PROPERTY NEWS - If you're selling your home and you begin to lose faith in the estate agent you're dealing with, be very careful about how you break off relations or the way in which you continue to operate with him/her.
John Smyth, CEO of Multi Net Mortgages, has pointed out that in South African law any introduction to a property by an agent which down the line (no matter how much later) leads to its sale via another agent may be deemed by the law courts to have been an ‘effective cause’ of the sale – and this will probably mean that the seller will have to pay two commissions, both quite possibly at the originally negotiated percentage level.
Conversely, says Smyth, if an agent takes a client to a property knowing that he has already been introduced to it by another agent, he is obliged by the Estate Agency Affairs Board Code of Conduct to warn the seller that if a deal is concluded he could now be liable for two commissions.
Written consent
In these situations, says Smyth, the second agent has to obtain written consent to be involved and in most cases an agreement will be reached with the initial agent whereby the commission is split between them.
Conversely, says Smyth, if an agent takes a client to a property knowing that he has already been introduced to it by another agent, he is obliged by the Estate Agency Affairs Board Code of Conduct to warn the seller that if a deal is concluded he could now be liable for two commissions.
Written consent
In these situations, says Smyth, the second agent has to obtain written consent to be involved and in most cases an agreement will be reached with the initial agent whereby the commission is split between them.
