Can my Realtor hold my family hostage for ransom?

[justalayman]

Thank you for providing your state name. Your thread disappeared for awhile so I thought you deleted it.

You have the right to demand that the lockbox is removed from your house and you have the right to cancel the listing agreement you have with the realtor. The realtor should do both without question.

You have the right to sign a listing agreement with another realtor.

You have the right to decide you don't want to sell your house at all. You can take your house off the market.

Whether you are legally obligated to pay the realtor a commission or pay a penalty for canceling your listing agreement early depends on the terms of the contract you signed.

You might want to consult with a real estate attorney in your area for a review. The realtor appears to be acting unreasonably, based strictly on the facts as you have presented them here. I imagine if the realtor was asked, though, his outline of facts would differ from yours,

Good luck.

Whoa and time out


The seller rarely has the right to unilaterally cancel the listing agreement and I can pretty much guarantee they do not have a right to sign with another brokerage until the current contract has expired. If we are speaking of actual Realtors (there is a capital R on Realtor), that is a good way to get the next broker in hot water.


When I was a Realtor, if a seller decided he didn’t want to sell we would often inactivate the listing be we would never terminate the contract. You don’t get to just dump one brokerage and jump to another while you are under contract

 

[justalayman]

Yes, its clear that the homeowner is in breach of contract. Are you attempting to say that the realtor has the right to continue to enter the property anyway until such time as the fee is paid? I am NOT disagreeing that that the 1500.00 fee is due. I am speaking solely in regards to entry to the property.

The seller is bound by the terms of the contract they signed. They can act in contrast to the contract but at what cost will be determined by the terms of the contract. Yes,, of course they can prohibit the agent from entering the home. It’s simply a matter of what it would cost them.

 

[quincy]

Yes, its clear that the homeowner is in breach of contract. Are you attempting to say that the realtor has the right to continue to enter the property anyway until such time as the fee is paid? I am NOT disagreeing that that the 1500.00 fee is due. I am speaking solely in regards to entry to the property.

It is not "clear" that there has been a breach.

A homeowner is allowed to refuse some realtor showings of the house if inconvenient for the homeowner. If done with frequency, of course, that can be a problem.

justalayman, a homeowner is never forced to stay with a realtor. They always have the option of breaching the terms of the contract. This comes, of course, with penalties.

As to signing a new listing agreement, they can also do that - but they must wait for the first listing agreement to expire or be terminated.

The homeowner also can be obligated to pay a commission to the first realtor for a certain period of time after expiration/termination of the listing agreement if the house is sold to someone who viewed the house with the first realtor.

 

[justalayman]

Yes, a seller is often forced to stay with a Realtor for the duration of the contract. This really is a been there, done that thing for me. As I said, if a seller decided they didn’t want to sell we would inactivate the listing but I have never had a contact terminated without agreement by myself and the seller.

 

[quincy]

Yes, a seller is often forced to stay with a Realtor for the duration of the contract. This really is a been there, done that thing for me. As I said, if a seller decided they didn’t want to sell we would inactivate the listing but I have never had a contact terminated without agreement by myself and the seller.

Of course the termination would have to be agreed upon by both parties to the contract. And this would not be unusual if the seller decided not to sell.

During the early 2000s, it was not uncommon for regular house sellers to withdraw their listings because foreclosures had glutted the market.

 

[justalayman]

Of course the termination would have to be agreed upon by both parties to the contract. And this would not be unusual if the seller decided not to sell.

During the 2000s, it was not uncommon for regular house sellers to withdraw their listings because foreclosures had glutted the market.

Like I said, I have never terminated a contract prior to it’s natural expiration due to a seller changing his mind about selling. . It was put in an inactive status on MLS but the contract remained intact. If he really wasn’t goimg to sell it, it cost me nothing to inactivate the listing and let it sit.

More often than not it was a seller who found a buyer I wasn’t aware of and wanted to attempt to avoid the commission

 

[quincy]

Like I said, I have never terminated a contract prior to it’s natural expiration due to a seller changing his mind about selling. . It was put in an inactive status on MLS but the contract remained intact. If he really wasn’t goimg to sell it, it cost me nothing to inactivate the listing and let it sit.

More often than not it was a seller who found a buyer I wasn’t aware of and wanted to attempt to avoid the commission

I understand there are sellers who try to get out of paying commission by either trying to cancel the listing or waiting for the listing to expire before selling to an already-interested buyer.

I also understand these tactics don't work, and listing agreements spell out pretty clearly why this type of commission-avoidance won't work.

That said, a homeowner cannot be forced to show their house and cannot (under all but the rarest of circumstances) be forced to sell if they change their mind about selling.

And a realtor cannot ignore a homeowner's demands to have a lockbox removed.

