NC Real Estate Commission disciplines two Charlotte brokers

North Carolina’s Real Estate Commission announced two disciplinary actions this week, with one Charlotte-area broker having his license suspended and another getting a suspension leveled against him, but having the suspension stayed after he completed a necessary real estate course at the direction of the NCREC.

Richard Tocado, a broker in Charlotte, had his license suspended for one month after he failed to adequately complete courses assigned to him by the NCREC.

Tocado, a multi-year veteran of the Charlotte market, was brought before the real estate commission in March for discrepancies stemming from a property deal he participated in during 2014.

During that year, Tocado acted as a buyer agent in a new construction real estate transaction in the Charlotte area, according to reports from the NCREC.

At the hearing, the commission explained Tocado took extra steps to secure the transaction and offered to rebate $3,000 of his commission to the buyer client. Tocado did disclose the rebate to the original lender, but failed to disclose it to the second lender until the day of closing, which would delay the closing by three days, according to the commission’s report.

Rather than delay the closing, Tocado and the buyer client agreed that Tocado would instead donate the $3,000 to the buyer client’s favorite charity, the report said.

But after closing, Tocado failed to make the agreed donation.

The charity in question was the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

As part of the hearing results in March, Tocado accepted a consent order from the NCREC allowing him to have his one month suspension of his real estate license be stayed if he were to complete two courses from the commission with one course being in ethics and one course in agency – or The Commission’s Issues and Answers in NC Real Estate Practice.

Tocado was also directed to present a receipt to the commission showing his donation of $3,000 to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

But the June 30 deadline for the course completion and charity donation came and went without Tocado having completed the terms and conditions of the consent order.  As a result, Tocado’s license was suspended for one month.

Patrick Monaghan, also a broker in the Charlotte area, faced a similar risk of having his license suspended after his NCREC hearing in September, but Monaghan was able to complete the requirements of his consent order and therefore have the suspension stayed.

According to a report from the commission, in May 2015 Monaghan was serving as broker-in-charge for Northpoint Asset Management LLC and entered into a residential property management agreement for a property in Charlotte.

The monthly rent for this property was $1,000 according to the commission’s report. In July 2015, Monaghan entered into a rental agreement with new tenants who agreed to rent the property for $140 a month and in exchange for the break on the rent the new tenants would make improvements to the property and perform renovations on the property. This is a violation of law, according to the NCREC report.

Additionally, the lease agreement between Monaghan and the new tenants did not contain any description of the renovation work to be done in exchange for the lower rent and the rental agreement that Monaghan gave to the commission included a late fee beyond the limit set by law. Monaghan also collected a security deposit that was beyond the limit set by law, according to the commission.

Furthermore, Monaghan included language in the rental agreement allowing the security deposit to be used for costs not normally associated with a security deposit and allowing the security deposit to be disbursed during the time that the new renters were living in the property. He also did not inform either the tenants or the property owner which bank held this security deposit — all of which are violations of state statute according to the commission.

Monaghan faced a possible license suspension for 4 months, but instead his suspension was stayed with an effective date of Nov. 1 with Monaghan being placed on probation until March 1, 2017, according to the report.

Monaghan was able to avoid suspension by completing one course from the NCREC in property management, one course in ethics and the commission’s Issues and Answers in NC Real Estate Practice Course.

Also, Monaghan had to present documentation to the commission showing he had offered a refund of the excessive fees to the tenants in question, delivered that refund to them and provided evidence that all of his current contracts comply with North Carolina law.

Monaghan’s consent order and the staying of suspension also applied to his company, Northpoint Asset Management LLC.