Mansell & Company

 

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18

Simpatico L.

Los Altos, CA

They may be ok if you want them to sell your house.  Watch out if you are a buyer and they represent the seller.

I bought a house and Mansell was the seller's broker.  Their brochures and MLS listing--fortunately, as it turned out, all in print--claimed the house had certain features we considered a priority (also in notes we maintained prior to the purchase).  After the transaction we discovered those features were absent and worse, there was a lurking problem not disclosed earlier: asbestos.  

We brought it to Mansell's attention and asked for their cooperation in resolving the issues.  Their answer? They claimed they wrote their brochure/MLS on what the seller told them (i.e., they didn't verify the seller's claims) and since the seller had moved out of state, they (i.e. Mansell) said they weren't responsible for anything and I should work it out with my broker and the seller! My (buyer's) broker admitted they were negligent and were cooperative in resolving matters amicably.  With Mansell it was a whole different story! They blamed it on the seller who said it wasn't his problem.  Even though my broker acknowledged his error and was willing to work with Mansell and me to resolve matters, Mansell went into the "deny, deny, deny" mode and claimed they were only relaying what the seller had represented to them.  

Well, if Mansell was just repeating what the seller had apparently claimed what value were they adding for which they were collecting the large commissions?  And why didn't they indicate in the sales brochures or MLS a "caveat emptor" since the features were not verified by the listing broker?

This messy story ended when Mansell finally settled.  It was only after a lot of unnecessary, completely avoidable conflict, and I feel strongly it reflects poorly on Mansell's professionalism and (lack of) business integrity.  

Moral of the story: watch out for them if you are doing business with Mansell.  If they represent you move out of the state after the transaction so you aren't held responsible for their negligence (and misrepresentation).  If you are on the other side of the transaction all the more reason to be extra vigilant or walk away from the deal.

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