Yolanda’s Little Black Book writer revealed as former Compass employee

An anonymous real estate blog known for divulging privileged information about celebrity and high-end home transactions isn’t so anonymous anymore.

An investigation by the Los Angeles Times appears to have uncovered the identity of the secret blogger—a finance manager who most recently worked for the real estate firm Compass.

Yolanda’s Little Black Book went live in 2016, and since then “has wreaked havoc among the city’s elite real estate agents and their wealthy clients,” says the LA Times.

The blog often revealed details like the sale price and the identities of the buyer and seller before sales had closed—details that are typically kept tightly under wraps. Transactions from various brokerages cropped up on the blog, but Compass listings were frequent fodder.

The Times’ investigation led to James McClain, a 28-year-old whose work as a finance manager at Compass would have given him access to all the sensitive details of a transaction, including buyers, sellers, and sale prices.

As a result of the newspaper’s inquiries, Compass launched an internal investigation and confirmed the blog writer was McClain. That could spell trouble for him.

For the full dramatic story, head over to the Los Angeles Times.

• Unmasking one of celebrity real estate’s biggest mysteries: Who is behind Yolanda’s Little Black Book? [LA Times]