professional education beyond the state’s continuing education requirements on customer care, product knowledge, and the latest information pertaining to the lifestyle we all enjoy.

Villages sales agents are licensed Florida real estate agents.

[Swoop]

Originally Posted by newgirl

Real estate sales is a career that every agent that has ever sold a home has learned what they were doing by the broker that held their license. The license does not teach you how to sell. Every agent learns from every deal they do more then by anything a broker can teach them. I was surprised that the Villages won since these folks first and foremost we're 1099 independent and as such, owned their careers outside of the brokers umbrella and I have never heard of any broker being able to tell a agent they could not move on, what you sign is a agreement not to use the brokers name if the broker no longer holds your licence.
If you owned a store, this outcome says you can not sell your store and buy another store , different name if you sell the same items or buy product from the same warehouse. Sounds crazy huh..this is exactly from what ( little) I know about this lawsuit. If they took computers given to them to use under the broker then I could see a problem, but experience...this sets a scary picture for all sales people from real estate to furniture sales people.

When I sold my business, the buyer required me to sign a non compete agreement. I certainly understood why. While I owned my business for 32 years, sales people were required to sign my non compete agreement when they were hired.

The people who came to work for me knowingly accepted the non compete clause, as did the realtors hired by The Villages.

Had one of my employees left to work for a competitor or to start their own business, and took my records with them, I would have done exactly what The Villages did.

[Ben Franklin]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

From the Villages website:


Villages sales agents are licensed Florida real estate agents.

Who said they weren't real estate agents? They are not Realtors. They are not single agencies either. There is a difference between Realtors and agents. Agents don't belong to the National Association of Realtors, or the Multiple Listing System. All Realtors are independent contractors. Both Realtors and agents are licensed in the state of Florida. Some Realtors I know have their real estate license in several states.

A little sidebar. Only 7% of all Realtors make good money. I don't know if TV agents work on commission or a salary. 93% of all Realtors make, on average, between $30-$40,000 a year.

[BobnBev]

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.

1. It's principle, not principal.

[NavyNJ]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

Of course it is about the $$. Not the $$ from the lawsuit, but about protecting the cash making real estate machine that is the Villages. Does anyone think that the results of the litigation will NOT give pause to other Villages Home Sales People from going rouge? (notice I did not refer to them as Licensed Real Estate Agents).

Uhhh......but they ARE "Licensed Real Estate Agents" in the State of Florida......why would any reasonably educated person believe otherwise?? As you can find on countless threads here, however, the Properties of The Villages Sales Agents are not able to use the "marketing" label of Realtor as they do not belong to or pay dues to the National Association of Realtors nor belong to a local Board of Realtors, which most if not all real estate agents who work for local brokers, do. Hope that clears that little point up, one more time.....

[NatureBoy]

It is possible for two things to be true at the same time.

The Developer could have made unreasonable, possibly illegal, demands of the agents. The Developer has the position of power and the contractor refusing any request/order puts their contract at risk. If the agents felt the demands from TV were egregious enough, they could have filed suit.

The agents also violated a contract and stole from TV.

From the bit I've followed the case, it seems one of the agents' primary defenses was that TV did illegal things to them (treating them as employees) so their non-compete clause was null and void. Clearly the court did not agree.

Two wrongs don't cancel each other out.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by NavyNJ

Uhhh......but they ARE "Licensed Real Estate Agents" in the State of Florida......why would any reasonably educated person believe otherwise?? As you can find on countless threads here, however, the Properties of The Villages Sales Agents are not able to use the "marketing" label of Realtor as they do not belong to or pay dues to the National Association of Realtors nor belong to a local Board of Realtors, which most if not all real estate agents who work for local brokers, do. Hope that clears that little point up, one more time.....

Most licensed real estate agents in this country (and Florida is a state in this country so we're talking about Florida too) are NOT Realtors.

Many of them work for brokerage firms that are run by Realtors, but aren't Realtors themselves. Real estate agents are not required to be Realtors.