Broker Not Responding - Birmingham AL

[Christine Garnier]

I own a commercial land lot in Birmingham AL and I signed it over to a broker so he can list it and sell it. After signing the contract, the broker ignored all correspondences and a month and a half later, I see that he did not list the lot and did not work on the marketing like he said he would. He ignored all phone calls or emails from me.

So I contacted the head office to expose the situation, and a few minutes later, I received an email from this broker saying that he is releasing the land lot back to me. However, he did not include a listing cancellation form or a release. so I replied to his email, copying the head office to it, asking if he is going to send me an official listing cancellation and no one has replied to my message. 

I am unsure of what to do, is an email from the broker mentioning that he is releasing the lot back to me, enough?   Thank you for your help and suggestions. 

[Stephen Montez]

Quote from @Christine Garnier:

I own a commercial land lot in Birmingham AL and I signed it over to a broker so he can list it and sell it. After signing the contract, the broker ignored all correspondences and a month and a half later, I see that he did not list the lot and did not work on the marketing like he said he would. He ignored all phone calls or emails from me.

So I contacted the head office to expose the situation, and a few minutes later, I received an email from this broker saying that he is releasing the land lot back to me. However, he did not include a listing cancellation form or a release. so I replied to his email, copying the head office to it, asking if he is going to send me an official listing cancellation and no one has replied to my message. 

I am unsure of what to do, is an email from the broker mentioning that he is releasing the lot back to me, enough?   Thank you for your help and suggestions. 

Hi Christine, I'm sorry to hear about this difficult situation. Firstly, start with your states laws regarding Broker/Agent communication. Laws governing real estate agents are left to each state to determine such as what counts as proper paperwork for a transaction and even how long a broker has before they're required to get back to you. I would make sure you keep a contact log of each time you've reached out and how long they took to respond. 

Ultimately, you can file a complaint with the States Real Estate Division instead of dealing with someone who is unresponsive and if they are a member of the NAR you can also submit a complaint with them as well. Legal action is always an option.

Hopefully someone familiar with your state laws can reply and give you a more concrete answer -- but hope that helps you with somewhere to start!