Can I dump my real estate agent without paying him?

Q:I signed a contract with a real estate agent three months ago and we’ve since lowered the sales price twice, based on his suggestion. He’s asking me to reduce it again, but I’m just not willing to do that. I now want out of the contract, but there are still three months left on it. If I rent out the property, the agent says he still gets a commission. Do I have to pay him? — Kathleen

A: You’d have to pay your real estate agent something if his marketing efforts bring a renter to you — and possibly if they don’t.

First, let me stress that a seller should not (in nearly all circumstances) sign a listing contract longer than three months. If a home doesn’t sell in 90 days but sellers believe the agent is doing his best under challenging circumstances (e.g., buyer’s market, high-crime area, isolated listing, etc.), the seller can then always ask the agent to extend.

However, generally speaking, for-sale listings start growing stale after a quarter of a year or so in the minds of buyers and their agents — who will begin to think there’s something wrong with the house. An exception might be a multimillion-dollar home because that buyer universe is far smaller, and the selling process is by nature more drawn out. As for the agent’s contentions, you’ll need to comb through your contract. As noted, if the agent produced the renter, he’d likely be eligible for some commission, perhaps 10 percent of the gross amount of a one-year lease, or about a month’s rent.

If the deal is written as a “lease-to-own,” the real estate agent would be eligible for a full sale commission if the renter eventually buys the place (which is rare), minus the juice he already got from the one-year lease, ideally.

But if you were to find your own renter before the unwieldy 180-day listing expires, that could muddy the waters. The agent could claim you acted in bad faith and impeded his efforts to sell the place in an active listing contract.

He could demand some compensation and even threaten to sue.