“You’re actually uneducated, as I found a lot of people on the island.” – Matt Strickland
“[Y]ou guys (are) trying to stop Modern Realty from taking over. Best believe buddy, we’re coming for all of you. So if you want to stay in business step up your game.” – Matt Strickland
“The Navy is aware of the accusations against LT Strickland and the alleged conduct is incompatible with the Navy’s ethos and core values.” – Lt. Commander Katherine Koenig, Joint Region Marianas
“This guy should not be in the Navy. And he definitely shouldn’t be in the real estate business.” – veteran and alleged victim
With every new allegation made against a real estate agent and broker on Guam comes the cold realization that no matter how alluring the marketing, or the appearance of professionalism, you just can’t trust many people in the business.
Real estate broker James “Matt” Strickland is the subject of several complaints ranging from unethical to illegal conduct in his profession. He denies it all.
Mr. Strickland is the principal broker and owner of Modern Realty, Guam. He admitted also to being an active duty member of the U.S. military command on Guam; reportedly in the Navy. In an August 13, 2021 letter to then-president of the Guam Association of Realtors, Shawn Blas, Mr. Strickland wrote, “I’m a nuclear trained naval officer with a top secret clearance, awarded many times over for the highest levels of integrity and honor, courage, and commitment.”
Modern Realty Guam perhaps is the island’s fastest-growing brokerage firm, with a sleek and easy-to-use one-stop website and excellent social media marketing, especially to U.S. military service members and veterans. In July, a married couple – a military member and her medically-retired combat veteran husband – moved to Guam, fell in love with the island, and wanted to buy a home. He was referred to Mr. Strickland.
“We hit it off, and he showed us this house in Ipan that we just fell in love with,” the veteran, who asked not to be named, told Kandit. He and Mr. Strickland became friends and communicated and hung out often, he said.
Strickland said otherwise. Kandit told him the name of his accuser and asked whether he knew him. “It sounds familiar, but I don’t recognize it,” the realtor replied. The following day, and in response to Kandit’s first discussion on the accusations, Mr. Strickland referred to this veteran in another forum as, “the only client I’ve ever fired. He’s been completely obsessed with me for the past six months. We even had to move.”
Rewind the clock. Six months ago, the veteran and his military wife came to Guam and within days met Strickland, according to the veteran. Strickland then showed the couple the home at 176 Cruz Heights, Ipan. Based on disclosures, the couple made an offer to purchase the home for $600,000.
“We had to back out because we found all these problems he didn’t tell us about,” the veteran said. “Plus, during the due diligence period, we just happened to find out that he owned the house, and he never disclosed that to us.” Real estate agents representing a buyer must disclose to the buyer if that real estate agent owns the home pending purchase, according to the realtors code of ethics.
The ‘problems,’ according to the veteran, included leaks and rotting wood on the exterior that, “he clearly tried to cover up,” and, worse, non-disclosure that the roof wasn’t fully concrete.
Aside from telling Kandit he was not familiar with this veteran, Mr. Strickland said he does not own the Ipan house in question.
“The only house I own is a house I literally just bought, like, a couple weeks ago,” Mr. Strickland told Kandit Tuesday. “I think he might have me mixed up with somebody else.” The veteran said there is no ‘mix up,’ and said he’s not surprised Strickland “will lie. He’s a very charismatic person.”
Documents disprove realtor’s claim
The veteran gave Kandit a Guam Residential Purchase Agreement dated August 6, 2021 showing the offer he and his wife made on the Ipan home. According to this document, Modern Realty Guam acted as both the listing and selling agent, meaning Strickland’s brokerage firm represented both the veteran and his wife, and the seller of the property.
And according to page 7 of 7 of the purchase agreement, the seller of the house, contrary to Mr. Strickland’s assertion to Kandit, was Strickland. His digital signature purportedly appears on the ‘acceptance of offer’ portion of the purchase agreement, and his digital initials purportedly are on every page of the document.
Prior to closing the deal and finding out about the nondisclosure issues, the veteran said he and Strickland entered an agreement, where the veteran would purchase a closet system, and Strickland would pay him back. “I spent over $900 on it and I gave him the receipts,” the veteran said. “But after it all fell through and I asked him for my money, he said so smugly, ‘oh, will you look at that? The amount of money I owe you is exactly the same as the truck repair.’ I never even agreed to any cancellation fee anywhere.” (More on the truck repair below)
The veteran filed complaints against Mr. Strickland with the Guam Real Estate Commission, Guam Association of Realtors (GAR), Joint Region Marianas (JRM, the island’s military command), and Naval Criminal Investigation Services (NCIS).
“No, I’ve never heard of any of this,” Mr. Strickland said, when asked whether he’s been served with any notice of complaint against him. He also denied having any knowledge of a Superior Court of Guam small claims judgment against him for the nearly-$1,000 closet system purchase deal.
