Landlord vs Tenant and Real Estate Agent

[kenbill]

The property that is being mentioned is in Oklahoma. I was talking to a real estate agent and was going to meet him at my house so that he could give me his opinion about my property. He called to tell me he had a friend who might be interested in leasing the property and possibly purchasing it at the end of the year. He brought his friend to my house and when they were leaving the agent said to us that if his friend liked the house it would be between myself and his friend. He did not want to be a part of it and he was just doing a favor for a friend. I went to an attorney and had a lease drawn up and it gave an option to the friend/tenant. The option read as follows "Tenant shall have the option to purchase the property for the sum of $X's payable at the time of closing. This option shall expire on X date. Tenant shall give landlord sixty days written notice of his intent to exercise the option prior to the expiration of the option."
The Tenant paid the first months rent on time and was a couple of days late on the second month. The tenant had called me to let me know he was out of town and I would receive the rent two days later. The tenant did not pay the third months rent and I drove up to the location and noticed that my house had been put on the market by the real estate agent. The house had many damages to it and I gave the tenant a notice to quit. I called the real estate agent and asked why my property was listed and that I had never signed a Right to Sell or Lease Listing Agreement. The realator pulled his sign off of my property that night. I have since had to file a judgement against the Tenant for damages and past due rent. I am also having a problem with selling the property. It shows that the house had been on the market for 52 days before I found out and interest rates have risen within the last quarter. My question is this. What legal recourse do I have against the real estate agent? I have filed a complaint to the Real Estate board and they are investigating it at the moment.

 

[Tracey]

I assume the same agent listed the house & introduced you to your former tenant? What are the damages from having the house listed? How will you prove them? If T had an option to purchase, you couldn't put the house on the market until the option expired anyway. Does it really matter that interest rates rose? Is there any specific dmage from the house being on the market for 52 days? How much? How will you prove it? Are agent's actions listing the house so eggregious that they will support an award of punitive damages? If so, then you only have to prove $1 in actual damages to get $2,000 in punitive damages. However, you'll need to hire an attorney and go to trial, which will cost much more than $2,000.

You can talk to a real estate attorney if you want, but unless something's unusual about the market in your area, I don't think it's worth your while. Does the real estate board award damages to complainants? That might be your best bet.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.

 

[kenbill]

Thanks for the reply. I had thought about many of the questions you had brought up. I did have a section in the Contract to let me know if the house was to be listed etc... To try and prove more than just punitive damages, I pulled the comprable lists of houses that were sold in my neighborhood in that time fram and I can show that the other houses (that were listed at the same price and close to the same days on the market) sold for 6,000 less than they had listed my house for. After they took out the realators commission, it would have been less than the agreed amount that myslef and the T had talked about. I am to meet with an Attorney tomorrow in that state to show him my documentation. I had wanted to get other professional opinions and questions before I went to the meeting. Thank you again, by the way I am reporting the realator to the board, just waiting to speak with my Attorney first. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tracey:
I assume the same agent listed the house & introduced you to your former tenant? What are the damages from having the house listed? How will you prove them? If T had an option to purchase, you couldn't put the house on the market until the option expired anyway. Does it really matter that interest rates rose? Is there any specific dmage from the house being on the market for 52 days? How much? How will you prove it? Are agent's actions listing the house so eggregious that they will support an award of punitive damages? If so, then you only have to prove $1 in actual damages to get $2,000 in punitive damages. However, you'll need to hire an attorney and go to trial, which will cost much more than $2,000.

You can talk to a real estate attorney if you want, but unless something's unusual about the market in your area, I don't think it's worth your while. Does the real estate board award damages to complainants? That might be your best bet.
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