 

[justalayman]

I agree that a seller can not be forced to enter into a sales agreement, or even show their property but depending on the situation, either of those could cause the seller to be liable for the commission


And honestly, if I could get the commission without having to go through all of the trouble of shepherding the sale through fruition, well that’s s plus in my eyes. Minimal work and all the pay. It doesn’t get much better than that.


If the op is the least bit handy, should the agent refuse to remove the lockbox, most door knobs need nothing more than a screwdriver to remove them. At that point the handle assembly can likely be disassembled enough to be able to remove the lock box without damaging it.


If the op wants to mock the agent a bit, they can do as I just suggested but instead of removing the lock box, install a new handle and reassemble the original handle with the lock box still on the handle. Then lay that on the porch/stoop/whatever. That way if the agent shows up, they aren’t getting in and it is obvious the owner did this with intent to prevent the entry.

The surprise on their face would be fun to see.

 

[HRZ]

OP you are picking a most unwise fight by actively preventing the Realtor from attempting to do the very job you contracted / commissioned him or her to do. IF you need to,work out some better notice /balance to showings ..do so...but don't freeze the Realtor out....After the listing period is up , you are free to safely make alternate choices
.

 

[quincy]

I agree that a seller can not be forced to enter into a sales agreement, or even show their property but depending on the situation, either of those could cause the seller to be liable for the commission


And honestly, if I could get the commission without having to go through all of the trouble of shepherding the sale through fruition, well that’s s plus in my eyes. Minimal work and all the pay. It doesn’t get much better than that.


If the op is the least bit handy, should the agent refuse to remove the lockbox, most door knobs need nothing more than a screwdriver to remove them. At that point the handle assembly can likely be disassembled enough to be able to remove the lock box without damaging it.


If the op wants to mock the agent a bit, they can do as I just suggested but instead of removing the lock box, install a new handle and reassemble the original handle with the lock box still on the handle. Then lay that on the porch/stoop/whatever. That way if the agent shows up, they aren’t getting in and it is obvious the owner did this with intent to prevent the entry.

The surprise on their face would be fun to see.

justalayman, I agree that there are ways to frustrate all attempts by the realtor to enter. It should not be necessary to go to the lengths you suggested, but if that is the only way to prevent unwanted entry and showings, I can't see anything wrong with them.

HRZ, if the homeowner has decided not to sell, one of the worst things the homeowner can do is to allow a realtor and buyers into the house. If a buyer presents a full price offer to purchase with no contingencies, the homeowner can be responsible for paying full commission to the realtor on the full purchase price.

If the homeowner actually wants to sell, on the other hand, I agree that letting the house be shown at times convenient to the buyer can be the best way to get the house sold.

 

[adjusterjack]

HRZ, if the homeowner has decided not to sell, one of the worst things the homeowner can do is to allow a realtor and buyers into the house. If a buyer presents a full price offer to purchase with no contingencies, the homeowner can be responsible for paying full commission to the realtor on the full purchase price.

That can happen even without the buyer entering the house.

 

[quincy]

That can happen even without the buyer entering the house.

True. Less likely.

 

[Zigner]

Yes, its clear that the homeowner is in breach of contract. Are you attempting to say that the realtor has the right to continue to enter the property anyway until such time as the fee is paid? I am NOT disagreeing that that the 1500.00 fee is due. I am speaking solely in regards to entry to the property.

I neither said or even implied such a thing.

 

[quincy]

..an unstable realtor has access to our home. I am ready to file my TREC complaint ...

My interest is to no longer sell (or show) my home. My realtor insists that I must continue to show my home until our agreement ends on 10/31/2018 or pay $1500 penalty ... she has a keybox on my door, which I want removed ...I want to know my rights.

It will be interesting to see what the Texas Real Estate Commission does with bsutterf's complaint.

I can understand the complaint against the realtor if all is as bsutterf says - not that the complaint necessarily prevents the realtor from asserting a breach of contract claim.

Here is a link to the TREC complaint process: https://www.trec.texas.gov/public/how-file-complaint

 

[not2cleverRed]

I dunno.... We had this house on the market for 6 mos last year, When we changed our minds about halfway in? I just stopped making an effort to make it show-worthy. (to be fair - we had no lockbox and showing was by appt only due to our situation.) It was a pain, but not really that onerous.

One of my neighbors actually had photos posted on a real estate site of the interior living area with garbage cans. We're not talking someone taking a clean/new garbage can and storing some items in it; we're talking about visibly dirty garbage cans in bedrooms with stuff haphazardly piled all over the place. The waste basket was actually in the bathtub in the bathroom photos. Most the photos were crooked, out of focus, or both. The house was part of an estate being settled. One heir + spouse and kids were living there (letting their own residence go into foreclosure, so they couldn't hope to buy out the other heirs).