Hate Thy Neighbor: Commissions Rule Everything Around Me
People don’t matter when commissions are on the line especially if you’re my *former* neighbor Dawn Beaudoin of Realty One Group-Cascadia. This is the story of her unending drive for commissions and how that drive put my family and I in a hotel, got me fired from Evergreen Home Loans (with an assist from the cowardice on the part of Tyler McMahon) and cost me well over $100,000.
Life in Change
In 2019 my wife and I were looking for a home to purchase and settle down with our sons after a tumultuous 2018. We spent the majority of 2018 caring for my my mother-in-law; she’d been diagnosed with incurable stage 4 lung cancer, and required 24 hour care. When she ultimately succumbed to the nasty disease, the fallout could not have been worse for the family, but that’s a story for another day. As we closed that chapter of our life, we knew we wanted to settle in my hometown of Washougal so our youngest son could graduate from my alma mater. After renting for awhile, we found a home listed at 2521 Belle Center Rd in Washougal, Washington for $350,000 on nearly 1.5 acres, that was actually listed by a colleague of mine at Realty One Group-Cascadia, Dawn Beaudoin. We couldn’t have been happier and more excited to find a place that matched nearly everything we were looking for in a home. The house needed a substantial amount of repairs but that’s what we wanted: the chance to build sweat equity with a fixer-upper and make the house what WE wanted. (Quickly, if you’re the party that currently has this house under contract, please reach out to me so I can tell you all of the ways the sellers probably lied on the disclosures. They sued the people they bought it from and settled outside of court so all of those “NA’s” and “don’t know” they marked on the disclosures they probably do know. Just a guess on my part)
I wrote up an offer after Dawn Beaudoin informed me that the sellers would accept $335,000 (why she told me this I still don’t know; besides being an ethics violation, it’s just bad business). Since the house was in such disrepair-it didn’t even have a real wall at the back of the house because an addition was ripped off because of black mold-the sellers were willing to carry a contract, which we moved forward with. We closed the deal and my wife and I set forth on our journey to remodel a home. Ironically enough, Dawn would also be our neighbor since she’s shacked up with a guy directly behind the house-this would also allow Dawn to surveil us as she drove by the house daily. I also think the sellers of the home, Gary and Jennifer Cantrell, are staying with Dawn and the guy she’s shacked up with because I’m certain I’ve seen Jennifer drive by the house.
Evergreen Home Loans
As 2020 began, I decided to take a leap of faith and enter the residential mortgage finance world after being approached by two people I thought my were friends, Dawn Bell and Tyler McMahon, of Evergreen Home Loans to become Dawn’s partner as a Junior Loan Officer (narrator: they were, in fact NOT, my friends it turns out. Nothing matters but money. My mom passed away-of no concern to anyone, just deals. Money money money and complaining about coworkers is the Evergreen Home Loans way, you’ve got friends if you’re doing deals) I was incredibly excited for this opportunity since the mortgage side of real estate was very very interesting to me. At the end of January 2020 I joined Evergreen Home Loans and quickly learned that the truth is very pliable in the mortgage world, especially at the West Vancouver Branch Tyler McMahon managed.
I won’t bore you with too many details but there are a few prescient points I should include for the sake of this saga. In March 2020, Covid took over our world. Only a few weeks after I’d travelled to the corporate headquarters of Evergreen Home Loans for a week of training, every person in America was affected by a pandemic that still haunts us to this day. In a business that revolves around relationships, trust and honesty enhanced by meeting face-to-face with clients, it was turned on it’s head in what seemed like a single day. To me though, a man who’s life has been filled with challenges physically and mentally (I know you just made fun of me for being mentally challenged 😛 ), a challenge presented is a challenge almost certainly accepted, especially when I’m learning an entirely new business.
