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As many of you know, I have been trying to get out of a contract with Long and Foster in Vienna for over a month, after a 7 month listing with them. Today I found out that they canceled my house from the MRIS, removing all listings from the internet. I never asked them to do that. I have asked them over and over to cancel the contract, but never asked them to cancel the MRIS listings prior to canceling the contract. We never told them, never signed anything, asking them to do this! They waited until 5:00 on Friday to tell us that they had screwed us for the weekend, and beyond. Of course I know that all their listings go away when the contract is canceled. But, get this, they won't cancel the contract, but they canceled all listings of the house! So now we can't sell the house, without owing them money, but they are refusing to have it listed anywhere which means they aren't going to try to sell the house either. So we are being held hostage for a month. Can you believe it? I always thought Long and Foster was a reputable company! Not any more!
Do you think this is legal? Can they drop their part of the contract, by not trying to sell the house, but not let us out of the contract?
Does anyone know a good real estate attorney? We are out thousands of dollars because of Long and Foster. This month alone, while they won't sell it and won't release it, will cost us another $2,000. I am hoping that a lawyer can get us out of this and perhaps sue them for our expenses and his. It's worth paying a real estate attorney a few hundred dollars for a consult.
Please, everyone, do not trust Long and Foster. They have totally gone down the tubes as far as ethics and honesty. Very sad.
The listing agreement clearly states on page 3 that the property must be entered into the MLS (unless it is agreed that the owner requests that it not be) so, yes, as long as your contract is valid the listing cannot be withdrawn without your written consent. You need to contact the compliance department (301-838-7140) ask for Valerie. Email is compliance@mris.net.
You also need to contact Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR) at (703-207-3214). Ask for the legal department, but there may not be anyone there on the weekend. Email for an attorney there is spetcher@nvar.com.
As far as an attorney goes, all of the title companies that do real estate settlements have an attorney on staff who will be familiar with a listing agreement. Try MBH, Key Title, RGS Title or a title company you have used in the past.
Good luck and in the future never sign a listing agreement for more than 90 days, you can always renew it if you are unhappy (or the broker can refuse to renew it if they are unhappy with you ).
Hey there,
Can you explain more about the "getting out of the contract?"
To a certain degree there is a contract for a reason. They aren't written up so that one side can just walk from their obligation.
Sure, everyone is mad that you can't get out of the Verizon cell phone contracts. But they are contracts.
Is it an agent specific problem? If so, you might be able to request another agent. Did they do something wrong? Did they not hold up their side of the contract (not counting the current delisting?).
Is there more to the story? Did you find a FSBO that wants to buy your place with no commission?
Sorry, but I see this all the time. Happy homeowner finds a coworker to buy their place, and suddenly they want to fire the listing agent that did nothing wrong. In that case, it doesn't work like that. When I list, I don't compete with my clients. It isn't a race to see who can find a buyer first (that can actually lead to worse results).
Do you plan on relisting it with a new broker?
As for lawyers, it would be much more than a few hundred bucks. The lawyers I know start with $500 to hear your issues. And you might think your case is clear cut and a slam dunk, but it rarely is.
As for closing company lawyers, they might be able to give you advice, but they can't represent you to start a lawsuit.
Do you have your homes on Craigslist? Have you paid a flat fee lister to put it back on the MLS? Could be as little as $250 (it wouldn't necessarily relieve your obligation to pay them, but it would get the house listed again).
Have you gone directly to the broker of the firm? L&F ain't no dummies. There has to be another side to this story.
Hi Frank,
I love your blog and use your search engine every day. I get your email updates too. I love it.
