Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Connecticut

Re: 3 months left on a real estate contract

Hello,

Whether you can fire your realtor depends on the terms of your contract. Usually, the contract says that you can only terminate by mutual written consent of the parties. That said, in practice, many clients find themselves in your situation. Here's what I would do:

1. Call the Broker for your realtor and complain. The broker is essentially your realtor's boss, because it is his/her name on the line, and the realtor works under the broker's license. For instance, Coldwell Banker is a broker and Prudential CT Realty is a broker. Call the main number and ask to speak with the broker. The receptionist should forward you to the right person. If you have to, tell the receptionist that you would like to file a complaint against your agent. That should get you the right person.

2. Tell the broker your situation; that you are unhappy with your realtor and bound by a listing contract. Usually, the broker wants to make the client happy, so he/she will suggest another realtor in the broker's office. At that point, you will have to decide if you want to work with an agent in the same office or if you want to get out of the contract with the broker altogether. However, if the agent feels the same way that you do about the relationship, then he/she will probably already have advised the broker of the problems and not to keep the contract.

3. If you decide to go with the new agent, your existing contract will stay in place.

4. If you decide you want to get rid of the broker altogether, usually enough fussing and stomping your feet will make the broker agree to sign a rescission of the contract. They generally don't want bad publicity and don't want to work with a difficult client.

Hope that helps!

Diana