Last month, the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS) sent a concise letter to their 30,000+ members, asserting that tax mapping software, iMapp was “ceasing operations,” which most took to mean they were going out of business, calling the end of the relationship an “unplanned event.”
ARMLS CEO Matt Consalvo’s letter to members reads, “Urgent News About The iMapp Tax System – iMapp has enacted early termination of their contract to provide tax system services to ARMLS Subscribers. It is our understanding that iMapp corporation is ceasing operations. February 26, 2015 is the last day iMapp will be available. We regret to inform Subscribers of this unplanned event and we will send updates as they become available.”
iMapp CEO addresses ARMLS members
Today, iMapp CEO, Bill Rovillo took to the iMapp blog and explained their side. Here is his letter to ARMLS members in full:
“Sadly, once again I find myself having to reach out to the ARMLS membership to right a terrible wrong. Your ARMLS CEO distributed via email to 30,000+ hard working REALTORS false information on the status of one of your favorite information systems and attempted to damage my company’s reputation in the process. I cannot and will not sit on the sidelines and watch ARMLS CEO Matt Consalvo spin his stories to discredit iMapp and push his own agenda.
Here’s the truth: The iMapp system, the iMapp company, and all the great people at PropertyKey, my tech provider and partner for almost 20 years, are not going away as Consalvo would have you believe. While the iMapp company is morphing into something new outside of the tax mapping industry, it is not going out of business and your iMapp system was not going to be shut down. We have gone to great lengths to stay profitable via various strategic alliances and outsourcing of duties pertinent to maintaining an accurate reliable system. Due to contractual terms, I can’t go into detail about some of them and some of these moves worked well, some didn’t. But never was the iMapp system compromised for one second because of these maneuvers. Changes and modifications have been going on for 3 years and was never a point of contention or discussion. It’s normal for businesses to “pivot”, adjusting along the way to counter market conditions. No one really cares how the work gets done, as long as it gets done. Until now.
Last year, I had been asked by PropertyKey to take over all the iMapp system contracts, only if it was acceptable to the iMapp clients, in an effort to keep the iMapp system affordable and competitive and allow me to work on the “next big thing” in real estate outside of what we do now. Yes I am moving on to bigger things, and the iMapp system and PropertyKey are moving ahead too. Every iMapp client in the country understands this and has successfully transferred their agreement to Propertykey. Except ARMLS.
So what happened??
It appears Matt Consalvo wants to save money by operating his own tax mapping system. Which is fine. I’m ok with that. Really. But what he should have done was inform his membership of his true desire. Instead, to protect himself, he decided to write a callous, abhorrent and deceitful email about my company to his entire membership that will land him in serious legal trouble. He wants you to believe that his system is now the only real choice as the other is “ceasing operations”.
Here is what Consalvo is NOT telling you: He was presented with both an iMapp termination agreement as well as a PropertyKey agreement for the iMapp service continuation to be signed concurrently. A simple action that would have been invisible to anyone outside a Board room. He agreed to it in principle verbally and all was well. But in the 11th hour, the day he flew out of the country right before a holiday weekend, he bamboozled everyone. He sheepishly signed the iMapp termination agreement, and tossed the PropertKey agreement. Then he proceeded to spout his vicious lie about iMapp to keep his membership from learning the truth and storming his little castle he has made for himself. This is the truth. Anything you hear, ANYTHING, contrary to what I have said here, is a bold faced lie.
The only reason ARMLS will not have the iMapp system available to you is because Matt Consalvo does not want you to have it- end of story.
So ARMLS members, it is time you do what you need to do. Ask yourself, what type of leadership do you want? If a leader is thoughtless and callous, what becomes of the followers? Do you want someone who lies and tells you only what he wants you to hear? And what type of leader throws your 2nd most valuable vendor under the bus? Consalvo plays the “what, who me?” game very well. He doesn’t fool me for a second, others maybe. I haven’t heard boo from him for months, but the moment I out him on Vendor Alley’s blog for lying, he emails me “gee, did I misunderstand something?”
Really Matt? You email my obituary to your membership without verifying a single word of it with me, the CEO, then you email me your fake concern when I expose you? You are Pathetic. I expect better cover ups from my teenage son after receiving a speeding ticket. At minimum, I find Matt Consalvo’s actions disturbing, unprofessional, deceiving and in this case, legally challenging.
On Febuary 28th, the iMapp system will be turned off for good in Arizona due to the ARMLS CEO’s actions, not ours. Consalvo may have created the next big storm on the horizon, and if it swells to become a monsoon, so be it.”
The showdown continues
Nerves are clearly raw on both sides right now, so the showdown continues, and we’re watching for the final resolve. We have reached out to Rovillo and Consalvo and will add their thoughts and responses to this story, so refresh the page from time to time today to see updates below.
UPDATE: Rovillo tells us that when contacting him, ARMLS members have been angry. When asked if there are any intentions of filing any lawsuits against ARMLS, he indicated that it is possible.
Rovillo added, “The IMAPP AR MLS contract was due to expire in March of 2016. We would never have accepted the termination agreement without the property key agreement for IMAPP service to continue. It was a deceitful move which broke his verbal commitment. Essentially Matt cancelled the agreement with one year left we did not cancel it.”
We await Consalvo’s perspective.
Lani is the COO and News Director at The American Genius, has co-authored a book, co-founded BASHH, Austin Digital Jobs, Remote Digital Jobs, and is a seasoned business writer and editorialist with a penchant for the irreverent.
