Agent Cheated me .. It is against the LAW?

[tamholt]

Thank you for all the advice. I didn't do a lot of research myself on the comps in the area because I was hiring a friend as my realtor. I figured he would do his very best to get us top dollar. All the while, he was just looking out for himself. He wasn't acting as my agent but as the buyers agent. He got the buyer a great deal!

A hard lesson learned that you should always do some research yourself, always interview more than one realtor, even if they are a friend.

I think my best bet is to contact my agent and/or his boss. Tell them how unethical the deal was and to threaten to report him the real estate board and have his license revoked.

FYI - The "investor friend" has bought 15 houses since 2000. I don't know if there is a way to find out who sold him all these houses .... my agent??

 

[HomeGuru]

Thank you for all the advice. I didn't do a lot of research myself on the comps in the area because I was hiring a friend as my realtor. I figured he would do his very best to get us top dollar. All the while, he was just looking out for himself. He wasn't acting as my agent but as the buyers agent. He got the buyer a great deal!

A hard lesson learned that you should always do some research yourself, always interview more than one realtor, even if they are a friend.

I think my best bet is to contact my agent and/or his boss. Tell them how unethical the deal was and to threaten to report him the real estate board and have his license revoked.

FYI - The "investor friend" has bought 15 houses since 2000. I don't know if there is a way to find out who sold him all these houses .... my agent??

**A: your stories are inconsistent. You call the agent "your agent" but have not provided any evidence that you in fact signed a listing or agency agreement.
You state " I am not not sure of the type of contract we signed with our agent"
Well, did you or did you not sign a contract? What is the complete story here?
What are the details of the arrangement with this agent that you are leaving out?

 

[tamholt]

I did sign an agreement with the real estate agent.

Someone stated this in an earlier thread:

What was the agent's brokerage relationship to you? What type of agreement did you sign with the agent/brokerage? Exclusive? Seller Agency? Transaction Broker (dual agency)?

I didn't know there were different types of relationships. I called the real estate agent to sell my house. I signed a contract with him, saying I wouldn't use another realtor to sell my house for X amount of days. I would assume that means the agent is suppose to be working on my behalf .... Seller Agency?

 

[HomeGuru]

I did sign an agreement with the real estate agent.

Someone stated this in an earlier thread:

What was the agent's brokerage relationship to you? What type of agreement did you sign with the agent/brokerage? Exclusive? Seller Agency? Transaction Broker (dual agency)?

I didn't know there were different types of relationships. I called the real estate agent to sell my house. I signed a contract with him, saying I wouldn't use another realtor to sell my house for X amount of days. I would assume that means the agent is suppose to be working on my behalf .... Seller Agency?

**A: post the exact language in the contract as it is written word for word without your interpretation or paraphrasing.

 

[BradleyS]

I did sign an agreement with the real estate agent.

Someone stated this in an earlier thread:

What was the agent's brokerage relationship to you? What type of agreement did you sign with the agent/brokerage? Exclusive? Seller Agency? Transaction Broker (dual agency)?

I didn't know there were different types of relationships. I called the real estate agent to sell my house. I signed a contract with him, saying I wouldn't use another realtor to sell my house for X amount of days. I would assume that means the agent is suppose to be working on my behalf .... Seller Agency?

RE BROKER IN KANSAS:

NEVER ASSUME ANY REAL ESTATE AGENT IS WORKING ON YOUR BEHALF!

THE AGREEMENT THAT YOU SIGNED WITH THE REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE WILL DETERMINE WHAT TYPE OF AGENCY RELATIONSHIP THE YOU AGREED ON.

 

[HomeGuru]

RE BROKER IN KANSAS:

NEVER ASSUME ANY REAL ESTATE AGENT IS WORKING ON YOUR BEHALF!

THE AGREEMENT THAT YOU SIGNED WITH THE REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE WILL DETERMINE WHAT TYPE OF AGENCY RELATIONSHIP THE YOU AGREED ON.

**A: why are you posting in all caps?

 

[seniorjudge]

**A: why are you posting in all caps?

It's a long way between towns in Kansas so you have to shout to be heard over the prairie winds.

 

[BradleyS]

My caps lock was stuck......fixed now.......wireless keyboard....

 

[tamholt]

**A: post the exact language in the contract as it is written word for word without your interpretation or paraphrasing.

The contract says .... is the AGENT of Seller/Landlord Exclusively (with post note of) A licensee who is acting for the Seller/Landlord exclusively, is not representing the Buyer/Tenant and has no duty to advoicate or negotiate for the Buyer/Tenant.

 

[DrewfromCA]

Sounds like you signed an exclusive right to sell contract. Pretty standard. However, there are rules in place about dual agency(representing both parties in a transaction) and secret profit, etc.

I don't know all of the information that was disclosed to you, so who knows how strong of a legal case you might have, but it does sound as if you know at least some information about your agent making extra money or whatever.... how did you know that your agent made any extra money by selling to his "friend"?

The less information you were given, the stronger your case would be(in general terms, anyway). If everything was dislcosed to you along the way, and you agreed to it, then you are fighting a losing battle.

Maybe Guru could approximate the strength of your case if you can list everything(and I mean everything) that was disclosed to you by the agent, and that you agreed to...

For example, in CA, I cannot represent both buyer and seller in a transaction without their consent. Did you give consent for your agent to represent both you and the buyer? (This is an example of one of the disclosures that you would have had to agree to if he represented both sides). What else may have been disclosed to you?

