Well, for starters, was owner/agent disclosed?  If not, that's grounds for filing with your state board.

Secondly, you show the buyer the house, then you have legal means to be procuring cause and would probably win in court.  That would also teach the owner/agent a lesson.

Thirdly, contacting their broker and letting them know about this totally unethical practice.  Is this agent also a member of NAR?  If so, Code Of Ethics violations incur penalties if I am not mistaken for agent AND broker.

Lastly, you have to protect yourself.  If you have to write a buyers rep agreement with that client for just that day or just those houses, you have to do it.  Many buyers do not want to commit to a long term agreement with an agent, but will still agree that they should sign one for the day or for certain houses if it is presented properly. By properly, you don't want to tell them that this is so I can get paid because most don't care if you do or don't .  But if you let them know that you CAN not share information with them relevant to the sale of the home because without a rep agreement, you legally represent the seller (at least in my state, that may vary from state to state).

Ron that is as text book as it comes.

Ron, you are correct in stating "protect yourself"

The courts will acknowledge this unethical practice and maybe award you with the true commission,however,the courts may set an example of this practice and deny you the commission.

A filing to the commission needs to take place.

Holly jumpin Ron, a Light just went on, hughly great line and even though the  "I represent the seller by default" is probably true here in Ontario too, nobody has actually put it like that to me.

Thank You

Matt

Ron, your comments are good. For some reason, Realtors don't like to take listings without a written contract...even if it's for a day or two, but fail to recognize this important aspect of contract law when dealing with Buyers.

There are written contracts and verbal contracts...both can be enforceable in a Court of Law. Our Provincial body has taken a strong stance on disclosing the Agency relationship with the public. We also have a very strong Code of Ethics, to deal with unscrupulous Representatives, so a situation like Namneet's would probably result in disciplinary action, if in fact she could prove that the Rep knew that those clients were under expressed or implied contract with her/her Brokerage.  

Matt, you're an Ontario registrant, and here in Ontario, we have the new Real Estate & Business Brokers Act (REBBA 2002), which now contains the new Code of Ethics. Ontario Regulation 580/05, Code of Ethics section 14 deals with Buyer Representation Agreements (Page 251 in the handbook). The reference section (page 163) has the examples.

For anyone interested, the Real Estate Council of Ontario has a great website, complete with Discipline Action and Appeals! lol Check it out at http://www.reco.on.ca   You may be surprised how harshly offenders are dealt with!

You can also see first hand how Ontario is extremely progressive with great emphasis on consumer protectionism and ethics.

Donna

Namneet,

I always do exactly what Ron said. When I meet with buyers at my office I explain it all in advance and they sign the Exculive with me. At times I will only sign them up for a week or even for a weekend and include which properties I will be protected under. I also make sure I have a 3 month protection period after the the Exclusive has expired.  

I will try to see if I can get my commission based on ethics.

Namneet, in Houston, we have a buyer's rep provided but it could be just about anything since it's not a promulgated form.  I would be glad to send you one so that you would have the basis on how to form your own if your local area association doesn't have one.  Ours is like 4 pages, so it's a bit scarry, but I haven't had anyone say NO to a one day or specific listings contract.   And to be honest, I usually show the people a few houses before actually signing a rep agreement to see a) if they want to work with me and b) if I want to work with them (which can be just as important as A in some cases!)

Unfortunately we have all witnessed that scenario and that is what prompted me a year ago to start using the one day contract with buyers for the homes that I've showed them just as Ron has suggested. I watched it happen to a colleague who had no proof he showed the buyer a home (buyers didn't want to lose the home so they stayed out of it when reported to our real estate board).  The board therefore sided with the seller's agent.

Just as in every profession, there are some with less than ethical standards of professional behavior but it those few who have sullied the reputations of all of us. Whenever we can though we must stand up and report them to as many people and organizations as possible. Perhaps if they are reported enough times, action can be taken.

Margot Friedlander

Donna don't see your point. Have the handbook in my briefcase all the time, don't have it memorized yet. Read your suggested pages, still don't see what is is you are getting at.

My point was that Rons suggestion was a quick effective way to get to a buyer representation agreement. I don't know about your neck of the woods but down here in Fort Erie buyers just want to get to the house not be bored for 2 hours about agency relationships first 5 min of meeting. Mind you on the way and during the showings as we show 3 - 5 houses at a time I have plenty of opportunity to open this up but I always would like to get to this first and Rons suggestion I am sure, and will test shortly, is a low impact approch to get to this.