Friday, April 03, 2015

State Licensure Records Raise Questions About Council Candidate's Professional Credentials


UPDATED: GOP LEADER KNEW OF CRAFT'S DECEPTION
Tim Craft was slated by the Marion Co. Republican Party earlier this year as the party's candidate for the District 3 Indianapolis City-County Council seat to challenge incumbent Councilor Christine Scales (R) in next month's primary election only months after he moved into the district. Craft touts himself as a licensed commercial real estate broker in his job as a Senior Associate with CBRE. An Advance Indiana search of the Indiana Real Estate Commission's online records calls into question Craft's claimed professional credentials. The only record found for Craft indicates he held a license to act as a real estate sales person, but that license expired on June 30, 2014 and is non-renewable.

Craft's credentials on CBRE's website lists him as a "licensed broker." Craft's Twitter account similarly identifies himself as a "license commercial real estate broker." Yet the Real Estate Commission's online license records indicate Craft has not been issued either a license to practice as a real estate broker or associate broker. Indiana's online licensing site  is made available to the public for the purpose of verifying a person's licensed credentials and contains this statement: "This data is considered 'original source for accreditation purposes' and is current (continuously updated in 'real time' as it is changed)."

Timothy Craft
Address Information
Indianapolis IN 46226
License Information
License No:SP30303276
Profession:Real Estate Commission
License Type:Real Estate Sales Person
Obtained By Method:Examination
Issue Date:12/10/2003
Expiration Date:6/30/2014
License Status:Expired Non-Renewable
Status Date:7/1/2014
A source tells Advance Indiana that Craft conducted a remote interview from Florida recently with the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of Realtor's ("MIBOR") candidate endorsement committee. According to the source, Craft identified himself during that interview as a licensed commercial real estate broker. The source tells Advance Indiana that follow-up checking by folks curious about his credentials turned up the fact that his real estate sales license was non-renewable due to a deficiency in his continuing education requirements. The source also furnished to Advance Indiana a solicitation recently issued by USDA to lease office space in Covington in which CBRE is acting as a broker and Craft's name is identified in the solicitation as a "field broker." (See USDA advertised listing below)

Indiana law is very clear that it is illegal to hold oneself out as holding a professional license without maintaining compliance with professional standards. Violation of Indiana's professional licensing law can result in the imposition of monetary fines as well as sanctions up to a permanent revocation of a practitioner's license. Either Indiana's online licensing website is inaccurate or someone has some explaining to do.

Synopsis:
Added: Apr 01, 2015 2:16 pm
United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeks to lease the following space:
City, State: Covington, IN
County: Fountain County
Delineated Area:
North: South side of County Road 200 North
East: West side of County Road 400 East
South: North side of County Road 200 South
West: East side of Wabash River
Minimum Sq. Ft. (ABOA): 2,803 ABOA
Maximum Sq. Ft. (ABOA): 2,943 ABOA
Rentable Square Feet (RSF): 3,385 RSF
Space Type: Office and related space
Parking Spaces (Total): 21
Parking Spaces (Surface): 21
Parking Spaces (Structured): 0
Parking Spaces (Reserved): 2
Full Term: Ten (10) Years (120 Months)
Firm Term: 4 Months
Option Term: None
Additional Requirements: None

Offered space must meet Government requirements for fire safety, accessibility, seismic and sustainability standards per the terms of the Lease. A fully serviced lease is required. Offered space shall not be in the 100 year flood plain.

Expressions of Interest Due: 4:00 p.m. Central, Friday, April 10, 2015
Market Survey (Estimated):Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Occupancy (Estimated): Space must be ready for occupancy within 9 months after lease award

Expressions of Interest should include the following:

1. Building name and address, or site location and approximate address (if known)
2. Location of space within building
3. Rentable square feet offered and full-service rental rate per square foot
4. List of building services provided
5. Total ANSI/BOMA usable square feet office area (ABOA) and the building common area factor
6. Amount of onsite paved parking available; parking lot must be able to accommodate pull-thru trailers and oversized vehicles.
7. Energy efficiency and renewable energy features existing within the building
8. Building ownership information
9. Contact information for Owner or Authorized Agent
Send Expressions of Interest to:

Tim Craft, Senior Associate │ CBRE, Inc.
101 West Washington Street, Suite 1000 East
Indianapolis, IN 46204
Office: (317) 269-1090
Email Address: tim.craft@cbre.com

Government Contact:

Real Property Leasing Officer: Morrell Jordan
Transaction Manager: Shannon Schoening
Field Broker: Tim Craft

UPDATE: Advance Indiana is now told Craft was confronted by MIBOR about his failure to maintain an active license after he initially misrepresented his credentials and he admitted knowing that his license had expired. He blamed tougher continuing education requirements recently enacted. He claimed he only recently discovered that his license had expired, although those familiar with the licensing process find his claim incredulous. That doesn't explain why he would claim to be a broker when he only held a license as an agent. There's a big difference between the two.

