How to Cancel a Contract With a Realtor

**Mr Mike** · 03-19-2012, 07:33 AM

My question involves real estate located in the State of: Illinois

I am 2 month into a 6 month contract with a realtor to sell my house. Before I signed the contract I had a friend and his wife that were interested in purchasing our home but couldn't make a firm decison at that point. I told my listing agent about this couple (provided their names) They have now contacted me and made an acceptable offer. Can I cancel my contract to sell my house or do I now owe the agent a comission? The contract doesn't cover this situation from what I can see, only if I sell to someone who they have shown the home to during the listing.

**flyingron** · 03-19-2012, 07:41 AM

I can almost guarantee you owe the commission.
I would bank that 6% (plus legal fees) on the ensuing lawsuit.
Further the Realtor can almost certainly throw a monkey wrench into things because many agreements allow them to lien the property for the commission, and failure to pay it means you can't deliver clear title and the buyers (and their lender) will insist on that.

**Mr. Knowitall** · 03-19-2012, 11:43 AM

As a general rule, unless a particular buyer or class of buyers is explicitly excluded from a real estate agency contract, the commission is due even if the seller claims the agent did nothing to find the buyer or facilitate the sale. I am not in a position to review your contract. If it states that the agent only gets a commission if he shows the house to the buyer, and he did not, then the contract terms govern - but I'm skeptical that the contract is that limited.

jk · 03-19-2012, 03:17 PM

but to the basic question of: can you cancel the contract?

Unless both parties agree to a cancellation or you have some legal justification to cancel the contract, no, you cannot cancel the contract.

as a protection, when you signed the contract, you should have specifically excluded these people from being included under the contract as a buyer. If you didn't, I suspect you need to read the contract very thoroughly as it quite likely will require you to pay a commission in this situation.