Unusual Situation with Refinance & Realtor

[ideszcz]

Illinois -

Inherited family home with my sister, she is the Executor of our parents will. I wanted to buy out my sister. Shortly after this decision I was laid off so my sister listed the house with a Realtor. This went before a judge & I was granted first right of refusal if a contract was offered. A few months into the listing I got a job and did exercise my right of refusal. I have been approved for a loan & the transaction is being treated as a refinance since I already own 50% of the house. My sister is telling me I also have to pay the Realtor's commission. Although I never received a copy of the contract, apparently my sister didn't have anything in the contract with the Realtor stating I am an exception. Do I indeed have to pay any money to a Realtor if I am refinancing?

 

[HomeGuru]

Illinois -

Inherited family home with my sister, she is the Executor of our parents will. I wanted to buy out my sister. Shortly after this decision I was laid off so my sister listed the house with a Realtor. This went before a judge & I was granted first right of refusal if a contract was offered. A few months into the listing I got a job and did exercise my right of refusal. I have been approved for a loan & the transaction is being treated as a refinance since I already own 50% of the house. My sister is telling me I also have to pay the Realtor's commission. Although I never received a copy of the contract, apparently my sister didn't have anything in the contract with the Realtor stating I am an exception. Do I indeed have to pay any money to a Realtor if I am refinancing?

**A: if the listing agreement is the Realtor form Exclusive Right To Sell, then you both owe the commission. I don't know why you do not have a copy since you were required to sign the listing agreement and the Realtor is required to give you a copy. Also, since you are also an owner/seller, YOU not your sister would be responsible for the exclusion.

 

[ideszcz]

I do not have a copy of the listing, nor signed anything because my sister as the Executor of the estate has full power. This is why she was able to list the house in the first place. She didn't want to wait until I got a job so I could buy her out. I had no say so, but at least a judge allowed me to have first right of refusal.

 

[justalayman]

is the home still in the estate (probate still open)? If so, the estate engaged the Realtor is is liable for any fees the estate contracted to pay. Of course, since it appears there are two of you splitting the estate, you end up paying about half of the fees simply because it is taken out of the estate. That means less for you to inherit.

If the estate has already settled, refer back to HomeGuru's response.

 

[LdiJ]

Illinois -

Inherited family home with my sister, she is the Executor of our parents will. I wanted to buy out my sister. Shortly after this decision I was laid off so my sister listed the house with a Realtor. This went before a judge & I was granted first right of refusal if a contract was offered. A few months into the listing I got a job and did exercise my right of refusal. I have been approved for a loan & the transaction is being treated as a refinance since I already own 50% of the house. My sister is telling me I also have to pay the Realtor's commission. Although I never received a copy of the contract, apparently my sister didn't have anything in the contract with the Realtor stating I am an exception. Do I indeed have to pay any money to a Realtor if I am refinancing?

Just an interesting note....

If you were buying the house and your sister was selling, your sister is the one who would owe the realtor...as the seller. I think its pretty out there for her to be telling you that you have to pay the whole thing.

 

[tranquility]

If the home was already distributed, the sister can't do anything without the OP, so I must assume the property was in the estate.

OP wanted the home. Sister agreed and a deal was worked out. OP lost his job so could not complete the purchase. So the executor (who is also the sister) puts the home up for sale. Brother gets job and wants to complete the original deal and, because a judge forces her, sister sells to OP.

Now, I have no idea why the judge decided the OP had some right of first refusal, but he did. The sister made a good faith effort to move the estate along while at the same time respect OP's wishes.

Legally? The estate owes the money to the realtor and the cost will be split between all beneficiaries to the estate. Morally, I'd say the OP owes the money. But, that could change depending on why the judge held as he did.