$2,000 fee for not purchasing a property

[Travis Boyd]

Hi there. In January I was researching out of state markets as a brand new investor since my market (Seattle) is so costly. I connected with an agent in Portland OR and signed an exclusive agency agreement with them "throughout the state of Oregon". After they sent me a hand full of listings in Portland with their thoughts, I decided instead to look for a fix and flip in my local Washington market. I did not request anything further of the OR agent (I never asked them to make any offers for properties or walk a property in OR). The 6 months has now ended from the agreement I signed with the OR agent and they sent me an email requiring I send payment for $2,000 since I didn't purchase a property through them during the 6 month period. When they walked me through the agreement I thought they told me they would not charge me $2,000 if I didn't purchase a property, but that isn't in writing and they are claiming they did not say that. I would not have signed if I thought I would need to pay them $2,000 for not buying a property. I explained my viewpoint by email and asked them to drop the $2,000 invoice, they threatened legal action through their agency. I even asked if they would consider reducing the amount since I hardly asked them to do anything, but they stood hard requiring I send payment for the full $2,000 and are reaching out to their eXp legal team to assist with collection. Any advice or thoughts for me?

This is the wording that was included in the buyers agreement:

"If Buyer enters into an Acquisition agreement during the Term due to the efforts of Buyer’s Agent but fails to complete the transaction in accordance with the material terms of the transaction agreement, Buyer will pay $2,000 to Firm as liquidated damages. The parties agree that the exact amount of Buyer’s Agent’s damages in that situation would be uncertain and difficult to accurately estimate, and the amount indicated in the previous sentence is fair compensation for and a reasonable measure of those damages in the light of the anticipated or actual harm caused by the breach, the difficulties of proof of loss, and the inconvenience or non feasibility of otherwise obtaining an adequate remedy."

[Christian Maluo]

Portland Realtor here at a different agency. Even within the language you shared, you are not liable. The IF never happened. That is included because sometimes buyers walk during escrow, on the closing day, etc. And let me add, I would never ask a buyer to sign that either. 

So to clarify, you did not enter into a sales agreement written by them?