Real Estate Question (contingent, 2%, clause, agent)

[harrmar13]

I am looking for some legal advice in real estate. We put our house on the market last september and just recently (March 15) came to an agreement to sell. We put an offer on a house last september, but the contingency on the offer was upon the sale of our house.
That agreement expired and the sellers decided to take their house off the market for the holidays and still don't have it listed. I contacted the sellers directly and they stated that their contract with their agent expired in January. I made an offer to them, but figured since they were no longer under contract with an agent this "new offer" would be free of any real estated commission. I am now being told by a friend who is an attorney that he thinks that this is opening the seller and myself up to legal problems with her "former" listing agent.

Does anybody else have any incite to this? Basically the seller is taking the agents commission to the side and passing the saving onto me since the market has continued to adjust. It makes the selling price lower without taking too much out of his pocket.......

[Dallashomes]

Here in Texas these are facts that would nee consideration:

a) Listing agent agreement usually has some kind of protection period so if a buyer returned the listing agent would receive that commission. IF the protection period expired then the seller is open for your offer.

b) Buyer agreement do you have a realtor who is representing you ? If so are they due commission HOWEVER that depends on the contract you signed with them.

c) REALTOR where is your realtor in regards to these issues they should be providing you assistance.

FYI - Don't purchase a home unless you have a realtor representing you there are many issues that a buyer is not aware SO IF something goes wrong you are under the realtor E & O insurance.

I would think the seller would be happy to sale their home to you !

Good luck

[harrmar13]

a) does the protection period listed on the sellers and listing agents original contract together or is that on the original offer?
b) my realtor is the listing agent on my sale, so with this housing market being so tight, she is happy to be making any money right now. just wants to keep us happy.
c) my realtor suggested going to the seller and saying that she would take him on as a client charging only a 2% comm , but i don't want to get the seller jammed up with his previous agent.

[Dallashomes]

I am unconfirmed on the restrictions in your state HOWEVER

a) Your listing agent should be able to assist you answering those questions HOWEVER
b) Here in Texas the protection period varies per agent, I put mine in for 180 days

THAT Is in the listing agreement that the seller signed with their agent only that seller would know or the listing agent.

QUESTION:
Is your listing agent the same agent that showed you this house? If not you need to confer with your buyer rep agreement regarding you able to purchase the home.

[Valerie C]

harmarr, you may want to go a step further and contact a real estate attorney before moving forward with a purchase on this home. YOUR listing agent would have no information on the Listing Contract, as this was between the Seller and the agency that listed the home for sale. As noted by Dallashomes, the protection period can range from 90 days to 12 months, or more.

In addition, although the previous Purchase and Sale may have expired, your present agent may be subject to a breach of ethics and end up in arbitration if she takes the Seller on as a client, and then acts as a Disclosed Dual Agent to receive commission from both of you. It's not a situation I would want to be in, on either side. I wish you all the best in resolving this situation legally and ethically for all concerned.

[Brandon Hoffman]

Have the seller look at their listing agreement. The agent probably is protected. It may be null and void if relisted, but you could run into issues if it's your agent. I think you should discuss it with an attorney if you have questions.

Of course, if you feel that paying the list agent for doing their job is the right thing to do, then I encourage you to go that route. Sometimes doing the right thing is more important even if it doesn't feel good. Had the house not been in contingent contract with you, the agent may have been able to sell it. Instead, the time and money to help you get it under contract and take off the market resulted in an expired listing.

[tomocox]

I think that a contract between the buyer and the seller may continue to exist. Of course for there to have been a contract to begin with, there must have been a period certain (date to begin and date to expire). The listing agreement between the seller and the listing broker is a separate matter which becomes entangled here because of the protection clause and/or if the original offer still is enforceable.

[palmcoasting]

I can't and don't give legal advice but I can give you the benefit of my experience...
The listing agreement with the agent will more than likely carry a protection period for the listing agency. Some agents do not fill in a time period, some do. The seller should have a copy of that contract and read it...the protection period covers any buyers that saw the house during the original listing contract period for a certain amount of time after the listing contract ended. Your original offer expired and is no longer a consideration. If the seller lists with another Realtor® that protection period ends and the seller is free to sell to anyone. If they list with your Realtor®, while the original agent may want to sue, it would more than likely be cost prohibitive. She could file a procuring cause case with the local board of Realtors® after the sale closes but I doubt she would win. The seller is free to relist with whoever they want regardless of who else that agent represents. The seller should check with an attorney as to whether they need to hire another Realtor® at all.