Property Management Contract

[David March]

What is the name of your state? California
I signed a contract titled "Property Management Agreement" on 12/2/93 in the state of Florida for condo I owned that I decided to rent out. I agreed to pay a 10% management commission per month for this service.
In January of 2003, I decided to sell my condo and used a friend of mine in real estate to handle the transaction. Upon notifying the Property Management Company I sold the condo and would no longer require their service, they responded back stating that I owed them a 7% commission from the sale of the condo. They stated that a clause in my contract gave them exclusive listing. My response back was that they knew I was hiring them for the purpose of rental management only and we never discussed or agreed they would handle the sell of the condo if I decide to do so. Over the 9 year period they earned $7,710.00 in comission for only having to collect the rent since it was the same renter for the entire time.
I feel as though the Property Management Company engaged in fraud to procure this agreement. I also feel the contract had a clause in place that stated something against the intent of the contract and therefore I was mislead. I feel a property management contract and a real estate listing contract are two seperate contracts and that their contract presents an illegal purpose.
I have received a letter here in California from the Company's lawyer requesting I pay the commisson or they will take legal action.
What are my legal rights?

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

If the clause was in the contract, and you failed to read the contract, then who's fault is that?

Titles of documents or contracts are not a part of the agreement itself, so if you relied upon the title of the document without reading the entire agreement, then you're the one on the hook.

It's the same thing when you expect certain automobile coverage in your auto policy, only to find out later when you read the policy that no such coverage was afforded under the policy. When you don't read a policy, agreement or contract, who's the one at fault?

IAAL