Are your sympathies with the homeowner or with the realtor? At Blue Letter Law, I have relationships with home buyers/sellers and also with Realtors and my advice to them both is always the same! If you are a Realtor that intends to rely on a Buyer Representation Agreement, do not bury the document with a bunch of paperwork. Always make sure you make time to explain to the buyer what the agreement is and how it binds the buyer. If you are a buyer/seller then make sure you always CHECK everything your realtor gets you to sign. You do no want to unwittingly end up in a contract with a realtor that puts you on the hook for the commission even if the realtor ends up doing no work to find the house you eventually buy. In this instance, the judge upheld the realtors claim but said, Let me say as an aside ... in what makes this decision particularly difficult is I do not think this agreement is fair. I think it is very one sided … But there are many one-sided agreements the courts have to uphold.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 23:44:29 +0000