You should be paid the commission that was stated in the MLS!

Did you print off the MLS sheet before this happened?  If so I would go to my broker than my Board of Realtors. Good luck.

Whatever is in the contract is what you are due.  The seller agreed at the time of the offer.

But if they are asking you to cut a small portion to make the deal fly, is it really worth risking the whole deal over the lose of a small amount?

Sometimes you have to give some to get some!  Getting something is better than getting nothing!

Actually my broker states that the MLS should be verified before doing an offer. I don't and most agents don't. This is from GA's FMLS  "Information herein is provided by Seller and is, therefore, not guaranteed. © FMLS 2002-2007" . I hope you get what you deserve. Check you local MLS and see if they have a disclaimer like ours in GA. No, it is not ethical.. No One said Lenders always had ethics..

My MLS sheets always have a disclaimer at the bottom that nothing is guaranteed.  SO, ALWAYS CHECK WITH THE LISTING BROKER BEFORE YOU SHOW A BUYER THE PROPERTY.

Basically, you probably have no choice at this stage of the game.  Also, you can't object, only your broker can complain to the other broker and only the other broker can complain to the lender (seller).  However, the lender will probably say "tough luck."  Short sales can short you.

The Banks/Lenders determine how much commision will be paid on a short sale.  Maybe the agent thought it would be one thing, and the

Bank changed it.  Might want to ask the agent whey the discrepency.

Just like listing prices,commisions are negotiable to the seller if the buyer didn't pay full price.

If the Bank agreed to pay a commision of 3% after negotiations, then it better be in writing.

Michelle - Short sales are a common occurence in my area.  I have seen them listed with a disclaimer saying something like "due to short sale status, commission may be adjusted after offer is received."  

Don't know what you can do about it at this point, but it's a heads-up for the future for you as a buyers agent and all those that are thinking about listing them.

Michelle, is the sellers agent upset too or was this typical of this lender? I have never had this happen but the original listing agreement should spell out the terms.

AND the mls should say the commission is variable if it is indeed variable. This is why we get things in writing, but you would not see the listing agreement. I would visit with the listing agent/broker as to the verbage in the LA.

Good luck.

We'll it seems that lately the Banks are trying to always get us to go down on the commision on the short sales.  They are trying to prop up the bottom line. We try to stand firm on the fee.  They try to only pay half if we sell them inhouse sometimes also.

"Just like listing prices,commisions are negotiable to the seller if the buyer didn't pay full price."

Not in the State of Arizona...

Welcome to short sales.  This happens more often than not in short sales around here. We had one where the bank tried to cut the commission to 0.5% -- 0.25% to both the listing and sales brokers.

A buyer's broker agreement where the buyer "makes up the difference" would avoid this, assuming the buyer is willing to pay the commission.

It is true that, in general, you can't go by what is in the listing for commission.  I have seen it go 2 ways:

1)  The listing was input by the office personnel, and the commission was 2% higher than it was supposed to be.  The offer came in and was accepted and the agent this happened to had to give the selling agent 5% of the 6% commission.  I consider it her fault for not verifying the input.

2)  This one happened to me, and I had a 'no-spine' broker.  The listing said "4% to selling broker."  We made an offer lower in price and it was accepted.  Well, it turns out that the agent had an agreement, documented in the listing agreement, that if the offer was below a certain amount, the commission would be reduced to 5% total.  Of course, I did not have access to the listing agreement, and the agent did not share this information until one day before closing.  I did not get the 4% in the listing.... I got 2.5%, half of the 5%.  My broker was new and spineless.

I have also had advertising in the listing and on the sign stating 4% to the selling broker.  It said 3% in the listing.  I think that listing agents should be precise on all fronts if they want their listing sold.  As it turned out, my buyer thought I got 4% even though it was clearly on the HUD at 3%.  He thought I should have given that extra 1% back to him! There are just days where, no matter what, you just can't win!

I would fight that tooth and nail - the BAC was set and posted in the listing contract and posted on your mls (I assume), you brought the offer in under those terms.... for the commission to be changed in mid transaction by only one party without the agreement of the other is certainly unethical, and I am not sure you couldnt force the issue and win it  - - - -I would be all over the ethics committee and the state real estate commisioner on that one... I absolutely would make the deal happen but would hang on to that one like a pit bull on a poodle!

