Refusing to Work With A Specific Agent? Violation or Preservation

[Mindy Jensen]

My neighbor just sold her house. (Timing was awful and I was out of town the entire time it was on the market, forcing her to go with another agent to list.)

The agent representing the eventual buyers was an absolute nightmare. I have zero interest in ever being on the other side of a contract from this guy. There is no amount of money I need that badly.

Can I refuse to entertain an offer from this agent should it come up? Of course I have my client's fiduciary needs first, but would definitely warn them that this guy is horrible to deal with.

Am I obligated to deal with awful agents? (I'm in CO.) Am I committing any sort of rules violations by commenting on a friend's experience with this guy?

@Russell Brazil @Mike Cumbie @Jay Hinrichs (and your wife)

[Russell Brazil]

Great question @Mindy Jensen.  The important thing is it is always ultimately the buyer or sellers decision. However our market knowledge of who the players in the market are is absolutely one of the most important things we bring to the table, and we should absolutely be advising our clients on what agents are going to get the deal done, and who are going to be a nightmare to work with, or who consistently has a client who gets cold feet and opts out of contracts.

I actually maintain a little database with every agent Ive done deals with, and agents I know their reputations, or little things I hear around with notes on that agent.  I believe that this is one of the biggest advantages I bring to my client. And yes, there is agents in the market I advise my clients that we should not work with because if we do, it is going to blow up in our face.