Mann on the Move

A major player in Southwest Florida’s waterfront real estate market fled the United Kingdom in 2000 after a judge held her accountable in a “dishonest” deal and ordered her to pay $350,000, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports. Vicki Mann, known for brokering lucrative condo deals in Sarasota, was then working under the name Victoria Wood and became involved a condo sale that the buyer later claimed was tremendously undervalued.

A High Court civil judge agreed. The sale was ruled improper and Mann was ordered to pay the difference from the plaintiff’s sale and all of the court costs. Shortly thereafter, Mann left the country for Sarasota, where she received her real estate license in 2002 and has become a force ever since. Her deal for Sarasota’s Pier 550 development project is valued at approximately $50 million, and is just one of many forays into Florida condo sales.

Will this jeopardize Mann’s career? Doubtful.

Florida real estate law says that license applicants must be “honest, truthful, trustworthy, and of good character” with “a good reputation for fair dealing.” However, the state’s bylaws also state that while Mann’s conviction could serve as grounds for losing her license, that a “lapse of time and subsequent good conduct or reputation or other reason deemed sufficient” could also be applied.

Mann, who obviously wishes the case would just go away, may get her wish. Her understanding is that a seven-year statute of limitations (which would clear her name in January) applies to the transaction and verdict. Either way, condo developers may be wondering if they judged this book by its cover too quickly. The situation is worth monitoring as the lucrative waterfront development in Sarasota rages on.