 

[tamholt]

I am still trying to find out all the information.

This is how it went: We signed an seller contract with Mr. Smith. We agreed to put the house on the market at $175K because Mr. Smith told us. We agreed because the same house down the street was listed at $174K. We knew the house down the street had sold for more than the listed price but Mr. Smith said he could not tell us how much it sold for. We didn't ask any further questions because Mr. Smith is a friend and we believed him. 3 days later, Mr. Smith said an investor he knew, Mr. Jones, wanted to buy our house and rent it out. We settled on the price of $180K. Mr. Smith never stated anything about him representing Mr. Jones as an agent. The deal went through in 30 days rather smoothly. That was the end of it. Some weird things about the deal was (we thought afterwards - everything happened so quickly) 1. Not being able to tell us how much the house down the street sold for. 2. We figured Mr. Smith tactic to selling houses so quickly to price them low 3. We got a copy of Mr. Jones approval for a loan of $195K - close to the closing date.

We never followed up on any of these feelings until recently someone told us that Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones have a "special" deal. Mr. Smith sells Mr. Jones houses that he has under listed and in turn Mr. Jones gives Mr. Smith money on the side.

Therefore, I have been trying to piece together information to find out if this is true. The things I have found out so far is: 1. I never got a copy of our apprasial but found out it apprasied at $180K (the sale price). The #1 comp used was the exact same house as ours that sold for $180K 1 month before ours. They wouldn't tell me what other comps were used. I was unsuccesful in getting a copy of the apprasial because I don't want to ask Mr. Smith and make him aware I'm investigating. There was another same house that sold for $192K - my questions is why wasn't this used in the comps? 2. Mr. Jones has bought 15 houses since 2000 - I don't know if there is a way to determine who sold these houses? 3. I have been told that our house might have never been listed with the MLS and that is illegal. I am trying to research that. However, our house did sell in 3 days.

There are some unanswered questions and not sure how to find the answers.

That is all the information I have.

 

[clueless55]

You might report him to the Real Estate Board and the State Real Estate Agency and file a complaint with them. If they find in your favor.. you might have a case for compensation from your State Board Guaranty Fund? Keep lawyers out of it..

 

[HomeGuru]

I am still trying to find out all the information.

This is how it went: We signed an seller contract with Mr. Smith. We agreed to put the house on the market at $175K because Mr. Smith told us. We agreed because the same house down the street was listed at $174K. We knew the house down the street had sold for more than the listed price but Mr. Smith said he could not tell us how much it sold for. We didn't ask any further questions because Mr. Smith is a friend and we believed him. 3 days later, Mr. Smith said an investor he knew, Mr. Jones, wanted to buy our house and rent it out. We settled on the price of $180K. Mr. Smith never stated anything about him representing Mr. Jones as an agent. The deal went through in 30 days rather smoothly. That was the end of it. Some weird things about the deal was (we thought afterwards - everything happened so quickly) 1. Not being able to tell us how much the house down the street sold for. 2. We figured Mr. Smith tactic to selling houses so quickly to price them low 3. We got a copy of Mr. Jones approval for a loan of $195K - close to the closing date.

We never followed up on any of these feelings until recently someone told us that Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones have a "special" deal. Mr. Smith sells Mr. Jones houses that he has under listed and in turn Mr. Jones gives Mr. Smith money on the side.

Therefore, I have been trying to piece together information to find out if this is true. The things I have found out so far is: 1. I never got a copy of our apprasial but found out it apprasied at $180K (the sale price). The #1 comp used was the exact same house as ours that sold for $180K 1 month before ours. They wouldn't tell me what other comps were used. I was unsuccesful in getting a copy of the apprasial because I don't want to ask Mr. Smith and make him aware I'm investigating. There was another same house that sold for $192K - my questions is why wasn't this used in the comps? 2. Mr. Jones has bought 15 houses since 2000 - I don't know if there is a way to determine who sold these houses? 3. I have been told that our house might have never been listed with the MLS and that is illegal. I am trying to research that. However, our house did sell in 3 days.

There are some unanswered questions and not sure how to find the answers.

That is all the information I have.

**A: that is not all the information you have.
Let's start from the begining.
Look at your listing contract and see if the brokerage side signed it. Then state exactly word for word, what the contract heading reads ie. EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO SELL, EXCLUSIVE AGENCY or..........
Next, confirm if the property was or was not in MLS. If not in MLS, why?
I will ask for more information later.

 

[tamholt]

**A: that is not all the information you have.
Let's start from the begining.
Look at your listing contract and see if the brokerage side signed it. Then state exactly word for word, what the contract heading reads ie. EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO SELL, EXCLUSIVE AGENCY or..........
Next, confirm if the property was or was not in MLS. If not in MLS, why?
I will ask for more information later.

The contract says .... is the AGENT of Seller/Landlord Exclusively (with post note of) A licensee who is acting for the Seller/Landlord exclusively, is not representing the Buyer/Tenant and has no duty to advoicate or negotiate for the Buyer/Tenant.

How do I find out if it was list in the MLS?

 

[HomeGuru]

The contract says .... is the AGENT of Seller/Landlord Exclusively (with post note of) A licensee who is acting for the Seller/Landlord exclusively, is not representing the Buyer/Tenant and has no duty to advoicate or negotiate for the Buyer/Tenant.

**A: read my post and answer the question.
***********
How do I find out if it was list in the MLS?

**A: where is the MLS listing? Ask your agent or any other agent.