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Elmo and Meliitta Marquette
(Steve Duin)
The Oregon Real Estate Agency has reprimanded the real-estate license of Sandra Bittler, the realtor who - with husband Michael Leland - purchased a two-acre lot in southwest Portland from Elmo and Meliitta Marquette for one-tenth of its real-market value.
That "reprimand" falls short of a suspension or revocation. It is the maximum disciplinary action Gene Bentley, the Real Estate Commissioner, is allowed to take when the agency determines the conduct does not result in "significant damage or injury," or exhibit incompetence or dishonesty.
And it means, deputy Commissioner Dean Owens said Wednesday, that Bittler "never had a break in her licensing" as a result of the Marquette transaction.
The agency's final stipulated order cites three violations of state law by Bittler in the November 2013 transaction. The 2.02-acre property at the heart of the deal was eventually returned to the Marquettes -- Elmo is 86, Meliitta 88 -- in a settlement that allowed the elderly couple to keep the $22,000 purchase price.
Bittler failed to acknowledge in the sales agreement that she was a licensed real-estate broker representing herself as the buyer in the transaction.
She did not include a "verbal agreement" not to develop the property in the written sales agreement.
"Bittler said it was not part of the written agreement," the OREA notes, "because of the friendly nature of the transaction and because she did not know how the agreement might affect the deed if it was in writing."
Finally, Bittler failed to turn in copies of the transaction documents to her employer, Oregon First, as required by law.
The OREA order -- which Bentley signed on Feb. 18 -- notes that Bittler "said because she is a principal broker herself, she did not think state law required her to submit her personal transactions for another broker's approval."
Oregon First terminated Bittler on Aug. 30, immediately after the company learned she did not turn in the paperwork.
"She said she didn't know she was supposed to," Mickey J. Lindsay, vice president and managing principal broker at Oregon First, said at the time. "I guess that's a continuing education problem for her."
As Owens notes, "A reprimand is a stern warning with a written documentation that goes into the file. It's the first step of disciplinary action. Should an instance like that occur again, the next step would be a suspension or revocation."
The
, by auditor Rob Pierce, notes that OREA enforcement records "show no previous complaints or administrative actions against Sandra Bittler."
In her interviews with Pierce, Bittler -- who did not respond to a request for comment -- maintains that Elmo Marquette rang her doorbell in November 2013 and announced he was ready to sell the lot.
The two acres were listed with a real-market value of $220,400 on the Marquettes' 2013 property-tax statement.
"Bittler said it was (Elmo) Marquette that set the asking price at $22,000," the OREA notes. "Bittler said she had only done residential home transactions and was not well versed in bare land transactions, but she thought the price seemed a little low."
According to the OREA investigation, Bittler subsequently contacted Heidi Gamelgaard, a senior escrow officer at Fidelity National Title, "specifically asking Gamelgaard if the subject property was a buildable lot," and seeking information about other issues with the lot.
After she learned part of the lot had an environmental overlay, Bittler sent Gamelgaard another email.
In that email, the OREA notes, "Bittler said she thought the subject property was not really all that valuable, considering the fact the subject property was landlocked, combined with the zoning restrictions. In her email ... Bittler said, 'It would be awesome to clear it and extend our back yard if it really was only for $20K."
-- Steve Duin
sduin@oregonian.com
503-221-8597; @SteveDuin