Evergreen Home Loans
Problems began to arise in April at Evergreen Home Loans. One morning I was summoned by Tyler McMahon to meet in his office to go over a few things. I certainly didn’t think anything was amiss since I’d been trying to absorb as much as information as I could while beginning to land my first loan clients. I had one particular friend reach out that had been in the market for a house for some time and now he and his girlfriend were ready to pull the trigger. I began collecting some financial information from them and got them set up with a real estate broker from my old firm, Realty One Group-Cascadia, to start their search. This, come to find out, was the reason I’d be meeting with Tyler. The number one mortgage broker at the West Vancouver branch of Evergreen Home Loans was Azure Calder. Azure and I went way back, she was the ex-wife of a friend and she’d been in the mortgage business almost as long as I was in the real estate business. Over the years we’d worked on a few deals but I didn’t, and never will, trust her so I never referred any business to her. I’ve been the victim of Azure’s greed in a deal she did for me personally back in the mid 00’s. If you ever do business with Azure Calder, be very aware that she will stroke you at every opportunity so keep your eyes and ears open (I’ll be doing a separate post on tactics mortgage brokers, like Evergreen Home Loans brokers, use to make screw consumers). Evidently Azure caught wind that this client had contacted me (I must reiterate the client contacted me directly) so she felt compelled to inform Tyler McMahon that I shouldn’t be able to work with any clients that she deemed her own. This was a serious blow to my business since our spheres of influence greatly overlapped but, when you’re the big money-maker in the office, you get to call the shots, especially if Tyler McMahon is the manager. Another challenge presented, another challenge accepted.
We worked tirelessly on our home, both inside and out, foregoing vacations and most activities to focus on the house. If you’ve ever done a remodeling project, you know that the best laid plans are constantly being trashed and re-written, oftentimes at a moments notice. Add a global pandemic into the mix and you’ve got yourself a classic clusterfuck. We ran through numerous contractors, costing us valuable time and money. We even had one contractor inform us his son had died the night before he was to begin work. Imagine my horror when I sent him a text message on Sunday night checking what time he’d arrive Monday morning to begin work and receiving this response: My son is daed (sic). I don’t truly know if his son died and I obviously hope he did not.
Losing a Parent
Through the pandemic we spent tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours remodeling the house, working through the issues with the myriad of contractors that would finally get us to the point the house would pass an appraisal and we could secure a conventional home loan. Then in mid-August, life came to a screeching halt. Mom had not been feeling good, she had pain in her hip and leg that was getting progressively worse very quickly. Between Friday morning and Sunday evening the pain had increased so much she could barely walk. Early Monday morning I carried her to the car to go to the ER. Eight days later Mom passed away from acute leukemia brought on by the suppression of her immune system due to the anti-rejection medications she took to for a lung transplant in 2015. I was devastated and still struggle to this day. Mom was an incredibly important part of my life.
Working from home is a blessing for many folks. The opportunity to be closer to loved ones and save on expenses was a great thing for many people. I was not one of these people. I’m the type of person that thrives on the energy of others. Being around like-minded people that I can learn from is a vital part of my professional existence and Covid stifled all of that. I draw energy from others and having to sit in front of a computer and cell phone wasn’t my idea of a good time but we were allowed to go into the office one day a week to meet which was a whole helluva lot better than no days away from the home office. Losing Mom threw me for a loop and to be completely transparent, I was in a deep depression.
If I’ve learned anything in life it’s that our brain can do some pretty crazy stuff and take us to some pretty dark places but if we pay attention and understand this we can help ourselves. Realizing I wasn’t doing well I sought professional help in the form of mental health counselor. Around this time I began receiving communications from Mrs. Cantrell about when the financing would be complete for the house. What began as communication quickly turned to what I consider badgering. Keep in mind I was under absolutely no requirement to keep her or anyone else updated on anything, I was only obligated to pay off the loan. If I wanted to say I was going to pay the note off with the proceeds from the Mega Millions win I’d dreamt about then so be it. This is where the story takes a turn, a turn that would change my life and my family’s life for a long time.
Sabotage
For some reason, Jennifer and Dawn Beaudoin (who is a personal friend to Jennifer as well as real estate broker and all-around life advisor evidently) took it upon themselves to contact Evergreen Home Loans. What they said and did I’m still not privy to but when I received a call from Tyler McMahon the first thing he mentioned was the two of them by name. He said they’d called and were “causing trouble” but he assured me he’d take care of it. Tyler wouldn’t tell me what they were saying and that phone call lasted less than ten minutes. I wasn’t concerned since Tyler gave me his assurance and, if I had unwittingly done something wrong, Evergreen seemed like a pretty forgiving organization. One staff member had recently received a DUI, another had been dismissed after numerous warnings over issues in the office while still other employees failed to participate in company meetings and events. Heck even Tyler had to contact the CEO of the company because he was in the middle of a lawsuit with his ex-girlfriend that had turned ugly while he was allegedly living with another Evergreen Home Loan employee. Several weeks passed without a word from Tyler or anyone else at EHL.
