Get Off My Lawn
The owners of do-it-yourself real estate site ISoldMyHouse.com want three members of the New Hampshire Real Estate Commission to give up their roles in the group's investigation to determine whether the Web site must get a state license. The AP reported that the Web site's parent company, East-West Mortgage Co. Inc. of Danvers, Mass., is getting unwanted state attention after the state Realtors association complained last August that the site is operating as an unlicensed broker.
"In December, Bank Commissioner Peter Hildreth ruled that ISoldMyHouse.com was performing a banking function for a mortgage company, so it did not need a real estate license. He dismissed the complaint," the AP wrote. "However, Attorney General Kelly Ayotte ordered the commission to keep investigating, and in February the Realtors association sued the banking commissioner over his decision. East-West Mortgage then asked that three of the five real estate commissioners -- Barbara Heath, Nancy LeRoy and Arthur Slattery -- excuse themselves from hearing its case because they are Realtors. Slattery and LeRoy also are past presidents of the Realtors association."
Here's more from the Manchester Union-Leader: "The commission did not notify East-West that it would be deciding the motion to recuse or any other matter affecting East-West's rights at its meeting on May 17, 2005," [East-West lawyers Christopher C. Gallagher and Jeanne P. Herrick] wrote. 'It did not provide East-West with an opportunity to present evidence or an opportunity to inquire into commissioners' connections with the association as would be likely to improperly influence their judgment. Such a disregard of East-West's rights suggests that the respondent's concerns regarding the commissioners' predilections are well-founded. In a telephone interview yesterday, Gallagher said, 'The situation is serious enough that if they don't grant the motion, then this is a preliminary step that would precede an appeal to the Supreme Court.'"
Keep in mind that this appears to be one more attempt by offline real estate agents to fight off the encroachment of -- gasp -- competition brought by the Internet. Online brokers' practices, as well as sites like ISoldMyHouse.com, are thriving as people take advantage of discount brokerage fees and the ability to sell their homes with a prefab kit rather than relying on the "full-service" options offered by realtors.
Also remember that the National Association of Realtors recently had to back off a proposal that would have hobbled online discount brokerages after the U.S. Justice Department reportedly told the Realtors that the move would provoke a government lawsuit.
You Are Worth a Lot of Money
Internet venture capitalists are discovering that people who need people can be the most filthy rich people of all. The New York Times ran a story on the trend: "In 2002, Tod Francis, David Sze and George Zachary were a rare species in Silicon Valley. They were venture capitalists -- V.C.'s -- who believed that big money could still be made investing in Internet companies that catered to consumers, despite the billions that venture firms collectively lost in the late 1990's on a long list of now forgotten Web start-ups like EthnicGrocer and the sports retailer MVP.com. These days, though, they have plenty of company. Every other venture capitalist one encounters in Silicon Valley now seems eager to reinvent himself as an expert who can spot hot new consumer-driven Internet ventures."
Reporter Gary Rivlin noted that many of the businesses that vaporized in the dot-com meltdown did so because they specialized in isolated, people-oriented tasks -- think Webvan, the defunct online grocery store -- but a more rational approach to such businesses is bringing them back into vogue.
"RazorGator, a site for finding tickets to sold-out sports and music events, received $26 million last month from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, among others. Also last month, Thefacebook.com, a Web site wildly popular with college students, got $12.7 million in financing from Accel Ventures," Rivlin wrote, noting also that it's not always a game of shrewdness. "Venture has always been a business in which all but the boldest run in herds, chasing the latest trends. The shift back to Internet ventures serving consumers is also fueled by a paucity of promising investment opportunities in telecommunications and software right now." We knew there had to be a rational explanation; it couldn't be all about us.
People Really Do Use the Internet
That's what Ocean County, N.J., officials discovered when a faulty circuit board at Verizon's central office kept the county clerk's Web site from posting election results from this week's gubernatorial primary until nearly 12 hours after polls closed Tuesday night. The Asbury Park Press reported that county residents were less than thrilled with the tech team's repair speed. Clerk Carl W. Block provided a sample from his e-mail in-box:
"Here's one: 'Where are the results? Nice job.'
"'I feel that your department has let us down.'
"'I was disappointed (the results) weren't there in real time. Now I'm really disappointed to see they're not there this morning.'"
Look on the bright side, Mr. Block. Most people probably don't even know when their states' primaries happen.
The Face That Launched a Thousand E-Mails
Florida Democrats, meanwhile, are trying to use GOP Rep. Katherine Harris's star power against her -- Internet-style. Here's the story from the Miami Herald:
"Just 24 hours after Harris declared her intention to challenge Democrat U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson for reelection, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee plastered Harris's picture on an e-mail sent to several hundred thousand contributors and activists. ... The e-mail is the strongest signal to date that Democrats hope Harris's appearance on the ballot will benefit them ... by stirring Democratic anger over the 2000 presidential election, which Democratic nominee Al Gore lost -- by 537 votes in Florida. The e-mail recounts Harris's dual roles as Florida secretary of state and co-chair of President Bush's Florida campaign, along with her decision to declare Bush the winner of Florida's 27 electoral votes -- despite Democratic opposition and widespread voting irregularities."
