If you are a real estate agent or lawyer you MUST read this; if you are a recent home buyer you MUST read this.
Why?
Because we are about to take a trip through the looking glass into a weird world never before explored, a world in which home owners who feel they overpaid for their houses are now turning on and suing–as in law suit–their real estate agents or lawyers!
In a front page New York Times article that should send chills down the spins of agents and raise the hopes of buyers who feel like they were had, a Carlsbad, California woman is profiled because she claims she paid way to much for her house…and, she points the finger of blame on the agent who worked the deal for her.
According to the paper, the woman claims “the agent hid information that similar homes in the neighborhood were selling for less because he feared she would back out and he would lose his $30,000 commission.”
The paper quotes real estate lawyers and brokers as saying this is “likely to be the first of many in which regretful or resentful buyers seek redress from the agents who found them a home and arranged its purchase.”
The agent being sued in this historic case told the paper that the woman is simply trying to blame him because she failed to do her own homework before buying the property.
There was a time when agents legally only represented the person selling the house; but in recent years, it has become common for home buyers to utilize brokers and agents.
Says the Times: “That makes this the first housing collapse in which large numbers of buyers had a real estate professional explicitly looking after their interests.”
Considering how dire the current housing market is, and the propensity of Americans to take to the courts to settle just about any dispute, what is unfolding now in a California courtroom has implications that could change the way real estate agents, brokers and lawyers operate in the future.
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Article Author: Charles FeldmanCharles has written 179 articles for us.
Visit Charles's Website: http://www.thefeldmanblog.com
Charles is currently reporting for KNX Radio in Los Angeles, is the co-author of the book No Time To Think, and can be found commenting about the news on his blog, The Feldman Blog, as well as on The Huffington Post.
Joshua Dorkin
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This case will be a bellwether, no doubt about it. If she wins, I would not be surprised if some buyer agents print out and fax a list of all comps in the area daily to the buyer (once the property is in escrow) and get them to sign them.
“I would not be surprised if some buyer agents print out and fax a list of all comps in the area daily to the buyer” The buyers agent should be doing that anyway for any house the buyer wants to see, to get the best possible price for it.
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