In lawsuit, Realtor accuses paper, reporter of ruining career

Las Vegas Realtor Erin Schlumpf claims her career was destroyed by a June 3 USA Today article about mortgage fraud in Las Vegas that featured a home she sold in the Sunrise Mountain area.

A lawsuit filed Aug. 6 in District Court accuses USA Today and reporter Greg Farrell of defamation, slander, libel and false light, among other causes of action regarding Schlumpf and her business. The plaintiff is seeking more than $10,000 in damages.

Schlumpf said she was a "prominent" real estate agent, especially in downtown Las Vegas, and was earning more than $100,000 a year in commissions before the article ran.

She was terminated by Liberty Realty after the story ran because her boss didn't want "that kind of publicity." She said she hasn't been able to find another job.

"I had a promising career. I had lots of clients," Schlumpf said at the law offices of Barry Levinson. "Now I can't even get a client. Nobody will list with me or sell. I can't even hang my license anywhere. I'm pretty much wiped out."

The lawsuit said Schlumpf received an offer from Distinctive Realty and Investment for the appraised value of $340,000 with a third-party contribution of $43,000 to make needed repairs on the home, a rental property on Rolling Hills Drive owned by Larry and Ann Marie Watson.

The Watsons agreed to the terms of the offer, with a company called Pro Design to receive the $43,000 payment.

The company was owned by Steven Grimm, who has been indicted with his business associate and domestic partner, Eve Mazzarella, on federal charges stemming from an FBI investigation of mortgage fraud in Las Vegas. They're scheduled for sentencing in October.

Mazzarella represented the buyer of the home, Jonathan Carter. Schlumpf said she never knew Carter and had never spoken to him.

The article was a "sickening case of shoddy reporting and outright lies," Levinson said. "She met with the guy (Farrell) and talked to him and the guy, to sell newspapers, decided to change it. That's what I think."

Farrell, when contacted by the Review-Journal, referred questions to Gannett Co. legal counsel. Heidi Zimmerman said the company had yet to be served with the lawsuit.

Of the hundreds of homes connected to Mazzarella and Grimm, the reporter chose to profile the property because he recognized that Schlumpf's husband, Henry, was an FBI agent, Levinson said.

Schlumpf said the Watsons are her former neighbors on Sixth Street and have passed fliers around the neighborhood "trashing my business."

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.