My listing agreements state what the commission is.  If the negotiated price comes in less than list price, it doesn't change the commission %. Commission automatically gets reduced when the price is reduced, but the % does not change. We have no verbage about if it doesn't sell for listed price, none of our listings sell for listed price, typically.

I have been in deals where both the listing agent and buyers agent agreed to take less to get the deal done, but it was a mutually agreed thing between agents to get the deal done.

Janet you say that it is true that you cannot go by what is in the LA. Why not? It is in writting. I don't know what luck you would have with the bank if they are the seller, but I would impress on them that they signed the listing agreement as it is.

In Florida you are owed the MLS stated co-op commission.  If the bank is lowering the commission to the listing broker that has nothing to do with what the listing broker promised to co-op.

I certainly understand and empathize with your willingness to go along with it to close the deal but that doesn't make it right or legal.

I imagine the bank would say it countered your offer.  

Things are obviously different in different states.

In AZ the commission rates can't be countered. They aren't a part of the purchase contract - that's between the buyer and seller.

On our mls we have codes that show it is subject to third party acceptance so that means even if your buyer offers cash at list price it doesn't matter because all terms of the sale must be acceptable to the third party.

I agree with Lonn - The bank 'countered' your offer and part of that counter was a requirement to alter the commision being paid. In your original post you said "the agreement was accepted. BUT the bank will only pay...." which would indicate that was their counter offer. I agree that they put YOU on the spot because if you rejected the commission reduction, your buyer would be upset with you.

Showing a 'variable' in the MLS is a whole different scenario and wouldn't have had anything to do with your situation. Variable is when the listing agent agrees to a different commision if THEY have the buyer. In Illinois, if we are in a multiple offer situation, we can ask the listing agent if they wrote the other offer and if they did, they have to disclose the 'variable' if asked. Not the commission, only the difference, (they would only disclose the 1% variable if it's a 5% listing but only 4% if they double dip.

Jay,

The same is true in Florida.  The only time a commission can be negotiated is PRIOR TO SHOWING the home.  Commission cannot become a part of an offer or counter-offer.

Tim are you certain about that?  Our commissions are written into the contract.  Everything in that contract is negotiable.

...this particular problem has never been an issue for me.  

I have re-negotiated my commission to make a deal fly, but never been forced to take a lower commission just because a seller changed their mind.  

But I would of thought that if a seller was negotiating an offer and they wanted to accept a lower offer and they wanted to also lower your commission in that counter offer in order to make the deal work, that they could counter back with those changes.

I could be wrong....but I was always told that everything in that contract was negotiable.

Welcome to the world of short sales. Kathy is correct - The banks will not approve a short sale if they feel the commission the sales person is getting paid is to high.

It does suck! That they have that much control, to change things after the process has already started. But, unlike a traditional seller. They will call your bluff and just let the home go to auction of a $500 differnce in commission.

Becky, I may have mis-stated slightly.  Actually, the commission can't be made a 'conditional' part of a contract offer.  We actually ran into this last year when an agent called to say that he wanted to show one of our listings that offered a 2.5% co-op but said he would only do so if we offered 3%.  This was a 'first' for us (and Susan has been in this business for more than 23 years).  I questioned the ethics and legality of this and went researching.  The answer I received from FAR was that it is permissible "Prior to showing" but cannot be made a condition of the contract offer after the showing.  

I don't know the definitive answer but this is my best guess/understanding is that there are several contracts/agreements involved here.  One is the agreement between the listing agent and the seller... that agreement should stipulate the amount of commission to be paid.  The second 'agreement' is contained within the MLS agreement and NAR Ethics in which the listing agent agrees (by posting in MLS) to pay a given amount or percentage of the commission he has already agreed to with the seller.

I suppose the seller can reject any offer that is less than asking price or renegotiate the commission at that point and then the listing agent can renegotiate with the buyer's agent so... now that I think through this particular situation contained in the original post I'm not so sure....

To answer your question, Becky... no, I'm not sure. LOL  I was actually thinking about 'apples' but this conversation is about 'oranges'... must be Miller Time! LOL