Q–We are out-of-town sellers, who live about 1,400 miles from a house we inherited several years ago. Since then, it had been a rental house, managed by a nearby real estate agent.
In March, sensing an excellent time to sell, we signed a listing with the Realtor at $174,000, which was the market value the Realtor recommended. We didn’t receive any offers.
In late April, we received a Federal Express letter from a prospective buyer. She said her realty agent delivered her purchase offer to our listing agent, but our listing agent told her the sellers rejected the $162,000 purchase offer without any counteroffer.
We were never informed about that offer. The prospective buyer suspected that and obtained our out-of-town address from the tax collector’s records.
We would have jumped at that $162,000 offer. After all, we didn’t pay anything for the inherited house. I suspect our listing agent wants to get more for the house to raise her commission.
When I phoned her, she said the offer was so low she knew we would reject it. Shouldn’t we have been informed about this offer?
We contacted the prospective buyer, accepted the $162,000 all-cash, no contingency offer and expect the sale to close in a few weeks.
We feel betrayed by our listing agent. Should we refuse to pay her any sales commission?
A–Your listing agent had no authority to reject that purchase offer. All offers must be promptly presented to the seller for acceptance, rejection or counteroffer. The agent clearly breached her fiduciary duty to you.
Please consult a local real estate attorney in the town where the house is located. He or she can give you advice on whether to withhold the sales commission from that agent when the sale closes.
It is arguable your listing agent did not bring you a “ready, willing and able” buyer and is not entitled to any commission.
However, the buyer’s agent is still involved. That agent is entitled to half of the commission for obtaining the buyer’s purchase offer and doing nothing wrong.
You should report this matter to the real estate commissioner in the state where the house is located. The situation will be investigated, and hopefully, the listing agent’s license will be revoked for breach of fiduciary duty to you.
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Have a question about real estate? You can write to Robert Bruss in care of Tribune Real Estate Features Service, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60611.
Answers will be provided only through the column. Please note that laws vary from state to state and area to area.
Consult an attorney for specific legal advice.
