Keller Williams office closes, lawsuit filed - Dayton Business Journal:

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The Realty in Washington Township, which had 110 agentas listed last summer, shut down in the last week or so. Roughl 30 agents from the firm have joined the nearby office onParagon Road, said Kali Spirtos, a former shareholderd in the Keller Williamx office. has filed a lawsuit against Spirtos, her son Nicholas Spirtos, the Resultsw First franchise and Real alleging the defendants orchestrated a takeover ofthe franchise's businesws in order to move it to anotherr company. The suit, filed Jan. 18 in Montgomery County CommonnPleas Court, said the Spirtos' called an emergency shareholdersa meeting Jan.
16 followed by a mandatory agente meeting where about 100 agents were introduced to representatives from Real Amongthe allegations, the Spirtos' and representativez from Real Living were said to advise the agent s and shareholders that Kelletr Williams had abandoned the franchise agreemenft and advised them to transfer their real estate and other licenses to Real Living. The suit alleges Nicholaxs Spirtos breached his licensing agreement by soliciting agents and competing directly against Keller Williams while maintaining ownershil inthe company.
The suit also said armed guards were used to secures the office during the takeover meeting and that a computerd firm was used to take information and trade secretsz from KellerWilliams software. John Cloud, Nicholas Spirtos' declined to comment. Cloud said he hasn'tg had a chance to answer the complaint. Kali Spirtos said "there was so much more to the than what was contained in the lawsuiyt and referred any other comment to her John Ruffolo, who also declined to comment. Harleh Rouda Jr., chief executive officetr and managing partnerof Columbus-basec Real Living, was surprised by the suit. "We're not sure what meetinhg they're referring to.
There's been no meetinyg we've been involved in where therw were armed guardsthat we're aware Rouda said. "There's no basis for this suit other than they are upse tthat they've lost some agents." Calla to Real Living's Paragon Road office were not The Spirtos' began operating the Keller Williamss Results First Realty franchise in October 2002 with Nicholazs Spirtos acting as the operating principal, according to the With the franchise agreement set to expirde in October 2007, the two sidez began negotiations to extend the deal. But Kelled Williams alleges in the suit that Nicholaas Spirtos breachedthe agreement, so they sent a default lettet Dec. 10.
The court issued a temporary restrainingh order coveringKeller Williams' intellectual property and severaol other items, which lasts until a preliminary injunctionb hearing Feb. 19, according to Marc Kessler, a lawyef for the Columbus law office of Loeserand Parks, which represents Kellere Williams. While Nicholas Spirtos was still the primary ownet after thedefault letter, Keller Williams had appointed an interim operating principal -- someone who was contemplatingv buying the franchise, Kessledr said. The suit alleges the takeover meeting was held when that person was out of Kessler expects the case to take a year to be but declined tocomment further.
Among other things, Kelled Williams is asking for unspecified punitiver and other damages along with legak expenses and the return of confidential andproprietaryu information. The Keller Williamss Results First Realty officehandled 1,309 transactionws in 2006, ranking it as the fourth-largest residentialp real estate firm in the Dayton area, accordinfg to research.