Realtor left door open

[cktrubisky@hotm]

What is the name of your state? Ohio

I have a vacant house under contract with a real estate agency and received a call from my realtor that basement door was open and that water was leaking from the area of the water meter. The only way to secure the door is from the inside so someone showing the house had to have left it open and that caused the temp to drop in the basement and the water meter froze and broke. My realtor tells me someone must have broken in but the door would have been busted for that to happen. I want to know if the real estate agency is liable in this instance. tia, kaytstate?What is the name of your state?

[OnceUponATime]

A bit confused on this.....you said the house is under contract, but then later said someone showing the house must have left the door open.....

Regardless, more than likely you would have to prove who left the door open, and my guess is everyone will say they didn't do it. If you can narrow it down to one agent, it might not hurt to call their broker, you could also report the agent to the real estate board. Again, I would think you would want substantial proof on how you determined which agent it was before taking any action.

I am sorry to hear of your misfortune.

[justalayman]

a house under contract can be continued to be shown. As a matter of fact, a back-up contract can be negotiated even.


As Once posted, you would have to prove who did this, which may be tough.

If you can, then whomever did this, of course, would be liable for the damages.

but, proving who it was will be the difficult part.

[CraigFL]

In our area access to homes by real estate sales people is strictly controlled. The lock boxes are electronic/ wireless access and recording, so your listing agent should be able to show you a log of the people and times -- if this is the case. The next difficulty will be proving that an agent actually left the door open. I can tell you from my experiences, a recent sale, that these agents are very sloppy. I've had doors open, left unlocked, unable to access alarm system properly, water running, etc... etc.... after a showing. It go so bad that I forced my agent to be there at every showing...