I have been in the business for 19 years, 16 as a broker. In PA, my listings agreements reference transfer, merge or form a new company. In PA you would loose - no question. Anyone she introduces or if she discussed the property with, is covered. No list required. Sounds like she did b/c she had their name and it was w/i the agents fee protection period when she notified you. All she would have to do is send certified letters to both parties. If the parties lie about no pending action affecting the property, they would be signing federal paperwork to that effect, the loan papers and closing docs. Proving you both knew would be doccumented. Banks won’t close b/c title insurance won’t cover this action from a broker. She could cause legal problems. She could also file a brokers lien at any time, buyer won’t want it to happen after you’re long gone. The buyer knew before closing of the potential action via certified mail, as mentioned in the letter.
Offer her 50%. She should be happy as if another agent sold it. I’d be.
Too ofter people try to get out of paying. Sure, it would be easy money for this agent, and that happens sometimes in selling. But, you agreed and the offer you accept should be w/i the range when you agreed to pay a full commission. She had something to do with it. I’ve had it happen about six times, I never lost. But I also do my job. I could document my efforts, advertising, showings, feedbacks. She wouldn’t need it though, she has the contract. Hopefully you’re not in PA! Good luck.
DISCLOSURE: Please do not consider this legal advise, consult an attorney. Is there legal liability posting a follow up? CYA.
I signed a six month listing agreement with a terrible realtor who showed my home very few times. The contract is finally over, but we agreed to pay her commission if we sell the home by owner to someone “to whom it was introduced during the listing” for the next 180 days (until the end of June). I noticed in the contract where we agreed to pay the commission that it did not have the correct company name (She started her own company, took another company’s paperwork and only changed the very top of the contract. The contract says that we agree to pay her old company the commission). Would this be a valid contract since the company name is wrong? Is there any way we could get around paying her the commission? We have buyers, they never entered the home with her, but she is saying that we will have to pay her the commission because she “talked to them”. They looked at my house before we listed it with this realtor. Thanks
Re: Realtor Listing Agreement - Posted by Brian (UT)
Posted by Brian (UT) on January 21, 2006 at 13:28:48:
Donna
In most listing agreements the clause your refering to usually requires the agent to provide you with a list of people that are covered as potential buyers, and unless the agent registers these prospects as required by the listing agreement, she is tough out of luck. So reread your listing agreement again and look for that clause. It may even state she had to show them the property and just talking to them won’t cut it.