Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: Payment received

Without the benefit of all of the facts, it would seem to me that while this may be "allowed"; it presents serious legal questions for the owner who accepted the offer. If I was the owners attorney, I would look long and hard at a possible breach of fiduciary duty by the agent to the owner. Full disclosure is essential in this case and even then I would not be comfortable with it. The short term benefit of that $20,000 will disappear very quickly if a lawsuit is brought.

Feel free to contact me if your colleague would like to discuss further.

Warmly,

Bryan

619.400.4929

Re: Payment received

Attorney Becker is correct, there is a lot more that needs to be discussed before anyone can opine as to the propriety of such a payment. I can tell you, however, that there is a prohibition in California against licensed real estate agents sharing commissions with unlicensed individuals. That prohibition does not run the other way, so there is no statute that prohibits it. I again concur with Attorney Becker - if I were the seller, or the seller's attorney, I'd raise holy you-know-what about the impropriety of the the seller's agent being paid a separate "commission" or "bonus" outside of the seller's commission agreement with the listing agent. Your collegue needs to read the laws regarding dual agency and the legal obligations he has, I think he will find his answer, and my guess is that this is an improper, if not unethical transaction for him to get involved in. Whatever he does it MUST be disclosed to the Seller.

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