Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Buyers' agent liable for negligence/misleading information?
My husband and I entered into a purchase agreement on 08/28, to close on 10/12. We made an offer on another home to close the day after COE on the house we're selling.
The buyers' agent listed the financing as conventional, but we later discovered that they were going FHA. The buyers were also trying to get a CHAFA loan to assist with their downpayment. Isn't this misleading on the agent's part?
Once we got a month into escrow, I started asking my agent when the appraisal would be done. She contacted the buyers' agent, who kept telling her ''it's been ordered''. The appraisal wasn't done until the scheduled date of closing, and now no one can even get ahold of the buyers' agent.
My husband called the buyers' lender and they told him that it would be an extra 3 weeks after our scheduled COE before docs would be ready. They claim that the loan package apps weren't even on their desk until 10/01 (11 days before COE).
The agent's broker has removed her from the transaction and has ''taken over'' (well, is fishing for her commission-not actually doing anything), but we are being charged fees to extend our rate for the new home. I don't feel that the other agent did her job. Can we get at least part of the commission back?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Buyers' agent liable for negligence/misleading information?
I would say the starting point is to review your sale agreement with the buers to see whether your dispute must be mediated or arbitrated, or whether you would go directly to court over this developing dispute.
Another fact that seems to be missing here is whether there is a sellers' agent or broker, or if possibly the buyer's agent is/was acting in a dual representation capacity.
The answers to these questions would determine how to proceed, and against whom.
The buyers' agent certainly imparted inaccurate information, but whether the primary legal fault lies with him/her or with the buyers themselves is a fact that would have some bearing on liability.
The duties owed by a buyer's agent to the seller are somewhat limited, since there is likely no contract between them and the agent is not a fiduciary of the seller. On the other hand, if the buyers' agent, or the buyers, or all of them acting together, fraudulently induced you to enter into a contract that you otherwise would not have, and you suffered money damages in consequence, then there is actionable fraud.
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