patrick.net

A "grievance"?

He has a broker’s license, he says, but he doesn’t run a brokerage or sell real estate, and he is not a Realtor or a member of OCAR.

I agree. He is not subject to OCAR's jurisdiction at all. This is a nuisance action, and IrvineHousingBlog/Roberts should see if they have any relief under an Anti-SLAPP cause of action.

This just shows how pathetic the used house salesman industry really is.

isn't this going to fall under frivolous lawsuit category?

They need to do whatever they can to try to keep their image from sinking any further. I hope he files a suit and gets big $$$$ from OCAR.

The IR blog is one of the best, well-written, creative housing blogs out there. What a royal pain in the ass to have this happen.

PasadenaNative says

The IR blog is one of the best, well-written, creative housing blogs out there. What a royal pain in the ass to have this happen.

You can't beat those graphics. I don't know where he comes up with those, but they are absolutely hilarious.

This is going to do nothing but thrust him into the spotlight and make the OCAR look like complete fools. They actually want him to appear in front of them, behind closed doors in secret, for a "hearing", yet the accusers still choose to remain anonymous. The whole thing is a farce. I hope he does finally make it to 60 Minutes like his latest post suggests.

I hope nothing ever happens to Long Beach Housing Blog. That guy is hilarious.

They already threatened me over my previous tagline "What your realtor won't tell you"

So I changed that to be safer. Pretty sure they can't do much about me because I don't even belong to their evil lobbying group.

I like this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sicyi17cT2c&feature=player_embedded - realtor caught lying on television.

They already threatened me over my previous tagline “What your realtor won’t tell you”

You should change it back. They don't have any jurisdiction over you, and you're allowed to state opinion and provide this information. It's not defamation, and it's not a trademark violation. You aren't singling out any single realtor. They would be hard-pressed to come up with a cause of action. With their ease of access to the media, they have the ability to counter anything you said quite easily, so the bar is quite high.

I bet if someone challenged the trademark "realtor," they'd probably win. It has become a generic term to describe a used house salesman, whether such a person meets the technical definition that NAR made up or not. Similar to how Xerox almost lost its trademark back in the day, and how RollerBlade should probably lose theirs, and maybe even Kleenex.

ChrisLA says

I like this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sicyi17cT2c&feature=player_embedded - realtor caught lying on television.

Realtor caught lying? Is that similar to the video "human caught breathing"?

corntrollio says

bet if someone challenged the trademark “realtor,” they’d probably win. It has become a generic term to describe a used house salesman, whether such a person meets the technical definition that NAR made up or not.

That's a great point. Maybe we should all put together a pre-emptive lawsuit to challenge the trademark on "realtor". Would cost money I guess, but maybe it's possible to do independently, since there's overwhelming evidence that realtor has passed into the public domain as everyday speech, and means nothing special to most people.

That’s a great point. Maybe we should all put together a pre-emptive lawsuit to challenge the trademark on “realtor”. Would cost money I guess, but maybe it’s possible to do independently, since there’s overwhelming evidence that realtor has passed into the public domain as everyday speech, and means nothing special to most people.

I'm quite certain I had no idea there was even a distinction between "real estate agent" and "realtor" until NAr jumped all over you for the failure to put "R" behind the word realtor a while back. And I've worked in the mortgage industry since 2003.