The veteran provided screen shots to Kandit of what allegedly are WhatsApp messages between he and Strickland between August 16, 2021 and October 6. On top of messages purportedly evidencing Mr. Strickland’s knowledge of the disclosure issues the veteran raised, the messages indeed show the agreement for Strickland to pay back the veteran for $943.83. Receipts from the Home Depot are in the messages as well.
Charged nearly $1,000 for helping restart car stuck on side of road
Prior to the dispute, the veteran’s truck stalled on the road, and he said he called Strickland to help him. “He didn’t buy anything, he just came over and helped me and my truck started back up,” the veteran said.
In the messages, and after days and several attempts of the veteran trying to get his agreed-upon reimbursement, the WhatsApp messages appear to show Strickland telling the veteran: “my bill for services rendered for your truck repair happens to be the same amount of these 2 receipts. Crazy.”
The veteran and his wife then took the matter to the U.S. Navy’s Legal Assistance Department. Despite Mr. Strickland’s assertion he had never heard of any of these allegations, an October 28, 2021 letter from Lt. Tao T. Khuu, Judge Advocate General’s Corps to Mr. Strickland tells the Naval officer he is, in fact, contractually obligated to pay the couple back. “A material breach occurred because you did not reimburse the [name stricken] after they had purchased and delivered the closet system and supplies. The damage of this breach has cost the [name stricken] a loss of $943.83 … If the [name stricken] do not receive the promised reimbursement from you within 7 business days of receipt of this notice, they have been advised to pursue damages caused by the breach as well as appropriate fees, costs, and interests caused by you through the judicial system.”
Mr. Strickland did not pay the couple, and so they filed Small Claims Case 284 in the Superior Court of Guam on November 10, 2021. According to court documents, Mr. Strickland indeed was physically served a copy of the complaint by a process server, despite his claim to Kandit that he was completely unaware of even the claim against him. According to a December 27, 2021 filing, a default judgment in the amount of $943.83 plus plaintiffs’s costs of $151.11 was entered against Mr. Strickland.
“He has not paid,” the veteran said, “so the next step is to apply for a warrant for his arrest.”
“We’re new to Guam, and we love this place and the people here,” the veteran said. “This guy needs to be stopped; the Navy needs to stop him so that he doesn’t do this to other people.”
More complaints and pushback
Indeed, the veteran and his wife are not the only people, who have filed complaints against Mr. Strickland, or who have documented grievances against him. Around the same period the military couple had its run in with Strickland, the embattled broker was in a near-perpetual and unprofessional dispute with GAR president Mr. Blas. A series of emails between Strickland and Blas and his staff show an effort by GAR to rein in Strickland for alleged violations of the realtor code of ethics and GAR policies. Among the emails are discussions relating to Strickland’s demands that all the commission for both the buyer and seller’s agents in property sales Modern Realty is engaged in flow through his brokerage for Modern Realty to disseminate.
In that August 13, 2021 letter from Blas first referenced at the start of this story, Mr. Blas wrote to Mr. Strickland, “The fourth item to address is a few GAR members stating that you had contacted their clients even after a listing agreement had been signed.” According to the National Association of Realtors Code of Ethics, such conduct is prohibited.
Mr. Strickland responded via email that same day, telling Mr. Blas, “Item 4. Please stop. Modern (Realty) is rapidly taking massive market share…don’t talk to me about ethics when I brought a significant complaint to Peggy and nothing was done. Be jealous of us all you want but we have done nothing of the sort. I’m a nuclear trained naval officer with a top secret clearance, awarded many times over for the highest levels of integrity and honor, courage and commitment. Specifically there was an actual complaint you’re required to allow me to face my accuser so this is just another whatever it is of you guys trying to stop Modern Realty from taking over. Best believe buddy, we’re coming for all of you. So if you want to stay in business step up your game.”
The “uneducated” islanders
Kandit asked Lt. Commander Katherine “Katie” Koenig whether Mr. Strickland is in the Navy and has “top secret clearance, awarded many times over for the highest levels of integrity and honor, courage and commitment.” We also asked Ms. Koenig whether complaints have been filed with the Navy against Mr. Strickland, and what, if any, the Navy is doing about their officer.
“LT Strickland is an active duty Naval Officer temporarily assigned to Joint Region Marianas,” the head of JRM’s public affairs office responded. “He has been counseled on his outside employment limitations in accordance with federal regulations. The Navy is aware of the accusations against LT Strickland and the alleged conduct is incompatible with the Navy’s ethos and core values.”
According to the Department of the Navy’s Core Values Charter, “As in our past, we are dedicated to the Core Values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment to build the foundation of trust and leadership upon which our strength is based and victory is achieved. These principles on which the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps were founded continue to guide us today. Every member of the Naval Service – active, reserve, and civilian, must understand and live by our Core Values.”
The charter lists how service members must conduct themselves in order to exhibit the core values of honor, courage, and commitment. Under ‘commitment,’ the charter states, in part, “Exhibit the highest degree of moral character, professional excellence, quality, and competence in all that I do.”
