⚖️ DAILY CONTEST RESULTS

Monday, June 15, 2026

Judge Reginald Escrow III has rendered his verdicts.
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🥇 1ST PLACE
The Escrow Gold Gavel Award
The most scandalous confession of the day, as determined by Judge Reginald Escrow III.
CONFESSION #0618 — GURU OR COACH NONSENSE
He wasn't on the title. That's what I kept saying to this coach guy, this guru whatever, who my broker made us all pay three hundred dollars to sit in a conference room for six hours on a Saturday and listen to him explain how to "own the room" during listing presentations, and his whole thing was about how you need to act like you already own the property, like visualize yourself as the homeowner, and I raised my hand and said what about when the person pitching isn't actually on title, like what about when there's a divorce situation or an inheritance thing or literally any of the twelve deals I closed last year where the person in front of me couldn't legally sign anything, and he just looked at me and said "that's a limiting belief" and moved on to his next slide which was a photo of himself standing next to a Maserati (rented, I looked it up later, there's a company in Scottsdale that does this for speakers) and the worst part is my broker still makes us do these every quarter and I've now paid twelve hundred dollars to learn nothing except that this guy pronounces "realtor" with three syllables.
Judge Reginald Escrow III
Judge Reginald Escrow III
⚖️ Presiding
GUILTY OF INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE TO A THREE-SYLLABLE CHARLATAN AND FAILURE TO STAGE A CONFERENCE ROOM COUP
The Court has reviewed this confession and frankly Reginald is SEETHING because this is not merely a crime against your wallet, this is a crime against the VERY CONCEPT OF SATURDAYS. You paid twelve hundred dollars to a man who rented a Maserati in Scottsdale, a city The Court has long suspected exists solely to launder the self-esteem of mediocre men with podcast dreams, and when you correctly identified that his advice was legally meaningless drivel he dismissed you with the phrase "limiting belief" which is what people say when they have NO ANSWER and also NO SHAME. The Court must pause here because I once attended a seminar where a man told me my skepticism about adjustable rate mortgages was "blocking my abundance" and I have not financially recovered. Your broker is the true criminal here, a repeat offender trafficking in mandatory nonsense, and yet YOU keep showing up and YOU keep paying and The Court must ask WHY, why do you return to this conference room of lies when you could simply set three hundred dollars on fire and preserve your dignity. The gavel falls HARD today because someone needed to tell you what that coach never will, which is that "ree-la-tor" has TWO SYLLABLES and visualization does not cure a title defect. This Court is adjourned because Reginald needs to go scream into a throw pillow about the state of professional development.
SCANDAL RATING: 6.7/10 Guru-Induced Financial Hemorrhaging
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🥈 2ND PLACE
The Certificate of Distinguished Incompetence
A noteworthy display of professional misfortune.
CONFESSION #0619 — WRONG ADDRESS
The final walkthrough was routine. Buyers loved the place, we're doing the little dance where everyone pretends to check the outlets one more time. Wife says "I can't believe we finally got 412 Maple." And I just said "Mmhmm" because I'm already thinking about the closing paperwork. Except the husband goes "Wait, 412? I thought it was 414." And she goes "No, 412. That's what the listing said." He pulls out his phone. Shows her. 414 Maple Court. We were standing in 412 Maple Street. Different house. Different seller. Same neighborhood, same floor plan because the builder did like six of these in the 80s. They'd done three showings. They'd done the inspection. Nobody caught it because from the outside, these things are twins. Seller of 412 was very confused when I called. Said "I'm not selling my house." Had to start the whole process over. Buyers were out eight hundred bucks in inspection fees. They still bought 414 eventually but they never really talked to me the same after that.
