Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Illinois
Cancellation Contract w/ Real Estate Agency
My husband and I recently hired and fired a Assist-2-Sell Real Estate Agency for subpar service. The market is quite slow and their services didn't help. We only listed with them for 3 days and realized that the relationship had to be ended. The agent didn't return phone calls. Pamphlets with the house details was not provided for passersby. A copy of the contract was never given to us without persistence, and to top it all off the MLS listing was entered incorrectly causing a snow storm of many websites that feed off the main listing to have faulty information like wrong neighborhood, incorrect bathroom number and pictures entered that wasn't even our home. Needless to say we would not leave it to fate to let this situation linger for 5 months so we cancelled. Upon doing so we were coerced to sign a contract that stated we could not sell our home for 5 to 9 months without giving them a commission and related court fees if they sued us. My question is, if we had dissatisfactory service what is our obligation to them and should we file a formal complaint to keep from being sued? We really want to move and this has got us baffled. Need some advice.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Cancellation Contract w/ Real Estate Agency
It's really a shame that your FIRST stop wasn't to a Real Estate Attorney. Without examining the documents that you signed, it is really difficult to determine with any degree of exactness what your liability might be. If you are in the Du Page or Kane county area, you could call me. Note that fixing problems is generally more expensive than avoiding them in the beginning. Nevertheless, you should consult an attorney as soon as possible to determine whether this situation can be resolved. Good Luck!!