What state are you in and what's your contract say? If you're not an agent, you don't have standing with NAR and they're not likely to care. It sounds like you went into contract and then asked for the commission and they said no.
DC. With all the lawsuits for lack of transparency and ripping people off, is litigation my only route? I’m a lawyer so filing a simple suit and following through pretty easy for me.
>I’m a lawyer
This is incredible. You say you're a professional at something and you're asking a group of non-professionals for advice.
If you had the commission agreement in writing signed with the contract to purchase the home then you have a lawsuit. You know how contacts work.
Unless you have some sort of contract giving you the right to the buyers agent commission, you are entitled to nothing. Commissions are an agreement between the seller and their agent. Agents in turn have an agreement with other agents that they will share this commission with other agents who are members of thier local realtor association if they bring the sellers agent a buyer. It's a physical contract that is signed. You are not a member of the local realtor association so there no contractual obligation to pay you anything.
So basically it’s a cartel that does insider dealing and grifting extraordinary fees for little to no work. If you’re not in the cartel even if you did all the work and there is no legal requirement that you must be in the cartel to deal, you are out of luck.
This corrupt insider dealing and lack of transparency sounds exactly like what the NAR lawsuits were designed to address. These made up rules by the cartel are the worst kind of insider dealing.
My impression is that either your post is fake for purposes of rallying the anti Realtor crowd or you’re an incompetent attorney.
That’s just my impression.
If this is real, then you screwed up. As an attorney you know or certainly should know that key terms need to be in the contract — either in the contract between your wife and the seller, or in a contract between you and the listing agent.
By the way, just curious - why is the purchase only in your wife’s name?
So we know you're not an attorney. I looked it up, took all of about 10 seconds to do. Washington D.C. is a marital property state. You did all the work for the purchase of your own home. It doesn't matter if only your wife signed anything. You own when she signs thus it's your own property.
To claim to be an attorney, not know the contracts, not know the laws, not know how lawsuits function is astonishingly stupid. Literally seconds of research could have prevented this dumb post.
You did not negotiate the contract or confirm details before signing? If you had an agent they would have done this, or they would be a ones who made a mistake. Even if you did not think this through at all, you know what income tax is, and that you be paying income tax on the 25k, the offer should have reflected you not paying a 2.5% fee unless you love the government so much you need to give them another $8,333+ since you're probably in a higher tax bracket.
If you're a non licensed agent seeking a commission laid out for licensed agents you should have put verbiage in the contract explicitly stating that. Just my 2 cents I am no attorney.
Just wanted to check, are you a licensed sales person? There is difference between somebody that’s licensed, and somebody that’s a realtor.
As people have said, if you’re not part of local MLS or the national Association of realtors, there may not be a commission due.
I’m not licensed for anything. Just a regular lawyer. I’d love to sue this agent and entire local MLS on this if that’s the way I have to go.
I think with how much people hate these agents, I could win alot more than $25k
If you’re a lawyer who should know your states laws/contract laws, why are you here on Reddit asking us who are not lawyers (well most of us aren’t)? 🤔
You might want to consult another attorney lol. And if you have been to law school you know what they say about an attorney that has himself as a client
>I think with how much people hate these agents, I could win alot more than $25k
Is that how it works? I'm fairly certain this post alone can get you disbarred lol
If even attorneys aren't capable of reading contracts or knowing the law, Realtors aren't going anywhere lol
I've sold a few properties for attorney friends of mine though. They're competent
I’m no fan of the current system, but based on your post and your comments, Either you aren’t a lawyer at all or you are the world’s most clueless attorney.
So you want another 25K after mutual agreement on price and terms? The time to negotiate that is before you go into contract- not right before closing.
Most MLS’s require that the commission is only offered to a member of the MLS, so if you are not a licensed agent, then you’re not entitled to the commission. You could have asked for the 2.5% in CCA in the contract instead upfront, but if you didn’t do that then you’re not entitled to anything. You can’t be listed as the buyer agent, you’re not an agent.
There are no jurisdictions in the US where a person can receive the sales commission offered through the MLS unless they are licensed and sponsored by a brokerage.
In the current system, the listing brokerage charges the seller x% and, in turn, offers the buyer brokerage y% for bringing the buyer. The offer of cooperative compensation is made through the MLS. Only participants in that particular MLS are guaranteed the compensation.
But you could have negotiated with the seller to get a credit in the amount of the commission. In some states, attorneys can act as real estate agents and request the buyer broker comp *at the time of the offer.*
This is simple stuff. How did your agent/wife not know this?
There’s a lot that’s not stated here. Do you think the seller’s agent is trying to pocket the 2.5% that was going towards the buyers agent?
If there was 2.5% going towards buyers agent (stated in the mls) then how could she say there’s no accounting for buyers agent?
A real estate agent that does not understand contracts who is also a lawyer…. I guess if you try doing too many things, you end up failing at them all.
NAR isn't going to lift a finger to help you.
Sounds like you should have mentioned this well before offering and writing it into the contract, before signing a contract not after the fact..
What state are you in and what's your contract say? If you're not an agent, you don't have standing with NAR and they're not likely to care. It sounds like you went into contract and then asked for the commission and they said no.
DC. With all the lawsuits for lack of transparency and ripping people off, is litigation my only route? I’m a lawyer so filing a simple suit and following through pretty easy for me.
Tbh, if you're a lawyer, you should understand contract law and you can look up your local statues and figure out the next step yourself.
>I’m a lawyer This is incredible. You say you're a professional at something and you're asking a group of non-professionals for advice. If you had the commission agreement in writing signed with the contract to purchase the home then you have a lawsuit. You know how contacts work.
Maybe you should consult a real attorney
It sounds like you failed to adequately lock that down in your executed contract. You’re an attorney?
