“Dear PoPville,
A developer in my block flipped a rowhouse into a multi-unit condo over four years ago. Only two of the four units have sold, but the developer (and realtor) have repeatedly misrepresented certain aspects of the listing — the most glaring being the square footage of the units listed.
For instance, early promotional materials had floor plans listing one unit at 795 square feet, but after it failed to sell, the listing slowly increased the square footage. It is now listed at 1,033 square feet — a 30 percent embellishment! This happened in a unit that actually sold on one of the higher floors, too. The floor plan listed the unit at 890, but the listing was described as 1,150 square feet.
Normally, I would say this doesn’t affect me (nosy neighbor alert!), but I’m planning to put my condo on the market shortly and these listings will have a direct impact on how my unit sells. Who should I report this type of activity to? DCRA? The local real estate commission?“