Dumping a broker?
 

My father passed August 06 and I have been trying to sell his house.

1st broker was a "family" thing and did not work out and I signed up with a new broker.

It's been 3-4 months and no sale. I realize the market is tough and accept that.

The new broker apparently is key challenged. She can never unlock the doors, (100 yr old colonial) and I keep running over there when she has showings or open houses. It's 1/2 hour drive one way on a good day and in NY there are few "good" days.

So Saturday I have to run over cause she is doing an open house. I get there before her and find one of the garage bays is unlocked. There is a drop down stairway inside the garage that leads to a loft with an access door to the rest of the house which is normally locked.

She shows up and tells me that in addition to the back door she is having problems with the access door.

I RR the offending locks, (nothing really wrong with them, they just stick a bit) and tell her everything is opened up, the locks have been adjusted and she should be OK.

I give her a 15 minute lecture on the importance of making sure the garage is locked cause once inside they can break into the rest of the house easily.

That was Saturday.

Yesterday, Monday, I get a call from a family friend, they tell me there is a strange car parked in the driveway and one of the garage bays is open, as in OPEN, not just unlocked but OPEN for 2 days.

I hop in the car and fly over there. Enter thru garage, go up loft stairs and the access door is still unlocked. Walk down to 1st floor and check front door as I pass it, unlocked.

So it turns out the stupid b**tch left the house, did not do a walk around, left the garage door open, left the access door unlocked and when I finally get her on the phone admits to not locking the front door because "she has problems" with it.

WTF????

How do I legally dump this idiot? Is that grounds enough to break the contract?

First, read the listing agreement. Most usually state a specific time the contract ends. Three months is a fairly typical listing. It may already be expired. That would be the easiest way to get rid of her.

It's 6 monthsminimum these days. In this market in this area you can't sell a house in 3 months unless you are willing to fire sale it.

Hi,

If you really want to dump her....call her Broker employer. I would imagine that this idiot is an Agent...not a broker. Explain the situation to the "boss" and advise them you don't want her to represent your interests any longer. And if they refuse, you can threaten to report them to local county real estate board as well as the NYS real estate commission.

I would think they will let you out in a heartbeat for such negligence, notwithstanding the agreement that was executed. I know that if one of my agents did that....I'd have their head (I own a real estate brokerage and am a Broker...agents work under me and I"m responsible for their actions or lack thereof).

Once they let you out....you MUST ask them to withdraw your listing from the MLS system. Then...sign up a new brokerage. If you want a referral for your area....feel free to PM me.

Good luck....and your story is absolutely ridiculous.

Jon

there should be a realtor association/commission that you can write a nice letter to. copy the agent and her broker and demand to be released from the K.