Matt Isbell, a Compass agent who appeared on “Million Dollar Listing,” is accused of trashing a West Hollywood condominium, wreaking $200,000 in flood damages.
Condo owners Aaron Schwid and Youngkey Chung had hired Isbell, saying they returned home after a showing to find the four-story condo flooded, alarms ringing and the Realtor gone, according to an investigative report by NBCLA’s I-Team.
Schwid and Chung had signed a three-month contract with Isbell, hoping to make a quick sale after they bought a new home.
“We felt that instant connection,” Chung told NBC’s I-Team. “We took a calculated risk that we would put everything we have into the new house.”
The couple left town for a few days so that Isbell could show the property. Two days later, they received an offer and went into escrow for an undisclosed price.
A few days later, neighbors alerted them about a major problem.
“We received frantic text messages and calls from our neighbor saying that there were fire alarms going off and water was leaking out of our house,” Chung told NBC.
When the couple returned home, they found the condo’s third-floor sprinklers had been activated, flooding the home. They lost nearly everything, with damages estimated at $200,000.
Schwid and Chung found the fireplace switch turned on, which was confirmed by a remediation firm. They reviewed an hourly breakdown of their natural gas bill, which showed usage spiking just after the property’s home security footage shows Isbell arriving at the home.
Gas usage soared for the next four days while no one was in the unit — which the couple believes triggered the sprinklers.
“Our best guess is that the fireplace remained on for four days,” Schwid told The I-Team. “It heated the room to about 135 degrees, which is what triggers the fire sprinklers to break and explode. And that water is what ruined everything in our house.”
The couple said they confronted Isbell and Compass, who avoided resolving the damages, while also refusing their request that Isbell and Compass walk away from the deal. In the meantime, the couple must pay two mortgages and hope that they can close the deal soon.
If nothing changes, Compass stands to earn more than $100,000 in commissions.
The I-Team reached out to Isbell and Compass. Isbell said he didn’t want to comment on the couple’s allegations. Compass told NBC it would not discuss the matter publicly, but that it would try to resolve the matter through mediation.
Since then, the two sides tried to mediate, but Schwid and Chung said they hit a wall.
Most brokers carry an errors and omissions insurance policy, to cover such incidents, according to real estate attorney Stephen Vokshori. Compass didn’t tell The I-Team why it wasn’t filing a claim.
The couple’s next step could be a lawsuit against Compass and its agent, Isbell.
“I think they’ve got a great case,” Vokshori told The I-Team. “I’d be asking for them to be made whole. So you’ve got your carrying costs for your mortgage, your property taxes, you’re probably going to have attorneys fees.”
— Dana Bartholomew
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