Yup, there are two sides. We've been listed with Long and Foster for 7 months. Our agent is an old friend and neighbor who told us from the beginning that we could cancel the contract with her "at any time". We did everything that she asked, spent over $20,000 in fix ups on the house and have lowered the price 4 times, for a total of $70,000. After 6 months, back in March, it was obvious that something was very wrong and that our agent was never going to sell the house. There had never been any marketing done on the house, other than one ad in the Post and one in the Gazette. Nothing else. Ever. Long and Foster put it on the market and that was it. I might add that we have bought and sold 3 houses with L&F, including a house last August, where they made $22,000 in commission. We've been great customers for them. In March I told the agent that we wanted to cancel the contract on April 30TH because we could not afford to continue this, we really, really, need to sell the house and wanted to do something else before the end of the Spring market. The agent said nothing, basically ignored us. We had previously extended the contract until the end of May. That was slipped in on us when we last lowered the price of the house. But we were assured that we could ''always change that, at any time". After 7 months we felt that L&F had their chance to sell the house. (On Thursday a house two doors down from our's sold for $100,000 more than our list price. According to FC tax records, it has exactly the same square footage although it has a garage rather than a carport and a screen porch. So price does not appear to be the problem.)
We have always been very upfront and honest with our agent and I think that his worked against us. For over a month we told her that if the house was not under contract by the end of 7 months, April 30TH, we wanted to cancel the contract and give someone else a chance to sell it for the month of May. After that we will be forced to rent the house. We simply can't afford to continue this. The last 7 months have cost us over $14,000. Our agent and friend appears not to care. I can't tell you how sad that makes us and how disappointed we are in her and in Long and Foster. She ignored me every time I mentioned canceling the contract. She never offered to do anything, no new plan, nothing. Last week she informed us that her broker would not allow her to cancel the contract. We were stunned since she had always told us that we could cancel "at any time" and all we were asking for was one month. We wanted the contract canceled on April 30TH rather than May 30TH. ONE month, after they have had SEVEN months.
Speaking with the broker got me nowhere. She did nothing but make me furious, blaming the lack of a sale on me, because one time, back in December, we waited a few weeks before lowering the price! But she assured us that the house has been priced perfectly since February. She offered nothing other than SHE, the broker, would take over the sale of our house. She offered no new marketing, no new plan of any kind. Since we don't know her, at all, we declined her offer to take over the sale of our house. She later sent a strange email that we didn't understand. When my dh has for clarification, she ignored us. She continued to ignore our request for the forms to cancel the contract. She also sent emails stating things that I NEVER said, such as "I am glad that you agree your house has been properly marketed by Long and Foster" when, in fact, I said exactly the opposite. It was bizarre to say the least.
Sorry to make this such a long story. On Thursday we were actually happy that our listings were off FranklyMLS.com because we thought she had finally agreed to cancel our contract. When I asked again for the forms to sign, to officially cancel the contract, she ignored me until 4:55 pm on Friday when she sent an email saying that she had not canceled our contract but had removed all of our listings and withdrawn our house from the MRIS, as we had requested! We NEVER, EVER, requested that she do that! We NEVER asked her to withdraw our listing prior to canceling the contract. Who would? As long they had the contract, of course we expected they would continue to try to sell it. Now we're totally stuck, with our house withdrawn, no listing anywhere, but a contract with Long and Foster for another month. They won't sell it and they won't let someone else sell it either.
That's the truth, and our agent knows it, and the broker knows it too. I can't tell you how upset and disappointed we are with this lieing broker and her sneaky tactics. Long and Foster is not what it used to be, which is very sad for them, and for us.
The listing agreement clearly states on page 3 that the property must be entered into the MLS (unless it is agreed that the owner requests that it not be) so, yes, as long as your contract is valid the listing cannot be withdrawn without your written consent. You need to contact the compliance department (301-838-7140) ask for Valerie. Email is compliance@mris.net.
You also need to contact Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR) at (703-207-3214). Ask for the legal department, but there may not be anyone there on the weekend. Email for an attorney there is spetcher@nvar.com.
As far as an attorney goes, all of the title companies that do real estate settlements have an attorney on staff who will be familiar with a listing agreement. Try MBH, Key Title, RGS Title or a title company you have used in the past.
