Rumors were flying last week that Iggy's House, a discount broker, is out of business. If they're not, they sure are acting like it. According to one of their clients, Janice Dowden, of Burleson, Texas, they aren't returning phone calls or emails.

That's put her in an uncomfortable position. She hired Iggy's House to list her home for zero commission. Now she's got a contract and wants the listing changed in the MLS to Pending, so other Realtors will know the status and not waste their time or gas showing her house.

She got nowhere with the Texas Real Estate Commission -- they told her that Iggy's is listed as an active broker. She needed to talk to them or an attorney, they told her.

She faxed a copy of her listing agreement and sales contract to MetroTex, a Dallas-area association of Realtors. Seems Metrotex couldn't find Iggy anywhere either, but they obliged Ms. Dowden by updating her listing to Contract Pending, after two days of trying to find Iggy.

Dowden's counting herself lucky she wasn't hurt by Iggy's. She says if you visit Trulia.com or other listing services, there's lots of buzz about Iggy's.

"I understand some sellers may have paid for a more comprehensive service from Iggy's, and some buyers are expecting a refund of part of their commission from Iggy's," she says.

She says she's concerned that MLSs need some guidance as to how to handle a situation where a broker goes out of business. Her MetroTex contact took care of her problem, but he had to go to a supervisor to find out the procedure.

"The contract allows me to cancel the contract with them at will," she says, "Other folks who have not sold, though, may not be so lucky -- it might be iffy for them to hire another broker without an official cancellation from Iggy's.

She has a point. For buyers or sellers who don't have Ms. Dowden's knowledge or persistence, what happens to them?

A procedure to handle this sort of problem should be made available to consumers, she suggests.

Dowden had her house on the market for about nine months. After going FSBO, hiring a fee-for-service broker, and then Iggy's house to sell her home, she says she would have been better off paying a six percent commission. "On a $200,000 house, $12,000 in commission is just too much," she says, and that's why she tried the other routes.

In fact, there was one nice Realtor she now wishes she had hired.

"I'd like to give a plug for Dwayne Peebles with Coldwell Banker," she says without irony. "He acted like a professional, even though I didn't list with him when he wanted me to."

Published: July 7, 2008

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.