Is this Legal through Email?

Question

OK, I am good at doing referrals, finding, and birddogging for buyers and sellers and get paid that amount that they pay you for your help, but this bugs me, i had a friend(not a lawyer) tell me that it is legally binding between you and a buyer or seller if you offer you "finder" services and tell them in the email "If you agree and send a message that says Yes then that will our legally binding agreement that you will pay me if I find you a property and you buy or help sell your property and it sells to my buyer". Now, what I need to know is if you say all this and send back a message that says yes, is that legally binding?

I want to make sure that it is true or false before I call him an idiot or tell him thanks for the idea lol.

Ryan Webber · Answer

I don't think being via email is really the issue.
          
          A contract has to be legally enforceable to be valid (it can't be for something that is against the law).  Bird dogging violates basic real estate licensing laws in every state.  You are required to have a real estate license or be an attorney to make more than a nominal referral fee for helping someone buy or sell real estate.
                    
                    I'm not an attorney, but I don't think that it would be a valid contract because it is not legally enforceable.  Most bird dogging contracts and Non-Circumvent Non-Disclosure (NCND) agreements are not legally enforceable because you are violating real estate licensing laws.  In my worthless non-attorney opinion, none of them would hold up in any court because of that simple fact.  They are used simply for show.
                    
                    And though a verbal agreement may be legally enforceable, that does NOT mean you will win in a court of law.  Winning in a court room comes from evidence, and unless you have third party witnesses to the verbal agreement, I don't think you are going to win a case over a verbal agreement.

Account Closed · Answer

Dave T, that is what I thought, but my friend told me that if he agrees then it would be enforceable just the word or mouth or like Jesse said a handshake.

I tried calling a lawyer and he says he didnt know because there is a lot of rights and wrongs about that so I guess I need to go to a better lawyer to lay it out even more. Thanks for the input

Dave Toelkes · Answer

For a real estate agreement to be enforceable, doesn't it have to be written AND signed by both parties?

Just wondering out loud.

Jesse Ramirez · Answer

Personally this is the method I've used for years. I asked several attorneys whether this would be admissable in court and each one said that would work. 
Even an agreement involving a handshake is binding in most courts. As long as it doesn't involve anything illegal of course.
I'd consult an attorney to verify this.