Buyer / Broker Agreement. HELP! (Sacramento: real estate, attorney, townhouse) - California (CA) - City-Data Forum

Crujones568 · 05-08-2009, 04:19 PM

Hey all,

So heres the scoop. From october - January my wife and I were using an agent to look for a house. We put an offer on a few homes but never got them. During this period, it turns out we signed a buyer/broker agreement with our agent. It was not explained in full and we were stupid for signing it. We didnt even know we did until....

From January to Mid march we didnt look for houses and was not in contact with our agent. We happened to stumble on a new townhouse and signed up for it. Mid way through escrow we thought we'd call our agent (whom we got along with well) and give her the good news that we finally found a place! We got a small congradulations and then got slapped with the buyer broker agreement that we didnt know we signed (at the time).

Our agent tried to get the seller to pay them 2.5% commision but they refused because the agent didnt help us with anything. Now the agent is coming after us for the 2.5% commision and we do not agree to pay it. We would rather give something to the agent for helping us in the past months in looking for a home. 2.5% works out to $10000.

My question is do you think the will come after us (the buyer) for the money they didnt work for? Will this actually stand in a court? I would imagine the brokers name would be terribly tarnished in doing something like this.

Thanks for any advice / help!

Lovehound · 05-08-2009, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crujones568

We happened to stumble on a new townhouse and signed up for it. Mid way through escrow we thought we'd call our agent (whom we got along with well) and give her the good news that we finally found a place! We got a small congradulations and then got slapped with the buyer broker agreement that we didnt know we signed (at the time).

No good deed goes unpunished.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crujones568

Our agent tried to get the seller to pay them 2.5% commision but they refused because the agent didnt help us with anything. Now the agent is coming after us for the 2.5% commision and we do not agree to pay it. We would rather give something to the agent for helping us in the past months in looking for a home. 2.5% works out to $10000.

Yikes!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crujones568

My question is do you think the will come after us (the buyer) for the money they didnt work for? Will this actually stand in a court? I would imagine the brokers name would be terribly tarnished in doing something like this.

Yes. Of course she will come after you with a lawsuit. What kind of idiot would bill you for $10,000 and then just shrug it off?

Stand up in court? Maybe. Depends on what the agreement says.

It is better to be tarnished than to not get the money. (Their attitude, not mine.)

You should get legal advice from an attorney. Or perhaps a real estate broker might respond to this topic with their personal experience.

Lesson to be learned: Read and understand everything you sign.

BTW, I thought that the usual broker contract was about three months, and I thought those agreements applied to only the houses they personally showed you. After all, it's not unusual for buyers to see houses shown by several competing brokers.

BennyPhoenix · 05-08-2009, 05:18 PM

I've never had an agent ask me to sign a buyers agreement.
Talk to the manager of the agent's office. If he doesn't get the agent to stop pressing you then Tell them you'll put flyers on every telephone pole in the city describing the situation and not to use that office or agent.
If that doesn't work, then get an attorney. A smart attorney should be able to settle for cheap or he can make up something to counter sue for.

Advice for everyone: NEVER sign a buyers agreement, there are plenty of agents who will do a good job without such an agreement. And treat your agent fairly, dont go around them thinking you'll get a better deal; you wont.

Crujones568 · 05-08-2009, 05:21 PM

Thanks for the input.

The contract we sign was for 1 year. There are a few things in the agreement that are going against the broker, but im not sure if its enough. Example, Brokers obligations: paperwork, showing the place, walkthrough, dealing with seller. None of this was done by our agent.

One of the things on our side is that the buliding company requires all agents to sign in and register. This was not done. Dont know if it'll be enough.

What a mess! Thanks again!

Lovehound · 05-08-2009, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

I've never had an agent ask me to sign a buyers agreement.

I can't recall any either, although it's been a long time for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crujones568

The contract we sign was for 1 year.

Bad idea. Some marriages don't even last one year.

Crujones568 · 05-08-2009, 06:45 PM

Your telling me.

Lovehound · 05-08-2009, 06:55 PM

I don't suppose your member name is made up of the combination of "crushed" plus the Spanish word "cojones"? If you have to pay the $10,000 the name might be appropriate.

BennyPhoenix · 05-08-2009, 07:50 PM

IMO, A 1 year contract to buy or sell a property is unethical.

Crujones568 · 05-08-2009, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

IMO, A 1 year contract to buy or sell a property is unethical.

I do too but we were dumb enough to overlook and sign it.

bayarea-girl · 05-08-2009, 09:16 PM

It is unethical. To the OP when did you supposedly sign this document? Did both you and your wife sign it? Did you sign when you were bidding on another place? I think that is what the agent is referring to. If you put a bid on a place then the agent that did the agreement with you can only sell it to you for the time period of a year.

The real estate agent isn't going to go after you. It is a waste of time and costs money. Check with the CA brokers board and threaten the agent that you will file a claim with the board. See if it is even ethical and or is the law. File a claim anyways with the board. Once the agent feels that their license is in jeopardy they might just back off. Also, contact that person's broker and let them know that you are filing a complaint against that agent, in other words going after the broker's license. The broker is going to want to work things out with you.

Whatever you do don't pay them a dime. They didn't do the work and can't justify getting paid for work they didn't do. They didn't find you the place or even show it to you. Doesn't matter what the paper says. I'm sure a judge would agree with you.

BTW, some time ago this desperate agent in Sacramento (when I was looking there) wanted us to sign an exclusive contract just with her. Of course we told her to get lost. Thought it was interesting that people were just that desperate. Her document had a 3 month clause.