Agent Cheated me .. It is against the LAW?

[tamholt]

We sold our house in Nevada. I have now found out that the agent was in a special deal with his friend. The agent under bids the houses and sell them to his friend. The agent never lists the house. The friend pays the agent money on the side for selling the houses to him for less than what they are worth.

My questions is, do I have a case against the agent to sue him? Is it illegal to never list our house on the market? It is illegal to knowingly under sell our house to his "friend"?

I don't think I ever received a copy of the apprisal report, that we paid for. I think we were under sold by $20K.

Any info would be great. Thanks

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by tamholt

We sold our house in Nevada. I have now found out that the agent was in a special deal with his friend. The agent under bids the houses and sell them to his friend. The agent never lists the house. The friend pays the agent money on the side for selling the houses to him for less than what they are worth.

My questions is, do I have a case against the agent to sue him? Is it illegal to never list our house on the market? It is illegal to knowingly under sell our house to his "friend"?

I don't think I ever received a copy of the apprisal report, that we paid for. I think we were under sold by $20K.

Any info would be great. Thanks

**A: you have no case as you were not forced to sell to this agent,

[tamholt]

The agent lied to us and told us that our house was worth less than it was, knowing his special deal with his friend.

Is it against the law to never list the house?

If the apprasial came in for more than what we listed it for, is the agent obligated to tell us?

[Some Random Guy]

Homeguru,

Are you sure about this. This agent is acting as a seller's representative here. If he knowlingly convinces the homeowner to list his price at below market value, hides the true appraisal and fails to enter the property into the MLS system or otherwise market it, except to a predetermined buyer, is this not a breach of his fiduciary responsibilities?

[DrewfromCA]

I think what the agent did could potentially be a breach of ethics, but that said... you say you think you might have been undersold $20k.... how do you know that?
Did you see other comparable sales in your area? Did you interview more than one real estate agent?
Did you feel ok with the price when you agreed to sell it?
Did you know the agent wouldn't list it when you signed up with him, and why didn't you ask him why he didn't list it?

[BradleyS]

RE Broker in Kansas:

Did he disclose in the contract that the buyer was a friend of his and that he would receive compensation from that buyer on the sale of your house?

What was the agent's brokerage relationship to you? What type of agreement did you sign with the agent/brokerage? Exclusive? Seller Agency? Transaction Broker (dual agency)?

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by tamholt

The agent lied to us and told us that our house was worth less than it was, knowing his special deal with his friend.

**A: any Buyer can lie to the Seller about the value of the Seller's property.
********
Is it against the law to never list the house?

**A: yes, since the agent was acting as a Buyer and not as a real estate agent.
*******
If the apprasial came in for more than what we listed it for, is the agent obligated to tell us?

**A: no, since the agent is acting as the Buyer.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by Some Random Guy

Homeguru,

Are you sure about this. This agent is acting as a seller's representative here.

**A: no, the agent is acting in the capacity as a Buyer only with no agency.
********
If he knowlingly convinces the homeowner to list his price at below market value,

**A: there is no listing contract in this case. Read the post again.
**********

hides the true appraisal and fails to enter the property into the MLS system or otherwise market it, except to a predetermined buyer, is this not a breach of his fiduciary responsibilities?

**A: no, there is no fiduciary since the agent has no agency and is acting as a private Buyer who happens to be a real estate agent..

[tamholt]

Our real estate agent never told us that his buyer was a friend, just an investor he knew would be interested in.

I am in the process of getting a copy of the apprasial. Our house sold for $180K. We lived in a "tract" development and the same house as ours was listed for $174K but sold for $184K. Our agent told us he couldn't give us that information. I found out after the assessors updated there information.

I am not sure of the type of contract we signed with our agent. I will have to look our paper work. We went with this agent because I thought he was a friend and we trusted him.

He believe he knowingly undersold our house to his "investor friend".

Do I have a case against him? Should I contact a lawyer or the company he works for?

[passingby]

Writer, I don't believe you have a case, based on the information here unless the house was not listed in the MLS within the timeframe allowed by your area's MLS rules and the purchase contract was made after that timeframe.



As for the appraisal not being shown to you....unfortunately you are simply entitled to know, but you have to ask to see or receive hard copies. If you realtor lied about the appraisal price and you can prove it, then you've got something. If you can't prove it, you're out of luck because you should have asked for a copy instead of taking a person's word for it. Moral of story, never trust anyone when it comes to money.

By and large though, you signed to sell for that price and the law assumes you knew everything esle.

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by tamholt

Our real estate agent never told us that his buyer was a friend, just an investor he knew would be interested in.

I am in the process of getting a copy of the apprasial. Our house sold for $180K. We lived in a "tract" development and the same house as ours was listed for $174K but sold for $184K. Our agent told us he couldn't give us that information. I found out after the assessors updated there information.

I am not sure of the type of contract we signed with our agent. I will have to look our paper work. We went with this agent because I thought he was a friend and we trusted him.

He believe he knowingly undersold our house to his "investor friend".

Do I have a case against him? Should I contact a lawyer or the company he works for?

**A: you unknowingly undersold your own house.

[tamholt]

I just some research on the Assessors page. The comps in our area were for $192 to $195. Our house only sold for $180 and we had many upgrades - patio cover, tile, garage cabinets ....

I am going to look and see what comps my agent gave me. He never told us how much the house apprasied for and I never thought to ask. I am trying to get a copy of the apprasial.

I hope there is something I can do .... I realize I am a victim but I hope I can get justice for what he has done. He took advantage of us.... he knew he could.

What is wrong with people .... it worse because I thought he was a friend!

[HomeGuru]

Originally Posted by tamholt

I just some research on the Assessors page. The comps in our area were for $192 to $195. Our house only sold for $180 and we had many upgrades - patio cover, tile, garage cabinets ....

I am going to look and see what comps my agent gave me. He never told us how much the house apprasied for and I never thought to ask. I am trying to get a copy of the apprasial.

I hope there is something I can do .... I realize I am a victim but I hope I can get justice for what he has done. He took advantage of us.... he knew he could.

What is wrong with people .... it worse because I thought he was a friend!

**A: and why did you not research the assessors page, reviewed the appraisal report and/or talked to other Realtors about comps prior to selling your home?

[tamholt]

I could only review the information as it appeared on the assessors website. It takes time for them to updated.

I didn't think about asking for the apprasial report .... a mistake on my part. However, I thought the agent was working in my best interest. That is what I was paying him for .... or so I thought. All the while, he was just looking to benefit himself and his investor friend.

[DrewfromCA]

Honestly, you might have a tough case here, and the case may cost you more than you can even get, if you were to even get anything. That said, contact the agent's broker, and say you are going to sue him and the agent if you don't get such and such dollar amount, as you feel you were misled by the agent.

You may be able to get something from them without going through all the hassle of actually trying to sue them, which might get you nothing. If comps in the area were $12-15k more than you sold your house for, your listing never got into the MLS, and the agent personally knew the buyer, then I think you can mention all of this and threaten to bring it to the state Department of Real Estate.

Heck, it just might work. In any case, sounds like this agent is another scumbag bringing a bad name to this profession. Just know we are not all like that.