A California jury has ruled against a couple who sued their real estate agent because they overpaid for their home.

Vern and Marty Ummel paid $1.2 million for a four-bedroom house in the summer of 2005. The New York Times reported in January that the couple soon learned several same-sized, same-looking homes in the same McMansion subdivision had recently sold for considerably less. The couple came to believe they'd overpaid by $150,000.

Marty Ummel spent a year picketing the offices of the real estate agent's company. Then the couple sued the agent for withholding and distorting information. They said he was too eager to earn a $30,000 commission.

The real estate agent's defense? "The lady's a nut job. I didn't do anything wrong."

Last week, a jury sided with the agent after two hours of deliberation. The forewoman told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the Ummels were responsible for their own decisions.

"In any kind of purchase, especially one that big – and most of us have had our own situations we'd been through – the bottom line really stops with you," Wendi Brick told the paper. "Whose final responsibility is it to sign a contract? It's yours."

Helping buyers and sellers make decisions about the value of a home is obviously an important part of an agent's job. At the same time, the final decision clearly rests with the client. Under what circumstances, if any, should there be consequences for giving the wrong advice?

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