Goodloe Realty Automatic Contract Renewal despite Cancellation, unprofessional & dishonest

Goodloe Realty in Dallas, TX managed my property for 2 years while I lived (and still do) in Sweden. It is known to Goodloe that I live abroad and have all my belongings in storage. During the 2 years we had a good tenant, but decided to sell the property.

Our mistake was to not use Goodloe, but rather a friend, as our realtor. And this made Tom Sewell, the clerk working for Goodloe, angry.

During January 2001 I called Goodloe, saying that we would sell the house.
No problem, they said.
In February, I put it in an email.
In March, I sold the house.
The sale closed March 31. Still Goodloe had not removed their signs or key lock boxes. So I called and asked for a 3rd time for them to remove these.

In June I received a bill for 80% of one full years management fee, saying 'thank you for notifying us of the sale of your house on March 31.' (a lie) After receiving no response, I finally got them to fax a copy of the contract, as mine was in storage, and they twisted the words of the contract to say that I owed them the penalty.

The fine print did include an automatic renewal clause with a stiff penalty, but I read it differently (of course).

The problem is that I was relying on the professional courtesy of the goodloe contact (tom sewell), when I called him in January, to tell me what I needed to do. He screwed me and he knows it!

The problem is that I have a relocation company acting as my agent (they chose Goodloe) and they have paid the penalty and refuse to revert it.

To summarize, there was an onerous burden on me to know that I had to give notice in writing by certified mail (from a foreign country!) and Goodloe did not act in a professional manner when I called in January, emailed in February or called again in March.

Furthermore, they refuse to acknowledge that they should send out renewal notices to the clients they have living abroad (with belongings in storage).

They are disorganized, unprofessional, mean spirited and altogether dishonest.

I just want to spread the word!!