It was a rainy Monday afternoon when I got a call from Tyler. I really didn’t know what to expect I guess but I certainly didn’t think I’d hear the words he said: I’m sorry but we’ve got to let you go. I was stunned. The phone call lasted four minutes. In that time he told me the reason I was being fired was because of the actions of Jennifer and Dawn Beaudoin but the paperwork would say it was for “lack of production”. It felt like Mike Tyson punched me in the gut with brass knuckles while The Rock cracked a chair over my noggin. I don’t know if you’ve ever been fired but this was my first time and trust me when I say it can and probably will throw you for a loop. I guess the biggest question I have is “why?”. If these other employees have such long leashes and seemingly get away with anything, why then was I treated differently? Why were my commission checks at least two weeks late every time I closed a deal save for one? Why was the close date for my last deal mysteriously moved at the last minute so that when I was fired I wouldn’t get paid for it? Why didn’t anyone from HR or any other employee at Evergreen Home Loans reach out to me, besides Tyler McMahon, to at least ask me what was going on? Why did Dawn Beaudoin and Jennifer have knowledge of the inner workings of Evergreen Home Loans and possibly company policy? Why would I be fired for lack of production by a manager that stripped me of a large portion of my customer base? Why would Jennifer and Dawn Beaudoin contact my work to “cause problems” especially considering Dawn Beaudoin had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with any of this? Why was I discriminated against? Who else at Evergreen Home Loans had knowledge of all of this? How much of my personal information was viewed by people at Evergreen Home Loans? Did Dawn Beaudoin have some kind of leverage over Tyler? Why were people that had no material business with Evergreen Home Loans able to manufacture outrage over a transaction they had nothing to do with? And last but certainly not least why would Dawn and Jennifer want to ruin me and hurt my family besides the obvious-Dawn will do anything for a commission?
Getting fired from a job has serious implications in many ways but none more serious than the damage it does to your chances for a home loan. I was dead in the water; I tried hard money lenders but a global pandemic has this weird affect where if you get fired from a job people don’t want to lend you money. The Cantrell’s had absolutely no interest in working with me. I tried, multiple times, to continue payments to them but they didn’t want them. Their only goal was to make sure me and my family lost the house. Well, now they’ve got their wish.
Now I know what you’re thinking. “Just sue them!” And I totally hear you. I went to more attorneys than I’ve got fingers but as you’ve just read, this isn’t a simple case. The attorneys either weren’t accepting new clients, had no clue how to handle a situation like this, weren’t capable of handling a case like this but their ego wouldn’t let them admit it (the pure arrogance displayed by a number of the attorneys I contacted was astonishing. Several of them tried the entire case as I spoke to them with far less information than I’ve presented in this post. They didn’t have any interest in hearing more) or just flat out ghosted me. I even spoke with the attorney that represented the sellers the Cantrell’s purchased the house from in 2018. Evidently the Cantrell’s sued the sellers for not disclosing information and settled before the case went to court which tells me they knew the extent to which the house needed work. Above all though, attorneys aren’t cheap. To handle only the real estate portion, not the civil or employment parts, I was looking at $10,000 just to begin and I’ve been told the entire lawsuit could cost upwards of $100,000. The employment aspect would require another specialized attorney as would the civil portion. After plowing well over $100,000 into repairs and tens of thousands more into the down payment and monthly payments, I was tapped out. I used reserves, investments, retirement accounts-all to get to the point the house would finance. We don’t use credit cards, if I can’t pay for it with cash I don’t need it, so I didn’t have access to big lines of credit. This was a perfect shitstorm and I surely wasn’t going to make my shitstorm anyone else’s by borrowing a bunch of money from family or friends especially when $10,000 is just to get the party started.
