Posted by Jk on February 29, 2004 at 21:00:12:
The contract with your grandmother was for a 6% commission therefore he is legally entitled to it. The fact that he was sharing it with another agent is irrelevant.
seller dies in escrow, realtor wants paid - Posted by john carruthers
Posted by john carruthers on February 28, 2004 at 16:42:30:
hi
state is california.
my grandmother was selling her house and it was in escrow. she passed away before the escrow closed. she had signed the contract agreement agreeing to the sale at the agreed upon price. she then passed away before the escrow closed.
the slimeball listing realtor is now trying to claim $18,000 from me. this is 6% of the sales price.
is he entitled to this or is he just trying to pull a fast one?
no close of escrow, therefore no sale, why should he get anything?
all help gratefully accepted.
Re: seller dies in escrow, realtor wants paid - Posted by JohnB
Posted by JohnB on March 02, 2004 at 21:29:53:
John,
If I was the buyer, I would let you out of the deal for a 10 to 20k payment. If not, I would sue for specific performance. If a seller tries to pull the rug out from under me, I will tie up their house until they settle with me or until they sell it to me. One or the other. Your grandmother made a deal and now her estate should see it through.
What right do you have, sir, to kill the deal? You are lucky if the Buyer doesn’t sue your grandmother’s estate.
In my opinion, John, you can avoid a heck of alot of legal problems if you just sell the house as agreed.
And I agree, both real estate agents should be compensated in full. That would be 3% for each broker.
Just my opinion. But then again, I get a bit ticked when sellers try to pull fast ones.
Have a good day.
Re: seller dies in escrow, realtor wants paid - Posted by david
Posted by david on February 29, 2004 at 20:59:16:
There may be a couple of things that will help you “convince” the broker to reduce the amount the broker wants. As one poster has already mentioned, read the purchase agreement. If you are in Southern California, your grandmother probably signed a standard CAR form. Most of the “outs” are on the buyer’s side but you really need to read the contract to see if there were any contingencies you can make use of. If so, consult a lawyer and see what you can do.
Assuming there are no contingencies available for you, here are a couple of things which give you some bargaining points:
- I assume your grandmother was the sole person on title. If she was, the broker cannot collect against a dead person. I believe he has to file a creditor’s claim against her estate. This will take some time since someone has to file a petition for probate to set up your grandmother’s estate. If the broker fails to file a creditor’s claim within the time period required, I believe he cannot collect his fee.
Additionally, if he does file a creditor’s claim, he may have to first offer mediation and then arbitration. I may be wrong on this point as I have never looked at it. However the standard CAR purchase agreement provides for mediation (unless it is crossed out) and arbitration if both parties affirmatively elect it. Look at the purchase agreement to see the status of these provisions.
Keep in mind that having to mediate and then arbitrate takes time and money. Maybe you can negotiate a reduction in what the broker wants for a quick settlement of his claim. However, you must also remember that the standard listing agreement which your grandmother presumably signed also contains an attorney’s fee clause which gives the winning party the right to collect reasonable legal fees from the other party.
So I think you can see you have some bargaining room but, based upon your comments to date, I would not take it too far.
Re: seller dies in escrow, realtor wants paid - Posted by ken
Posted by ken on February 28, 2004 at 20:15:47:
The realtor earns a commision once there is an agreement in place. they get paid at closing because that is when people have the money to pat them but it was due upon an agreement
Re: seller dies in escrow, realtor wants paid - Posted by Nate(DC)
Posted by Nate(DC) on February 28, 2004 at 16:59:19:
My guess is that if she signed a valid contract before she died, the fact that she died doesn’t invalidate the contract. Of course, read the contract to make sure this is the case, but if you are using a standard Board of Realtors type contract, I am guessing that death of the principal does not void the contract and that the contract is still enforceable against the estate of the principal.
In other words, just cause she’s dead, the estate is still obligated to complete the sale, and thus the broker is still entitled to get paid. Or if you don’t complete the sale now, that’s not exactly HIS fault.
NT
Re: seller dies in escrow, realtor wants paid - Posted by john carruthers
Posted by john carruthers on February 29, 2004 at 19:59:04:
hi
thanks for all your input,
yes I THINK the buyers that were found did qualify to buy the house etc. (I am not 100% sure if they qualified), but we had the sale stopped.
we wanted to keep the house.
understandable to see how the realtor could be upset.
ok, so he did his share of the work and he is entitled to his comission, i.e. 3% of the sales price ($300,000) which is $9000.
we have offered him $9000, but he said no, he wants $18000.
why should he get the full 6% and not just 3%.
he was not the selling agent, but seems to have a working relationship with the selling agent. is this any reason to pay him the full 6%?
any ideas?
thanks.
john
Re: seller dies in escrow, realtor wants paid - Posted by john carruthers
Posted by john carruthers on February 28, 2004 at 17:09:33:
thanks for your reply.
in the end the sale never took place; we got it stopped. do you think the realtor is still entitled to money, even if there was no sale?
john
Re: seller dies in escrow, realtor wants paid - Posted by Tom-FL
Posted by Tom-FL on March 01, 2004 at 24:57:44:
– why should he get the full 6% and not just 3% –
Well, the listing agent gets 3% for taking the listing, advertising, MLS fees, maintaining an office, and etc.
Then the selling agent gets 3% for searching the MLS, driving 600 prospects around all day, answering a bunch of stupid questions, getting an offer put together, and other hand holding.
3% + 3% = 6%
They both expect payment, since they kept their end of the deal.
Re: seller dies in escrow, realtor wants paid - Posted by Keith
Posted by Keith on February 28, 2004 at 18:51:18:
I agree with Nate. Especially if you were the one who actually stopped the sale as you claim. Did you do this through an attorney ?
If your grandmother was still alive the sale would have been completed and the realtor deserves compensation for his service. The sale did not fall through because of any action your realtor made, You were actually the reason the sale did not take place.
Just my opinion,
Keith
seller dies, realtor wants paid contd… - Posted by john carruthers
Posted by john carruthers on February 29, 2004 at 19:53:39:
hi
thanks for all your input,
yes I THINK the buyers that were found did qualify to buy the house etc. (I am not 100% sure if they qualified), but we had the sale stopped.
we wanted to keep the house.
understandable to see how the realtor could be upset.
ok, so he did his share of the work and he is entitled to his comission, i.e. 3% of the sales price ($300,000) which is $9000.
we have offered him $9000, but he said no, he wants $18000.
why should he get the full 6% and not just 3%.
he was not the selling agent, but seems to have a working relationship with the selling agent. is this any reason to pay him the full 6%?
any ideas?
thanks.
john