Baja Fair Trade Group Expelled from AMPI The members of the Baja Fair Trade real estate group have been expelled from the local real estate organization in Rosarito (AMPI) for advocating Baja real estate reform. The group recently announced that they would promote the concepts of Full Disclosure, Escrow, and Title Insurance in order to protect buyers in the Baja marketplace. The announcement was severely criticized by a local group of real estate agents. These individuals accused the group of slander and bad attitudes, and orchestrated their summary expulsion from AMPI. Brian Flock, an expelled Baja Fair Trade member, said "Disclosure clearly hit a nerve within the old guard leadership of the Rosarito associations. I suppose that disclosure was too much of a threat to the bread-and-butter of their businesses." A week after the affair, AMPI elected a different board of directors. Baja Fair Trade had presented a proposal to improve consumer protection in the Baja real estate market. Their proposal included a disclosure form that would require all members to disclose known defects in a property to potential buyers. For example, Baja Fair Trade would require members to disclose sewage issues or title litigation. Additionally, Baja Fair Trade argued that agents should advise clients to use Escrow, obtain Title Insurance, legal guidance, a home inspection, and use a professional closing method. Although these measures reflect the ordinary expectations of any buyer, the proposals were treated as heretical by some members of the Rosarito real estate groups. The brouhaha began when an AMPI member, Ronald Hoff, circulated an email alleging that the group members were "Ugly Americans", and arguing that "for you to come here and promote yourselves as "experts" who are going to "clean things up" is both laughable and embarrassing". Hoff asked "who appointed you sheriff?", and accused the group of associating with the Gringo Gazette. Then, Willie Bautista, the president of another local real estate organization (APIR), sent a letter to Baja Fair Trade rebuking them for their "bad attitude". Bautista wrote "You have the attitude that we should change our ways to make our methods of doing business just like in the States. You assert that the Baja Fair Trade group will clean things up and make it safe for the buyer to purchase in Mexico…It is your underlying attitude that needs adjustment. You are new here. You are foreigners. You do not understand the "Mexican way of doing real estate"" Bautista demanded that Baja Fair Trade apologize for their actions, adding that if they did not "we refuse to forgive and forget". Baja Fair Trade member Victor Loza, who is one of three Mexican members of the group, wrote that "the message sent is an unfortunate use of a leadership position to multiply the idea that Americans must be silent when in our country", adding that as a Mexican professional he disagreed with this "bully attitude". He warned that sending the wrong message would hurt business, saying "imagine how clients will view our association" after they heard about the affair. In a written statement signed by AMPI leader Gustavo Torres, Loza was prohibited from becoming an AMPI member and told that "this information is to be shared with other local associations". Members Brian and Ivonne Flock were ordered to immediately apologize, and notified that if they did not, they would be summarily dismissed from AMPI. The Flocks did not apologize, and Torres attempted to physically prevent Flock from leaving the premises with a written copy of the dismissal letter. Flock said "The so-called justice process by the leaders has proven to be a sham." Baja Fair Trade has posted the letters, emails, and expulsion documents on their website at www.bajafairtrade.com. This incident is expected to seriously hurt the reputations of both AMPI and APIR. However, a week after the incident, AMPI elected a new board of directors. The new officials have solid real estate credentials and may be able to restore AMPI’s credibility after this affair.
|
||
