Where do I even start! I guess I will start by saying if you're considering using Justin Tye or Active Realty, I would strongly urge you to do your due diligence and also ask that you please read my honest review. I'm not one to leave bad reviews, especially when it can affect someone's livelihood, however when someone runs a business that is so unethical, I can't help but want to save someone from experiencing the hardship my husband and I encountered from working with him and his staff. Trust me, there are so many realtors out there, anyone, ANYONE would be better than Justin.
My husband and I saw a home owned by Zillow, and considered making an offer on it. Zillow offers 1% towards closing costs if you work w their agents, so we decided to make our offer using Justin (he was also the sellers agent, representing Zillow). While speaking w Justin, he told us we "had" to waive the termite contingency, and if we didn't, Zillow wouldn't accept our offer. He told us not to worry, that after we get the termite inspection, we will ask for a credit for repairs and handle it that way. Didn't really think twice about that, seemed fine to us. Well, turns out there is some pretty severe termite damage on the home- we had a quote over 10k for repairs. After submitting the repair report, we received a response from Zillow stating they would not reimburse/credit us since we waived contingencies. When asked about this, Justin basically replied we are SOL (see e-mails below).
About a week after we close, we encounter a leak. Ironically the old owner (the one who Zillow originally bought the home from) shows up at our door to retrieve a package her husband had sent to their old address (our new home). We got to talking, and I inquired about the leaks. She stated she had full disclosure w Zillow about the multiple leaks. Our disclosures from Zillow showed ZERO leak / plumbing issues.
I thought, no big deal, I'll just take care of it through the home warranty. Well, the home warranty was never paid for (even though it was in our contact). Breech of contract.
Additionally, our HOA documents were never ordered, and the transfer of ownership was never completed. We paid 4 months of HOA in advance through escrow. When I called the HOA to see what was going on, I was told we were considered delinquent on payments (the $ we paid for the advanced HOA payments, was never paid to the HOA- where is that $? No idea). Pretty sure this can be considered fraud. The HOA explained it is the realtors job to order the HOA documents (they're pretty costly, maybe that is why he dropped the ball?) and that it's basically unheard of for someone to not order them. She was as flabbergasted as I to learn all the things our realtor did not do for us. I remember asking multiple times for the documents, to which I was always told, "they'd ordered and you'll be receiving them soon."
The whole process w active and Zillow was so messy... I possibly could have caught that error had both Active and Zillow done their jobs correctly, but there was always something I had to fix in order to close on time, that it just slipped on by. I literally do 99% of Justin's job. He was not present for the home inspection, he was not present for the appraisal. He never offered us a final walk though. He was basically non existent through the whole process. Easy money, huh buddy?
When a home is being sold, there is a lock that is placed on the door for realtors to show the home. Well, our lock was JUST removed on Monday... 2 months after we closed. I could not get anyone from Active to come remove the lock from my home until I literally threatened to rip it off myself (see e-mails). I am posting the e-mails just to show I am not making this up, as I can only imagine this story may seen fictional.
I have been advised to seek legal advice, which we have. After some research, we were able to identify Justin is the broker of Active Realty, so we then placed complaints with the CA Association of Realtors and the CDRE for violations of ethical obligations and not acting in good faith. If this man treats all his clients this way, then he should not have an active license.
I hope no one ever encounters this experience, and am happy to take the hit in order for someone to get the correct treatment when making such a big purchase! My husband and I both work in the medical field. We bust our tails, and do whatever we possibly can to make patients well enough to go home and be with their family. There are days I don't see my family, there are days I work 18 hour shifts, there are days I don't eat for 10 hours. That's my career and I lay my head down at night with a happy heart and clean conscious. I don't know how some people are able to do what they do, but trust me, coming from someone who wants the best for everyone I come in contact with, this is NOT the person to trust with such big life decisions. All he cares about are his paychecks. read more
