Expert: Dick Dennis - 4/27/2006

Question
Thank you so much for your quick response.  I meant to ask and forgot on something you brought up.  It was brought to my attention that within five days of cancelling listing and/or contract, the realtor has to supply client with list of those who were shown the house while listed with the realtor.  Is it five days after cancelling the listing or the contract?  When you say it is "gobble=di-gook" (I love that expression) about not really having to pay commission after cancellation, why do I hear alot about this and one actually does have to pay?  When speaking to the manager she said she would review my file and get back to me.  What is she actually reviewing and how long should I give her to review it?  We are at a standstill as we now would like to sell the house ourselves and are having to put agents on hold who want to come view the house. You have a great service.  If you don't mind, would you please cc: "anne.howard@usdoj.gov".  Thank you again.

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Followup To
Question -
Hello:  I am in So. Calif.  I put my house on the market mid January of this year with a reputable realtor.  When first meeting with this realtor, I did express to her that I had wanted to sell the house myself, but thought I would try a realtor. We signed a six month contract. She stated that if after 90 days we are not satisfied, she will cancel the contract.  After the second month into the contract, we were not pleased with this realtor.  There was no communication. Two open houses were held.  Never any feedback. We had to do the calling.  This realtor has yet to bring one potential buyer into our home.  We arranged to meet with her to "touch base". She cancelled that appointment and fifteen minutes before the rescheduled appt., we received a voice mail that our realtor was too busy to meet with us and would reschedule.  Another month went by and we never heard back. When I told her we wanted to cancel she said she had an offer from an agent although the agent had yet to view the house. We never saw or heard of the offer prior to the request to cancel and have yet to see it. There are other issues. When I told her we wanted to cancel, she said 90 days after cancellation we would have to pay her 2.5% commission for anyone she brought through under her listing that buys our house.  She has removed us from the listing, but will not cancel the contract and now says we have to pay her commission (up to the end of the contract in July) no matter if she showed the house to the buyer or not.  I have spoken to her manager (not the broker) who said she would get back to me.  That was a few days ago and no word yet. We are at a standstill.  What recourse do we have in the event they will not honor the cancellation?  Should I have spoken to her broker rather than the manager.Thank you.
Answer -
In real estate, if it is not written, it was never said. Please keep that in mind. Her promise to cancel the listing after 90 days was a ruse to get you to sign the listing. If it was not written as part of the listing it was a sign this agent was going to give you trouble.

Further, if you get no results from the "manager," yes, you should contact the broker/owner of the business. Better yet, pay an attorney for the use of his letterhead (his office would write the letter) to "ask the real estate office for their copies of documents in question." That will get results . . . FAST! No real estate agent wants an attorney sticking his/her nose into their business. Also, the agent's insurance coverage would force them to do right.

All that other stuff about having you pay fees or commissions is just gobble-di-gook.

However, there is a clause in most listings in which it says that a commission is due should your property be sold to someone who was shown the property during the listing period, usually within a specified amount of time. But they must notify you in writing WHO and WHEN the prospective buyer was shown the property.

As a southern California broker, I hope this helps. I do wish you well.

Dick Dennis      dixiedee13@aol.com

Answer
That is correct: After the expiration or cancellation of the listing the agent is supposed to give you a list of the people who were shown the property. Since they have not cancelled it yet and it has not expired yet, then that remains to be seen whether they cancel it or not or give you a list of people who have seen the property.

I still say you should have an attorney write a letter to them to show you mean business. That manager obviously is talking with the agent to verify that she offered to cancel the listing after 90 days. And the agent may be lying about it because the office may have a policy of no cancellation without the manager's permission. In the final analysis, when a homeowner hires an agent to sell the house, like any hiring agreement, the agent can be fired. This is what the public does not know. Any real estate attorney know this, however.

Caution: If you are cancelling because you think you can sell to one of the people who did see the house, you're going to have big problems. But if the agent did not perform as she said she would do, then you have a legitimate reason for cancelling. Further, I would take the matter to the local Board of Realtors (the word Realtor is always capitalized, by the way).

Since you apparently work for the Dept. of Justice, you should not have any problems with your goal. I wish you well.