Robert S. Griswold's Expert Witness Bio:
- Currently active as a day-to-day hands-on practitioner, consultant and expert witness in all aspects of real estate (except valuation) - standards of care, standards of practice, best practices, industry standards, and custom and practice for real estate transactions, property management/ownership and fiduciary duty issues for all types of residential and commercial real estate – management, operations, maintenance, health & safety, habitability, mold, water intrusion, personal injury, trip & fall, premises liability, property inspection, broker or agent failure to disclose; misrepresentation; negligence/fraud & association board duties, and real estate receivership
- Certified Property Manager (CPM), CRE, ARM, CCIM, PCAM, CCAM, GRI
- Real estate expert for NBC News This Weekend (KNSD-TV NBC 7/39 San Diego)
- Author - Property Management Kit for Dummies and Property Management for Dummies
- Co-Author - Real Estate Investing for Dummies and Landlord's Legal Kit for Dummies (2014)
- Featured columnist - SF Chronicle/San Diego Union-Tribune
- DRE & IREM National Faculty Instructor; lecturer
- Court-appointed receiver & bankruptcy custodian
A 3-time graduate of the distinguished Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California with a BS ('81), MBA ('86) and MSBA (2nd Masters) ('88) in real estate and related disciplines.
Also holds the top professional designations in the real estate industry, including Counselor of Real Estate (CRE®), Certified Property Manager (CPM®), Accredited Residential Manager (ARM®), Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM®), Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM®), Certified Community Association Manager (CCAM®) and Graduate, Realtor Institute (GRI®).
1988 - Present - President and owner of Griswold Real Estate Management and recognized expert on management of all types of residential real estate, including apartments, community associations, single-family homes and individual condominiums and townhomes. Also, a very experienced property manager of all types of commercial properties, including office, retail, industrial, medical/dental, self-storage and motels.
Author of the nationally best selling book on real estate management "Property Management Kit for Dummies" which has sold over 100,000 copies in less than 5 years. Co-Author with Eric Tyson of “Real Estate Investing for Dummies” published by John Wiley & Sons has also been the bestseller in the category with nearly 100,000 copies sold. Co-Author with Lawrence Harmon of "Landlord's Legal Kit for Dummies" published 6/2014. Since 1995, the Real Estate Expert for the NBC-owned affiliate in San Diego (NBC 7/39) and appeared weekly on NBC News This Weekend answering live impromptu questions on any aspect of real estate from viewers. He was the host of the longest running weekly 2-hour live real estate news, information and advice radio show in the country for over 14 years. The show Real Estate Today! with Robert Griswold (along with his work for NBC) has won 5 national journalism awards and is unlike other real estate radio shows as his show is non-advertorial in nature.
The lead columnist for a California syndicated real estate column on tenant-landlord issues called Rental Roundtable where Robert and attorney Steve Kellman (the Executive Director of The Tenant’s Legal Center) go head-to-head over the best advice for reader’s questions. This popular column appeared from 1995 till 2009 every Sunday in the San Francisco Chronicle Real Estate section, bi-weekly in the San Diego Union-Tribune Sunday real estate section; and periodically in the Los Angeles Times. From 1995 to present - Robert is the columnist for a similar nationally syndicated column called Rental Forum which is found in 30 major newspapers around the country, including the Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, Orlando Sentinel, Tampa Tribune, San Antonio Express News, Grand Rapids Press, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Daily Oklahoman, Dayton Daily News, Denver Post, Arizona Republic, The Oregonian, and many other major newspapers around the country.
Robert’s real estate advice in both print and broadcast journalism have provided a wealth of experience and practical knowledge in explaining complicated real estate issues to lay persons (and even an attorney or two!).
While Robert clearly stays quite busy, he is a hands-on property manager who personally manages several residential and commercial properties plus works closely with his clients to handle the occasional challenges that often occur with the management of real estate assets. But Robert is just one of 70+ great team members at Griswold Real Estate Management and it is these fine professionals that make the company an industry leader. Robert is extremely proud of his great staff of competent real estate management specialists that can truly boast that they are “Setting the Standards Others Follow”.
In the last 20+ years, Mr. Griswold has consulted on over 1,800 litigation matters, has been deposed over 250 times and provided sworn testimony in trial or arbitration on over 100 occasions in both state and federal litigation matters throughout the United States, including California, Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming and Washington, D.C. His case work is very evenly divided between plaintiff and defense work.
Serves as consultant or expert witness on real estate standards and custom and practice for real estate issues involving all property types (Office, industrial, retail, both large and small apartments, community associations, condos, single family, mobile homes, motel, mixed use, self-storage, medical/dental, land).
Court-Appointed Receiver and Bankruptcy Custodian
Specific issues include, but not limited to: property manager or broker fiduciary duty; transactions; lease/CAM disputes; lease mitigation, premises liability; maintenance or failure to maintain; "slumlord" allegations; health & safety or personal injury; wrongful death; property inspections; water intrusion; mold; bed bugs; Fair Housing, discrimination, HUD management issues, criminal acts; management/receiver fees; fiduciary duty; transfer disclosures, misrepresentation, negligence, fraud, negligence in hiring/supervision/termination; Association board duties and negligence.
Griswold Real Estate Management has a large portfolio of residential units, plus numerous community associations, commercial, retail, industrial and self-storage properties. Robert Griswold has actively managed over 60,000 residential units and several million square feet of commercial property nationally in the last 30+ years.
He is a member of:
- Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) -CPM® and ARM®
- American Society of Real Estate Counselors® (CRE®)
- San Diego County Commercial Association of Realtors® (SDCCAR)
- San Diego County Apartment Association (SDCAA)
- California Apartment Association (CAA)
- National Apartment Association (NAA)
- Community Associations Institute (CAI)-PCAM®
- California Association of Community Managers-Management Firm Council (CACM)
- San Diego Association of Realtors® (SDAR)
- California Association of Realtors® (CAR)
- National Association of Realtors® (NAR)-GRI®
- Forensics Consultants Association - San Diego (FCA)
- Forensic Expert Witness Association - Orange County (FEWA)
- Lamda Alpha - San Diego Chapter
- California Receivers Forum
Please contact us by fax, phone, mail or email to request Mr. Griswold's CV, Terms of Engagement, references and a current fee schedule. Mr. Griswold must agree in advance to be retained upon completing a conflict check and there is a non-refundable minimum name disclosure fee due upon the earlier of the commencement of a consulting assignment or formal designation.
