Are paying a fee or waiting a few months the only options to ending a contract?

Q: My neighbor is trying to replace his seller’s agent. The home is not selling, and we believe it is due to the listing agent. My son is in the trades and was told by local agents that “no one shows that listing agent’s properties.” Our dear neighbor of 40 years did not know he was signing up with a listing agent who has been blackballed by his contemporaries. Our neighbor’s house is not selling because no one is showing the home. He tried to get out of the listing and hire a new seller’s agent, but he has to pay a fee, or wait five months. Can this be true?

A: It could be true that your neighbor is 30 days into a six-month employment contract, aka a listing agreement. It could also be true the listing agent wants reimbursement for his marketing costs in exchange for being fired; or he might honest-togoodness be requesting the brokerage fee he would have received had he sold the house. But it’s not true your neighbor has only those two choices. Your seller can sit down with a real estate attorney who has experience getting sellers out of listing agreements through mediation or via legal loopholes. But your neighbor has to be careful because he more than likely agreed to pay a brokerage fee “If, without Broker’s prior written consent, the Property is withdrawn from sale, conveyed, leased, rented, otherwise transferred, or made unmarketable by a voluntary act of Seller during the Listing Period.”

Let’s make one thing clear: Spiteful buyer’s agents who refuse to show a disliked agent’s listings are breaching their fiduciary duties, and their code of ethics. Regardless, many seasoned brokers have told me it is best to let unhappy sellers go as soon as the relationship sours. That was especially true before the internet. The rule of thumb for salespeople in the ’70s and ’80s was “a bad word travels faster than a hundred good words.” Due to that fact, savvy sales professionals parted company with unhappy clients, customers and prospects in the classiest manner possible. Nowadays, many consumers won’t use a restroom without first checking reviews on the internet. Since obstinate listing agents of this ilk do not care about their online reputation, your neighbor must hire a real estate attorney who does.