Buyer's agent buys a listing I was looking at

[Matt Qi]

it turns out the realtor I have been using to look for houses was looking for the same exact criteria for a house he wanted to purchase personally.  A house popped up that I wanted to look at and the realtor told me a bunch of reasons to not go see it.  I later find out that was because he wanted and did purchase it.  Is there something against this as they did not have my best interests in mind?

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Matt Qi  It depends on the particular laws in your state.

Here in Maine, we have a Brokerage Relationship Form that we must present to someone the first time we have a substantive discussion about real estate.

It states "Right now you are a customer"  The goes on to detail the duties an agent owes to a customer - Disclose defects, treat buyers and sellers honestly, account for money and follow all state and federal regulations.

It goes on to say "You may become a client" and details the additional duties owed to clients - Perform to agreements with skill and care, promote your best interests, put the client's interests first (fiduciary obligations) and maintain confidentiality.

So if your case was here in Maine (your state could be different) and you were a customer, the agent is free to buy that property that you wanted, so long as he didn't deceive and complied with all other laws.

However, if you were a client, he would have violated the requirement to put your interests first.  In Maine, a client relationship is created when the parties enter into a written contract to that effect.

So it really depends on the laws in your state and the kind of relationship you have. 

I suggest that you first talk with the agent to be sure you have his side of the story.  If everything is exactly as you say, it seems to me that the agent intentionally deceived you for his own benefit.  If true, that's egregious. However, there are at least two sides to every story.

If his explanation is not satisfactory, I'd call his managing broker.  If that's still not satisfactory, you can file a formal complaint with either the local Board of Realtors (if the agent is a Realtor and not just a real estate agent) and/or the state real estate commission.

To clarify, the local Board of Realtors is essentially the local arm of the National Association of Realtors (a trade group) and do not have the authority to suspend or revoke licenses.  They can issue fines though.  The state real estate commission has the power to levy fines, suspend and/or revoke the agent's license.

I hope this works out for you.