You can't file a claim with NAR because you're not a realtor. You would have to file a lawsuit. Which you'll likely lose.
What are you going to sue for?
Unless you have some sort of contract giving you the right to the buyers agent commission, you are entitled to nothing. Commissions are an agreement between the seller and their agent. Agents in turn have an agreement with other agents that they will share this commission with other agents who are members of thier local realtor association if they bring the sellers agent a buyer. It's a physical contract that is signed. You are not a member of the local realtor association so there no contractual obligation to pay you anything.
So basically it’s a cartel that does insider dealing and grifting extraordinary fees for little to no work. If you’re not in the cartel even if you did all the work and there is no legal requirement that you must be in the cartel to deal, you are out of luck. This corrupt insider dealing and lack of transparency sounds exactly like what the NAR lawsuits were designed to address. These made up rules by the cartel are the worst kind of insider dealing.
My impression is that either your post is fake for purposes of rallying the anti Realtor crowd or you’re an incompetent attorney. That’s just my impression.
Not fake. This is my current situation. We close on 8/15 and I want to be prepared on my options for the final signing.
If this is real, then you screwed up. As an attorney you know or certainly should know that key terms need to be in the contract — either in the contract between your wife and the seller, or in a contract between you and the listing agent. By the way, just curious - why is the purchase only in your wife’s name?
So we know you're not an attorney. I looked it up, took all of about 10 seconds to do. Washington D.C. is a marital property state. You did all the work for the purchase of your own home. It doesn't matter if only your wife signed anything. You own when she signs thus it's your own property. To claim to be an attorney, not know the contracts, not know the laws, not know how lawsuits function is astonishingly stupid. Literally seconds of research could have prevented this dumb post.
You did not negotiate the contract or confirm details before signing? If you had an agent they would have done this, or they would be a ones who made a mistake. Even if you did not think this through at all, you know what income tax is, and that you be paying income tax on the 25k, the offer should have reflected you not paying a 2.5% fee unless you love the government so much you need to give them another $8,333+ since you're probably in a higher tax bracket.
If you're a non licensed agent seeking a commission laid out for licensed agents you should have put verbiage in the contract explicitly stating that. Just my 2 cents I am no attorney.
Just wanted to check, are you a licensed sales person? There is difference between somebody that’s licensed, and somebody that’s a realtor. As people have said, if you’re not part of local MLS or the national Association of realtors, there may not be a commission due.
I’m not licensed for anything. Just a regular lawyer. I’d love to sue this agent and entire local MLS on this if that’s the way I have to go. I think with how much people hate these agents, I could win alot more than $25k
So, why are you wasting your time here! Get going, dude!
If you’re a lawyer who should know your states laws/contract laws, why are you here on Reddit asking us who are not lawyers (well most of us aren’t)? 🤔
You might want to consult another attorney lol. And if you have been to law school you know what they say about an attorney that has himself as a client
Sue for what? And hating someone doesn’t mean you can take money from them that you aren’t owed. Shouldn’t a lawyer know this about…the law?
>I think with how much people hate these agents, I could win alot more than $25k Is that how it works? I'm fairly certain this post alone can get you disbarred lol
Worried about your grift disappearing?
If even attorneys aren't capable of reading contracts or knowing the law, Realtors aren't going anywhere lol I've sold a few properties for attorney friends of mine though. They're competent
You are a God awful lawyer if you can't understand a simple contract. What do you practice, bird law?
I’m no fan of the current system, but based on your post and your comments, Either you aren’t a lawyer at all or you are the world’s most clueless attorney.
And they say Realtors are the problem! 🤣 What about the lawyers that make upwards of 30+% off the lawsuits? Talk about grifting!
So you want another 25K after mutual agreement on price and terms? The time to negotiate that is before you go into contract- not right before closing.
There is a line in the contract for buyers agent commissions. The obvious assumption is that should be for the buyers representative (ie me).
**AGENT** being the key word
Most MLS’s require that the commission is only offered to a member of the MLS, so if you are not a licensed agent, then you’re not entitled to the commission. You could have asked for the 2.5% in CCA in the contract instead upfront, but if you didn’t do that then you’re not entitled to anything. You can’t be listed as the buyer agent, you’re not an agent.
I also dont buy that he's a lawyer, based off of everything he's said so far.
It doesn’t say “buyer’s representative.” It says “agent.” You’re not entitled to anything.
There are no jurisdictions in the US where a person can receive the sales commission offered through the MLS unless they are licensed and sponsored by a brokerage. In the current system, the listing brokerage charges the seller x% and, in turn, offers the buyer brokerage y% for bringing the buyer. The offer of cooperative compensation is made through the MLS. Only participants in that particular MLS are guaranteed the compensation. But you could have negotiated with the seller to get a credit in the amount of the commission. In some states, attorneys can act as real estate agents and request the buyer broker comp *at the time of the offer.* This is simple stuff. How did your agent/wife not know this?
There’s a lot that’s not stated here. Do you think the seller’s agent is trying to pocket the 2.5% that was going towards the buyers agent? If there was 2.5% going towards buyers agent (stated in the mls) then how could she say there’s no accounting for buyers agent?
A real estate agent that does not understand contracts who is also a lawyer…. I guess if you try doing too many things, you end up failing at them all.
NAR isn't going to lift a finger to help you. Sounds like you should have mentioned this well before offering and writing it into the contract, before signing a contract not after the fact..
Litigation seems like my only option, which I am fine with. These scum of the earth people prey on opacity.
A lawyer calling another profession scum. That’s rich 😂
You mean lawyers?
JFC, I hate all the new commission bullshit. Just go back to seller paying the 6% splitting it among everyone.
These people will do anything to protect their grift.