Good luck and in the future never sign a listing agreement for more than 90 days, you can always renew it if you are unhappy (or the broker can refuse to renew it if they are unhappy with you ).
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Margery, I cannot thank you enough. This is exactly the kind of information that I need. I will call Valerie and the NVAR first thing on Monday morning. We definitely did not sign anything asking that our house be withdrawn from the MLS. Our contract has not been canceled. We've asked for those forms over and over and been ignored. We've signed nothing with Long and Foster for the last few months, other than the last form to lower the price again, back on April 10th.
Needless to say, we wish we had not signed to extend the contract. That was snuck in on us in pile of papers back in February when we were lowering the price for the third time. Our bad for signing it, even though she assured us we could change it at any time. She presented it as an afterthought, no big deal kind of thing. Now I know why! She had NO intentions of honoring her word to cancel our contract at any time. I can't tell you what a disappointment that has been for us. I never expected a friend to do that to us. Live and learn. I'm not going to give up trusting friends just because one lied to us, but it sure does make me feel bad.
Finding a real estate attorney through the title company is a great idea, I wouldn't have thought of that but once you said it, I remembered that I have a friend who owns a title company in Vienna! She is most definitely an attorney. She's supposed to come to my house tomorrow, depending on the kids' schedules. In any event, I am going to ask her how to proceed. She's a doll and I know she will be happy to help. So, thanks! I don't know why I didn't think of her earlier!
Definitely follow up with the VA Real Estate Board. That's why they exist-to make sure the realtors are playing by the book. Sorry about your experience.
Good luck and in the future never sign a listing agreement for more than 90 days, you can always renew it if you are unhappy (or the broker can refuse to renew it if they are unhappy with you ).
Should have read this over more than once, I meant to say you can always renew it if you are HAPPY with the agent.
As far as filing a complaint with the Virginia Real Estate Board, that is a lengthy process. For now, work with the local association and file a complaint later with VREB. You will have to go to Richmond for the hearing. Save all your documents and write notes after each conversation, email the person you spoke with to restate the conversation. Good luck and don't give up, we all should be following the rules.
Funny thing, the broker has sent me emails to restate the conversation, except that they are total fabrications. She attributes all kinds of things to me that I never said! One said that I agreed that they had marketed the property well. I had said exactly the opposite! I thought she had lost her marbles. Now I know she was simply copying her boss on HER emails to me, without copying mine back stating clearly that I did not think that they had adequately marketed my home. She's a very sneaky lady who thinks she is oh-so clever. She's not. She certainly isn't good with people, totally clueless when it comes to saying the right thing to sooth things over. She antagonizes me more with every exchange, either verbal or in writing. Plus, she's a terrible communicator. I can't help but wonder who hired her and why.
Funny thing, the broker has sent me emails to restate the conversation, except that they are total fabrications. She attributes all kinds of things to me that I never said! One said that I agreed that they had marketed the property well. I had said exactly the opposite! I thought she had lost her marbles. Now I know she was simply copying her boss on HER emails to me, without copying mine back stating clearly that I did not think that they had adequately marketed my home. She's a very sneaky lady who thinks she is oh-so clever. She's not. She certainly isn't good with people, totally clueless when it comes to saying the right thing to sooth things over. She antagonizes me more with every exchange, either verbal or in writing. Plus, she's a terrible communicator. I can't help but wonder who hired her and why.
Be more straightforward with this clown. Ask specific questions, demand answers. "KISS" Keep it simple stupid. Keep calling her until she gets annoyed with you, which should be pretty easy for you. IMO I think you're are impatient, something is putting pressure on you to move. Just my $0.02.
Now I know she was simply copying her boss on HER emails to me, without copying mine back stating clearly that I did not think that they had adequately marketed my home.
Why don't YOU copy her boss on your e-mails back to her?
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Get out of Contract?