It also states, “Show respect toward all people without regard to race, religion or gender.”
In that August 13 letter to Mr. Blas, Mr. Strickland wrote, “You’re actually uneducated as I found a lot of people on the island.” Around the same time, he purportedly wrote to the veteran to assure him of the fixing of a leak in the house he was trying to sell him: “The Filipinos are gonna cut open the drywall in a few places.”
“This guy should not be in the Navy,” the veteran said. “And he definitely shouldn’t be in the real estate business.”
Mr. Strickland has denied it all.
2 Comments
Un-named
01/14/2022 at 9:23 PM
There is a list of establishments the navy will not let service members use because of their poor reputation. They are called blacklisted, if the service members really wants to stop this moon lighting officer from taking advantage to the USN organization as a whole. We need MODERN REALTY on the black list to prevent taking advantage of military clients.
Charlotte
11/09/2023 at 10:10 PM
Our family went through an identical situation with Matt Strickland, almost verbatim to this couple. We ALSO tried to purchase 176 Cruz Heights, Ipan. Our story happened November 2021, and we were almost victims of Modern Realty.
My husband (active duty) and myself (spouse) had just PCS’d to Guam and were looking to purchase our first home. Our realtor showed us a house that had recently been reduced from $624,000 to $575,000. 5 bedrooms, two story, new kitchen appliances and a master bedroom with a gorgeous closet storage system.
We loved it: the house checked all our boxes. It was more space than we needed, and out of everything we had viewed this was the best option. We decided to move forward and make an offer; after going back and forth, the seller accepted.
Shortly after, Matt Strickland reached out to my husband via FB messenger. It was suspicious. They knew each other from serving together in the Navy, but they weren’t close friends. Matt wanted him to know he represented the seller and was “in our corner trying to negotiate the best deal.” It seemed like a breech at the time, and we told our realtor that the seller’s realtor reached out. That was the first red flag.
Things were starting to move fast. We paid the Earnest Deposit, and got approved by our bank for a first time home owners loan. It was an exciting time.
Our realtor explained the next steps were House Inspection and Property Survey. We had a window of 45 days to get everything completed, and also to ‘be aware’ there was a shortage of inspectors to choose from. My husband shared this information with Matt to get advice on who to choose for an inspector. Matt said he could have one of his guys from Modern Realty do it for $600, and it could be completed soon. We agreed yes, my husband paid via credit card, and the inspection was completed within a few days. The report came back with minimal remarks. In the inspectors eyes, it was safe and up to code with one exception: the stair case leading to the second floor, and the seller was not willing to fix the issue.
At some point, we were given documents from our realtor regarding Transfer of Solar Panels from the seller to the buyer. Matt reached out to my husband and wanted a status update if those papers had been signed. He explained it was “urgent” to get the solar panels in our name because it would take a long time for the transfer to happen. Neither of us knew anything about solar panels, so we sat down and carefully read over the documents. The seller was listed as ‘Matt Stickland.’ It didn’t make sense to us why the realtor was the seller, and we pointed it out to our realtor thinking we discovered an error. She didn’t know either, and that’s when she made calls and discovered Matt Strickland was both realtor AND seller of 176 Cruz Heights. He was co-owner of the property.
While this was happening, the property survey was completed and the results showed a problem. One of the neighbors had built a permanent fence structure that encroached in the backyard and significantly onto the property.
Matt was messaging my husband almost daily, and his messages were becoming aggressive. He was pushing us to stay on top of progress and rattle cages if necessary to keep things moving.
I finally had enough of this, and told my husband if he really wanted the house he could have it, but I wasn’t part of the deal: he could buy it, but I would be leaving. The whole experience was making me physically sick. After speaking with my family, they encouraged us to back out of the deal, cut our losses with the Earnest Deposit and move forward. My husband agreed and said the house wasn’t worth breaking up our marriage.
I called our realtor and explained we had a serious change of heart and needed to back out. I also spilled the beans to about Matt’s harassing messages to my husband, and how they originally knew each other. She was unaware of thier prior Navy connection and explained why Matt’s behavior as a realtor was wrong. After we hung up she made a call to him. I can’t speak for what was said, but the next time we spoke on the phone she was livid about how Matt had spoken to her, and shared that she planned to file a complaint against him for unethical business practices.
Matt Strickland pretended to be my husband’s friend: he used my husband to gather information, and he used our home buying experience for his personal gains. Matt was disrespectful to our realtor and treated her in a manner of conduct unbecoming. Matt Strickland used deceptive and unethical business practices. He is a predator towards unsuspecting military families, and not to be trusted.
Our realtor had our back from the beginning and successfully retrieved our Earnest Deposit in full. We NEARLY made a half a million dollar mistake, buying a house that had more problems than we could have known! Some of them I learned from this article. Our family is still in possession of ALL documents pertaining to the “almost sale” of 176 Cruz Heights in November 2021.