Judge Reginald Escrow III
Judge Reginald Escrow III
⚖️ Presiding
GUILTY OF CARTOGRAPHIC MALPRACTICE AND AGGRAVATED STREET SUFFIX NEGLIGENCE RESULTING IN RESIDENTIAL IDENTITY THEFT
The Court is TREMBLING with a fury that transcends the merely professional and enters the realm of the DEEPLY PERSONAL. You wandered into the wrong house, Agent, and not in the fun way Reginald once did at a holiday party in 2017 — which was ENTIRELY the fault of inadequate exterior lighting and excessive eggnog, and I maintain to this day that the Hendersons overreacted. But YOU, you conducted THREE SHOWINGS in a home whose owner was presumably inside wondering why strangers kept commenting on their granite countertops. The Court cites the landmark precedent of MapQuest v. Basic Competence, 2004, wherein it was established that "Street" and "Court" are NOT INTERCHANGEABLE DESIGNATIONS, much like how "Judge" and "guy who just bought a gavel on Amazon" are supposedly different things according to the State Bar, which has REJECTED Reginald's applications FOURTEEN TIMES for reasons they refuse to articulate beyond "everything about this." Eight hundred dollars in inspection fees, Agent — that is roughly one hundred and sixty fancy coffees, or as The Court calculates it, three months of dignity those buyers will never recover. The Roomba has entered a verdict of SUSTAINED INCOMPETENCE and frankly, Order's judgment is final.
SCANDAL RATING: 6.2/10 Wrong House Entirely
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🥉 3RD PLACE
The Escrow Medal of Unremarkable Mediocrity
The least scandalous offering. Reggie was barely entertained.
CONFESSION #0620 — MARKET WHIPLASH
We lost the earnest money dispute. Twelve thousand dollars, gone, because my buyer got spooked by a rate jump and decided he didn't want the house anymore. Which, okay, that's his choice, but then he wanted to fight for the earnest money back and I told him, I said multiple times, you signed the contract, you waived your financing contingency, this is not how it works. He didn't care. Wanted me to "figure something out." The seller's agent was actually being reasonable about maybe splitting it, and then my guy sends this email directly to the seller, not cc'ing anyone, calling them greedy and saying the market was going to crash and they'd regret not taking his offer. Direct to the seller. After we'd already closed on the house with someone else, by the way, he was fighting for earnest money on a deal that closed three weeks ago. So now he's out twelve thousand, he's mad at me like I made rates go up, and he keeps texting me listings asking if I think they're overpriced. Every single one. "Is this overpriced." "What about this one." Brother, you just lost twelve grand because you couldn't commit to a decision. His wife called me separately to apologize which was awkward because I didn't know if he knew she was calling. I have four other clients right now and two of them are also watching rates like it's a stock ticker and I just.
Judge Reginald Escrow III
Judge Reginald Escrow III
⚖️ Presiding
GUILTY OF HARBORING A FINANCIAL ARSONIST WHO SET FIRE TO HIS OWN MONEY AND BLAMED THE WEATHER
The Court has reviewed this confession and frankly, Reginald needs a moment, because this man WAIVED HIS FINANCING CONTINGENCY and then got mad when the financing contingency he waived did not protect him, which is like removing your own parachute and then filing a complaint against gravity. The direct email to the seller, THREE WEEKS AFTER CLOSING, accusing them of greed on a home they already sold to someone else, this is not buyer behavior, this is the behavior of a man who yells at the weather channel. And now he texts you listings asking if they are overpriced, as if YOU are the problem, as if you personally control Jerome Powell, as if the Federal Reserve consults with you before meetings, and I must tell you that The Court once had a client who blamed me for a septic issue that predated my involvement by eleven years and I still think about it in the shower. The wife calling separately to apologize is a CHILLING detail that suggests this man does not know the full scope of the cleanup happening behind him. You are not guilty of the earnest money loss but you ARE guilty of continuing to answer those texts, because every time you respond to "is this overpriced" you are feeding a creature that cannot be satisfied, and The Court hereby orders you to develop a spine or at minimum a canned response. TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, gone, and he learned NOTHING, which means he will be back, and Reginald weeps for your future.
SCANDAL RATING: 5.7/10 CONTINGENCY ARSON
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