If you’re a real estate agent, there are a few tips and tricks to success. And one of them is: DON’T BURN THE PLACE DOWN.
A real estate agent in Australia got in some hot water a while back, when she accidentally burned a multi-million-dollar property to the ground, while preparing for an open house.
The house had renters at the time, and the agent was running around tidying a few things up.
She noticed some bedding that was hanging out back to dry . . . and thought it looked bad . . . so she balled it up, took it downstairs, and threw it on a shelf under a lamp. She then turned that light on.
About 20 minutes later, a major fire broke out, and a majority of the house was burned down to the studs.
They later determined that it started because of the bedding and the basement light . . . apparently the light heated the blankets up, which were right up against it. They caught fire, and it tore through the house.
This happened a few years back, and the case was just decided in court.
The owner told a judge that the real estate agent admitted it was her fault, telling him, “Oh my God . . . I think I have burnt down your house.” She even suggested that it was the bedding that probably did it.
But in court, she argued that the owner and the renters were also to blame, because she wasn’t aware the lamp would cause anything on the shelf to heat up like that.
In the end, the court ruled that the real estate agent’s negligence was at fault, saying, “[She] actively created the risk of fire and the consequent harm.”
The company she worked for was ordered to pay damages to both the homeowner and the renters who lost all their belongings in the fire.