Others familiar with industry practices are stunned a major real estate brokerage firm  like CBRE wouldn't have in place a process for immediate detection of the licensure status of any of its brokers and agents to ensure none of them were practicing unlawfully. I'm told this is a very serious matter and Craft could face permanent revocation of his ability to practice in Indiana based upon past decision of the Real Estate Commission.

Further, Marion Co. GOP Chairman Kyle Walker knows of Craft's misrepresentation of his licensing problem during the slating process but has failed to advise others within the party and withdraw the party's support of him. Even worse, the Marion Co. GOP purged his primary opponent, Christine Scales, from its website listing of Republican elected officials because of its ongoing displeasure with her independent voting record on the council. If Walker had any decency, he should have immediately called an executive meeting of the party, disclosed Craft's dishonesty and moved to withdraw the party's support of him and request that he drop out of the council race. Instead, it appears he would rather deceive voters just like Craft has chosen to deceive them and the public. The Democrats know about Craft's problem and will most certainly use it against him, suggesting the Republican Party would rather forfeit the seat to the Democrats than see Scales re-elected to the council. It's pretty bad when Craft's deception but blind loyalty is more important than having a candidate with integrity like Scales.

As further explanation of the enhanced professional standards, Indiana changed its law to phase out the licensure category for sales agents under legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2012. All licensed sales agents were required to upgrade their license to the level of a broker no later than July 1, 2014. Apparently Craft failed to comply with that change in the law, which caused his license to automatically expire and not be subject to renewal. Licensed real estate professionals in Indiana now hold licenses as either managing brokers or brokers. Broker applicants are required to take 90 hours of pre-licensing education to get a broker's license and are required to perform 12 hours of continuing education annually thereafter in order to keep their license active.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

In Indiana, laws don't apply to the In Crowd.

Laws only apply to Charlie White.

Anonymous said...

Hmmmm..... Misrepresentation and a liar. Sounds like those two credentials make him highly qualified to be a politician in Indiana.

Anonymous said...

He is not legal then in his own district.

Gary R. Welsh said...

He meets the residency requirement. He only has to live in the district one year prior to the November election.

Anonymous said...

Indiana Real Estate Laws don't apply in Indiana. Didn't Brizzi broker the Elkart DCS BUILDING to Paul Page for a state lease and a 50% interest(kick back) never holding any RE License in INDIANA. This guy will get a pass.

Anonymous said...

This should be front page news in the Indianapolis Star. They knew about Craft's deception and agreed to keep quiet about it because they want Scales gone.

Anonymous said...

As a licensed real estate broker, I want to know why MIBOR didn't immediately file a complaint with the state against Craft. This is an outrage.

Anonymous said...

Tim Graft. Another fine Wabash butt buddy of Bob Grand.

Paul K. Ogden said...

Claiming to be a broker when you're only an agent is a huge deal in the real estate world. It may well cost him his license and his job. Don't know what CBRE is doing on not having checked this out before employing him.

Anonymous said...

Can not be good idea to represent federal agency with no license

Anonymous said...

Craft doesn't have any kind of license as of right now.

Anonymous said...

It's terrible what they are doing to Christine Scales on the Republican side.

Gary R. Welsh said...

It is beyond terrible what they are doing to Scales, anon. Where are all of those Lugar Series women? Not a damn one of them have stood up for Christine. There is a serious discrimination problem in the Republican Party in this state, and it's directed towards anyone who isn't corrupt. If you are honest, have integrity and support traditional Republican Party principles, the people who run the party in this state will do everything they can to run you out of the party and block you from having any role in the party or running for elected office.

Sir Hailstone said...

The Lugar Ladies you speak of are similar to your neighbor a couple blocks away - the one that runs for nearly anything in your district. Need I say more?

LamLawIndy said...

Kyle Walker need not do anything: Christine Scales merely has to bludgeon Tim Craft with the "is he lying now like he was lying then?" meme during the ensuing 30 days.

Anonymous said...

>>Christine Scales merely has to bludgeon Tim Craft with the "is he lying now like he was lying then?" meme during the ensuing 30 days.<<

Not quite. She still needs to get her supporters to the polls. KW's mummie dummies will take their marching orders and vote Craft no matter what. Many of the mummie dummies live in and around Scales' council district.

Joe S said...

He's licensed.

Check again.

https://mylicense.in.gov/everification/Details.aspx?agency_id=1&license_id=2168518&

Joe S said...

"That doesn't explain why he would claim to be a broker when he only held a license as an agent. There's a big difference between the two."

Actually...this is not correct. Indiana did away with two different titles when license law changed. All licensees are now brokers.

Gary R. Welsh said...

Sorry, Joe S, but this is not the place to spread disinformation. Craft's license as an agent expired on June 30, 2014. He failed to comply with the state law that thousands of other agents satisfied to meet the education requirements to convert their agent license to that of a broker. Craft practiced as a broker for 9 months. He didn't file the paperwork with the state until after this blog exposed what he was doing. A report by Call 6's Kara Kenney confirmed what Advance Indiana reported.
http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/04/call-6-report-confirms-council.html