EDINA, Minn — Embattled Hennepin County Board Candidate Marissa Simonetti, charged with 5th-degree assault after allegedly throwing a tarantula at a tenant in the Edina home where she lives, says she is the managing owner of "Simonetti Real Estate Team."
But documents from the Minnesota Department of Commerce raise questions about her role in the industry. Records show that in September of 2016, Simonetti's real estate salesperson's license was revoked for making "false and misleading statements" and that she "engaged in fraudulent, deceptive and dishonest practices."
Simonetti was issued the license in Feb. 2016 under her former name of Marisa Harper, state records show. In March 2019, she legally changed her name to Marisa Simonetti.
The consent order issued by the Commerce Department states that in May 2016, Simonetti entered into a contract to purchase real estate for $235,000 but never intended to pay the money.
"Instead, (Simonetti) intended to use the contract as an artifice to list the residential real property for sale on the MLS," the consent order states. "The contract (Simonetti) entered into with (the homeowner) is one of at least five instances where (Simonetti) misled homeowners into believing they were entering into a contract for Respondent to purchase real property when (Simonetti) actually intended to list those properties as available for sale to other potential buyers."
The Department of Commerce determined Simonetti's actions amounted to false and misleading statements, and that she "demonstrated that she is untrustworthy in the conduct of her affairs under the license."
Simonetti waived her right to an appeal hearing. As a result, her license was revoked, Simonetti was fined $1,500, she was barred from engaging in any activities under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Commissioner for a period of seven years, and she agreed not to seek or obtain any license issued by the Commerce Department.
When reached by KARE 11 News to comment on her license being revoked and explain what Simonetti Real Estate Team does, she provided this statement:
"I do a couple wholesale or rental purchases in the background, own rental property, and in 2016 forgot to give someone a business card upon first meeting which turned into the Dept. of Commerce revoking my entire license. Lesson with license that government agencies want you to learn: grovel and apologize instead of try to establish the facts."
Simonetti, the runner-up in the May special election to fill the empty District 6 seat on the Hennepin County Board, is set for a rematch with former DFL state Rep. Heather Edelson in November's general election. The race is nonpartisan, but Simonetti has positioned herself as the conservative candidate.
But that political race is in danger of being clouded by a bizarre series of events at the Edina home Simonetti rents. On Friday, June 21, she was arrested by Edina Police, charged with 5th-degree assault, and spent the weekend in jail.
Despite short-term rentals being barred in the city of Edina, Simonetti said she rented a room in the house through Airbnb to a Twin Cities attorney named Jackie Vasquez. It is unclear whether the person who actually owns the home knew Simonetti rented the room.
At some point, the arrangement became very contentious. Edina police were called to the home both Thursday and Friday last week.
A video provided to KARE 11 News from Vasquez shows Simonetti and a male companion hollering down the stairs to Vasquez before someone threw assorted junk and eventually, a tarantula, down the stairs.
Police cited both Simonetti and 69-year-old Mike Held of St. Louis Park with 5th-degree assault, a charge that requires intimidation or threats but not battery.
Simonetti vowed to fight the charge and characterized Vasquez as a "squatter," while Vasquez told KARE 11 News the homeowner gave her permission to stay in the house once he was informed that Simonetti rented her the room.
During a court appearance Monday, Hennepin County Judge Jamie Anderson released Simonetti without bail, ordering her to have no contact with Vasquez.
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