Death of Another Parent
The last three weeks have been the cherry on top of this bullshit sundae. I had been fighting this battle myself since an attorney wasn’t in the picture. I found incredible information on the internet, a lot of information attorneys I spoke with weren’t aware of, but none of that matters when you don’t have a chance to defend yourself. I filed a notice of appearance within the correct time frame-didn’t matter I filed a motion with the Skamania County Courts to try and get in front of a judge-didn’t matter, the judge denied my motion. So the day after the Skamania County Sheriff drove to our house to inform us my father-in-law had passed away (my wife was his only child), we were unceremoniously forced out of our dream house without a chance to defend ourself. I guess some people just know the right people in the right places.
Here’s the part of the story that is a real kick in the family jewels-an ending I didn’t see coming for a million years-the Cantrell’s listed the house for only $400,000. I couldn’t believe it. After this entire saga, drawn out now for almost two years and the last year only costing them more and more money, they are selling it for $15,000 more than they bought it in early 2018. Rather than trying to renegotiate with me so we could all end up on the right side of this they decided to go for my jugular, to cause me financial, personal and professional harm. If they sell it for $400,000-which could be a stretch- they’ll pay approximately $24,000 in commission, $7,120 in excise tax and several thousand more in miscellaneous closing fees. Let’s call it $35,000 total in fees, plus any work they did before listing it. Maybe $5000? So if they sold it for list price they’d roughly net $360,000. This doesn’t include all of the other costs they’ve had either, I’m sure, but based solely on the sales price, they inflicted all of that pain on me and my family for the *possibility* of making $25,000 and it’s highly likely that it’ll be far less than that. I think it’s safe to assume I’d have been willing to work with them on the $25,000.
Dawn Beaudoin
In the end, who ends up without a scratch, no attorney fees, no stress and three commissions in their pocket? The clear winner in all of this: Dawn Beaudoin and Realty One Group-Cascadia. I informed the principles of ROG-Cascadia of Dawn’s actions months ago but they didn’t seem to care. If you ask Dawn she sells 4 or 5 houses a week-at least that’s what she’d tell me every time I spoke with her-so I can see why ROG-Cascadia didn’t want to cut her loose. I know this is conjecture but I firmly believe Dawn has been steering this disaster from the beginning. I don’t know why she had/has it out for me, but when we all get to court, and we will get to court some day, I aim to find out. I’m writing this in the hopes that not one person or family has to endure this type of hell. So that the consumers out there know that there’s a lot of unsavory people that will smile and make you feel all warm and fuzzy but truly only care about their pocketbook and status. They’ll crush anyone in their path, people be damned, which is why they drive nicer cars than me. Why they have fancier stuff than me. As you can imagine, my mental health has been a disaster but that doesn’t matter to the Dawn Beaudoin’s and Tyler McMahon’s of the world. They don’t care how deeply they plunged me into depression, contemplating the worst, at a complete loss, not knowing how to continue in life. Every day is a challenge, like I’ve said, but I’m not a quitter; I’ll never be a quitter. I have and will continue to persevere despite the pain these horrible people have caused me and my family.
I understand that I sound like someone disgruntled, and trust me I am unhappy with the way all of this has turned out because it never had to be this way. Honest to goodness I’m writing this for the future me’s, so they understand and know who to watch out for. I’ve sat silently for too long, I’ve watched as these bad apples both in mortgage and real estate take advantage of their customers and I’m fed up. I’m making it my mission in life to hold these bad actors accountable.
Accountability-Reach Out
If you feel like you’ve been a victim of anyone mentioned in this article or anyone else in the mortgage or real estate fields, please reach out to me. You can find me on Instagram @manvsmood, or simply email me at William (@) manvsmood dot com, leave a comment on the blog or go to the ManVsMood Facebook Group I have set up and join so I can get your story out. This is a grassroots movement and I will need help but we’ve got to start. There will be a podcast series, this website will become a resource for victims of mortgage and real estate injustices and I will begin speaking out very publicly to bring this to light. These greedy people know what they’re doing, they’re slick and well funded and they count on a lack of connection between former clients. It’s time to end this and make sure the consumers money is protected not stolen to pay for a brokers toys.
I.Am.Will