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I have a real estate school in Sedona and teach agency in both prelicense and continuing education classes.
There can be "implied" agency... but under the Statute of Frauds and ARS 32-2151.02, an employment agreement needs to be signed by both parties in order to "sue" for a commission. See a most recent appeals case: Young v Rose.
BTW, I am not an attorney and I am not giving you legal advice. I would suggest that you have a discussion with whichever agent you select to show you homes. If the agents don't have the courage to explain how we do business in Arizona, ask them? Ask them who they represent. Ask if you can see the buyer broker agreement. And, please have a great time in finding your piece of paradise! Welcome~
I have a real estate school in Sedona and teach agency in both prelicense and continuing education classes.
There can be "implied" agency... but under the Statute of Frauds and ARS 32-2151.02, an employment agreement needs to be signed by both parties in order to "sue" for a commission. See a most recent appeals case: Young v Rose.
BTW, I am not an attorney and I am not giving you legal advice. I would suggest that you have a discussion with whichever agent you select to show you homes. If the agents don't have the courage to explain how we do business in Arizona, ask them? Ask them who they represent. Ask if you can see the buyer broker agreement. And, please have a great time in finding your piece of paradise! Welcome~
Kathy
The original post was nearly four years ago. They've probably sorted things out by now.
I wanted to get some advice here, if any one can answer my question. My husband and I were interacting with an agent via email, back and forth about certain properties we may be interested in purchasing. There was never any express agreement that this person would be our agent when it came time for us to purchase a house. As it turned out, they could do for us the things we needed done. We contacted another agent, who went above and beyond to provide us with the information we needed, as we are out of state.
Now the first agent states that our emails constitute some sort of Implied contract that we would use them as our agent once we decided to purchase a home. We still have not purchased a home, however they are already saying they will sue us for 3% of the price of whatever home that we buy, as that is the commission they would have recieved had we used their services. Now I am not agent and not entirely familiar with the process in AZ, but I'm pretty sure that since there is no signed contract expressly stating our relationship, that we don't have any kind of contractual agreement with this agent to use her services. Of course based on her threats, we wouldn't want to use her now anyway. Does any one know the law on Implied contract between buyer and agent in the state of Arizona?
How has this agent notified you of her intentions? Email? Letter? I would not respond to the agent.
You could copy the correspondence and send it directly to the owner/manager of her office. Call your local Board of Realtors and they will give you the contact information for the AZ Real Estate Commission if you want to file a complaint.
We cannot give legal advice, just opinions from experience. It is always best to consult with an attorney when threatened; an attorney's response to this agent and her manager should stop this inicident in its tracks. I am sorry you have had this experience; agents of this ilk are a black mark on the entire profession.
I think it is only a matter of time before a lawsuit arises out of internet forum "advice."
For that reason right there, people with licenses that have most of their marbles about them don't give advice on the internet.
Another thing, it is not proper for people to ask someone who has invested in their career through education, experience, licensing and so on to ask for free advice. Professional services should be compensated and when someone asks for the service for free, it dilutes the profession.
It is one thing to discuss affairs in general and even use examples not specific to anyone in the discussion, quite another to ask about a personal issue, get an answer from someone licensed in the field and then rely on that information. Yeah, lawyers are just waiting, shouldn't take too long.
You can include all the disclosures and statements about not relying on opinion and so on, that doesn't matter if you claim to be a licensed professional. Once you make the claim, your license is at risk.
The original post was nearly four years ago. They've probably sorted things out by now.
Many others have not and it comes up all the time. If you are in the business, you probably don't realize how often your fellow Realtors and REAs are hammering people with this scenario. All the time.
Well then, shucks. I didn't notice the age of the post, will have to check that first from now on before hammering away with assistance/opinion/response etc. Silverfall is correct, it's not a good idea to respond in general.
Another thing, it is not proper for people to ask someone who has invested in their career through education, experience, licensing and so on to ask for free advice. Professional services should be compensated and when someone asks for the service for free, it dilutes the profession.
Okay, I know I'm taking this resurrected thread on a tangent, but you've brought up something which is really causing me to scatch my head in bewilderment.
Do you really believe what you wrote? The implication is that professional services shouldn't be GIVEN for free. I ask attorneys to provide pro bono legal services all of the time. They are free to decline, but many do offer their professional services for free. It doesn't dilute their profession, it enhances it. It's the same with doctors and many other professions.
The same also goes for real estate services--although I suspect to a lesser extent. Still, I have done many real estate transactions for free (around 50 to date, both for nonprofit organizations and for individuals) and I have volunteered literally thousands of hours to a number of organizations.
Sure, I agree that there should be an expectation to pay professional people...but it doesn't hurt for people to ask for something to be provided free of charge. And it certainly doesn't hurt any profession to give away free advice or services. Actually, I believe the result is quite the opposite.
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Arizona Agency - what is and what is not
