Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning
Psalm 73:12-14
Just when I think it can't get any more painful the milestone drops again and I feel the crushing force. Tonight was surreal to say the least; our economic circumstances becoming critical as our adversaries go unpunished and are rewarded for their service to this world.
I couldn't sleep, again. It's been the typical scenario for us for a few years now. I end up going to bed about 2:30a.m. or so; and passing like ships in the night Mike gets up about that same time to come out and have a cup of hot tea while listening to a sermon on his IPOD. He wears himself out until about 5:00a.m. or so and then comes back to bed. And this is the routine on a good night. Some nights are much worse for Mike, when he goes virtually days without sleep.
This night was very special as I was unable to go to sleep until 4:30a.m. Mike went to bed at 4:00am. Its very hard to explain. We love God and know His Word is truth; yet at the same time we live in this fleshly body that is having to deal with this physical crisis. We would both rather curl up in a prayer closet and never come out again until this is over, but that option is neither rational or available to us.
We don't discuss it much; but we have shared on a couple of occasions in some weakened emotional state how we worry about losing one another to the stresses of this case. What can you do? You do the only thing you know; get before God and lay out your cares and concerns before Him in prayer. You build yourself up with the Word, and you just keep inhaling and exhaling.
The way I have been dealing with this has been through prayer, reading and, most recently the blogging of our story. It gets difficult trying to explain it over and over to people; and Mike and I both have sensed the leading of God for the past year in authoring a book about our journey through this fire. And of course; this is with the belief that at the end of it all we will be able to show others how much time and energy we wasted through the frailty of our flesh. We pray to be able to share how all along God has had a plan to work out what is best for our call to serve Him here, and ultimately, our eternal souls.
Back to our story. . .
We purchased our home in November 2007. After a series of events led up to our need to retain an attorney; we were advised by him to file a formal complaint with the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC). Okay, who are they? Well they are the agency that oversees the education, licensing and behavior of real estate brokers, agents and such for the state of Texas.
So, just over two (2) years ago, November 11, 2008, we filed a complaint with TREC. The voluminous report was sent to TREC's headquarters in Austin via Certified Mail With Return Receipt Requested. The report was submitted in a nicely labeled three (3) inch, D ring binder with exhibit tabs and a detailed indexing of the exhibits. In addition to the exhibit attachments we painfully drafted an eleven (11) page chronology of events describing every piece of supporting documentation we had available to us at that time.
Since the time of our filing the report, many more pieces of damning evidence have been made available through a legal discovery process where all parties are required to produce their files. This additional evidence along with deposition transcripts have been provided to the TREC investigator(s) by our attorney; all at our expense.
Our first investigator was apparently terminated by TREC; as related to us during a telephone conversation with TREC's office. Subsequently, a second investigator was assigned to the case and spoke to us on a few occasions during which time we provided him with additional evidence and information via emails and faxes.
After being assigned to the case for approximately six (6) months, the second investigator reportedly retired before concluding his investigation. We were never personally informed; however our attorney received a call form a third investigator. Apparently this third investigator was a retired civil judge who was astounded that our investigation had gone on for so long.
Great, finally someone is going to take the bull by the horns and get this investigation completed! Ha!!!
No investigation by this third investigator was ever concluded; and during this time the trial against our realtor proceeded forward on September 10, 2010. At the conclusion of this trial we successfully obtained a "guilty" jury verdict for statutory fraud, negligence and violations of the Texas "Deceptive Trade & Practices Act" (DTPA).
Jury verdict in and still no investigation is concluded. Following the first trial our attorney contacts TREC and is told that yet a fourth investigator has been assigned to our case.
On December 20, 2010, and again on January 30, 2011, I searched TREC's "disciplinary actions" database and found there still had been no disciplinary action taken against our realtor who had been found guilty of statutory fraud and negligence just over four (4) months earlier, on September 17, 2010. I did find several disciplinary actions against other Realtors similar to the one below:
Disciplinary Action "John Doe": Revocation of salesperson license, effective September 30, 2010; Assessment of an administrative penalty of $3,000, entered September 30, 2010
Reason: Failing to provide, within a reasonable time, information requested by the commission that relates to a formal or informal complaint to the commission in violation of Tex. Occ. Code Ch. §1101.652(a)(6); failing within a reasonable time to provide information to the Commission in response to Commission's request for same in connection with an application for renewal of real estate salesperson license in violation of 22 Tex. Admin. Code §535.91(c).
So John Doe Realtor gets a $3,000 penalty and his licensed revoked; yet our DTPA violating Realtor is found guilty by a jury in a civil court of law for statutory fraud, and is not punished and still allowed to sell homes as a Realtor / BROKER!
At the beginning of this blog I stated that tonight was surreal. Well, while our guilty Realtor goes unpunished and continues selling homes in the area, we continue dealing with the court delays brought on by the sellers' Realtors. Tonight I stumbled upon their newly launched Facebook business page. Good news, they just received a new CENTURY 21 National Award!
PSALM 73:
18 Surely You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.
21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was vexed in my mind.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.
