Lance Bass is not happy about what he calls a "shady" real estate deal involving the iconic "Brady Bunch" house in North Hollywood, California. And now his real estate broker is backing up his claims.
After being told he had the winning deadline bid for the iconic "Brady Bunch" house a few days ago with an offer just under $3 million (well above the $1.885 listing price), Lance learned that the seller's agent had canceled their deal due to "unforeseen circumstances," TMZ reported, and instead accepted a higher offer from a corporate buyer — which, it emerged on Aug. 7, is HGTV.
According to Lance's real estate broker, who spoke to TMZ, the former *NSYNC singer was shamelessly defrauded after being assured by the seller's agent that the house was his.
"The cutoff for submitting offers was last Thursday [Aug. 2] at 3 p.m. and they would take NO OTHER OFFERS after that. The highest bidder would get the house. Period," TMZ writes. Lance got his bid in before the deadline expired, had the highest offer and was told the home was his.
The other agent, TMZ explains, "even sent paperwork to him to finalize the deal" because they had "a solid 'gentleman's agreement.'" Lance — a lifelong "Brady Bunch" superfan — then shared the happy news with his social media followers.
The seller's agency, Douglas Elliman, told TMZ on Aug. 6 that they did nothing wrong: "Our fiduciary obligation is to the seller, who decided to go with the highest, most qualified buyer." Sources told TMZ that Lance should never have publicly announced that he'd secured the winning bid, because that invited new bidders and offers despite the expired deadline.
Lance — who flips houses on the side and had plans to restore the "Brady" home, which was used as the TV sitcom home's exterior — believes he was used. "We were prepared to go even higher but totally discouraged by the sellers agent, they will outperform any bid with unlimited resources," he wrote on Instagram. "How is this fair or legal?? How can I compete with a billion dollar corporate entity? I truly believe I was used to drive up the price of the home knowing very well that this corporation intended on making their offer and it's not a good feeling. I feel used but most importantly I'm hurt and saddened by this highly questionable outcome."
On Aug. 7, HGTV parent company Discovery Inc.'s CEO, David Zaslav, told investors on a conference call that the network had big plans for the house. "I am excited to share that HGTV is the winning bidder and will restore the 'Brady Bunch' home to its 1970s glory as only HGTV can," he said, as reported by Variety. "More details to come over the next few months, but we will bring all the resources to bear to tell safe, fun stories with this beloved piece of American TV history."
Hours later, after Lance learned that HGTV was the mystery corporate buyer, he offered his congratulations. "HGTV??! Aw man. I'd be pretty upset if it were anyone else, but how can you be mad at HGTV?? My television is stuck on that channel. Kudos HGTV, I know you will do the right thing with the house. That was always my biggest worry. I can smile again," he tweeted.