Anyone ever filed a complaint against a Realtor or tried to renegotiate commission over negligence?

[Anonymous]

I have about had it with our Realtor. She did a good job selling and marketing herself when we met, but ever since it has been a disaster. It has become clear that she only wanted to make a quick sale off of our house. She pushed us to price it low. We decided to ignore her advice and it sold in a day. When the offer came in, she didn't even show it to us or explain anything - just emailed it and said to sign, but to let her know if we had questions. There have been many more examples of her incompetence. So here we are a few weeks from closing and we do not trust her at all. We are also really upset that we have promised to pay her such a huge sum of money when she has done very little work.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this type of situation and how you handled it. The agent that we have used to buy our new home says she has violated all kinds of standards and that as a Realtor, she could lose her license over this. What we mostly care about is having to pay her for doing so little work -- and messing up the little work she did do --- and do not trust that she will represent our interests up and through closing.

Would love to hear thoughts and advice on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have about had it with our Realtor. She did a good job selling and marketing herself when we met, but ever since it has been a disaster. It has become clear that she only wanted to make a quick sale off of our house. She pushed us to price it low. We decided to ignore her advice and it sold in a day. When the offer came in, she didn't even show it to us or explain anything - just emailed it and said to sign, but to let her know if we had questions. There have been many more examples of her incompetence. So here we are a few weeks from closing and we do not trust her at all. We are also really upset that we have promised to pay her such a huge sum of money when she has done very little work.

Just wondering if anyone has experienced this type of situation and how you handled it. The agent that we have used to buy our new home says she has violated all kinds of standards and that as a Realtor, she could lose her license over this. What we mostly care about is having to pay her for doing so little work -- and messing up the little work she did do --- and do not trust that she will represent our interests up and through closing.

Would love to hear thoughts and advice on this.

You're going to have to be more specific because none of the above is negligence.

[Anonymous]

I think you would need to prove negligence, first. The fact that she advised you to list low isnt negligence--it might be annoying, but certainly not beyond the pale, or bad practice. She saw it differently, and you should have asked early in the process what her recommended listing price would be as part of the initial negotiation.

Was there actually something wrong with the paperwork she sent you? I'm having trouble understanding this part of the complaint. If you needed help understanding the paperwork, did you ask her? did she refuse to help you navigate it after you asked? did she tell you something incorrect?

It sounds like you wanted more hands on service. It can be frustrating when you need a little more help and you arent getting it, but that doesnt make her negligent. Probably just not the best fit for you in the future.

Sounds like a good learning experience for you--these are definitely good questions to ask about the scope of service for future realtors.

[Anonymous]

This is why people despise realtors. The Rain Man can sell a 4 bedroom/3bath house in the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Promise, she will be at closing to get that fat check. Stone cold thief with no conscious whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why people despise realtors. The Rain Man can sell a 4 bedroom/3bath house in the DMV.

+1 op unless you provide specific examples it only sounds like you are annoyed with the commission, which you should've known ahead of time and asked her exactly what you can expect for 15 hours of services.

[Anonymous]

What damages are you claiming? You sold the house at the price you wanted.

She sucked. OK. But that's what you agreed to on the deal.

[Anonymous]

Here are some specifics:

Despite the fact we gave her correct info about our house, she put wrong info in MLS - less square footage, fewer bathrooms, etc. because she just went off old listing. We discovered this for her. It took her hours to correct.

She did not put lock box on until after house was on the market. Husband and I had to take off work for an entire morning to let people in and out.

She did not review the contract with us but just told us to sign.

She pushed us to agree to everything buyer asked for after home inspection.

In sum, we just feel that she never represented our interests - just wanted to make a quick and easy sale and not jeopardize it by countering any offers - and that we did most all of the work for her.

So yes, I am really pissed that we are paying her nearly 20K and I knew this going in. But I really didn't think she would be so negligent and unresponsive. We were thinking of going with Redfin, but picked her because we thought she offered more personal service.

Do you all really think I have no grounds for complaint here? My buyers agent thinks otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Selling your house quickly at the price you requested is the opposite of negligence. Exactly how were you harmed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here are some specifics:

Despite the fact we gave her correct info about our house, she put wrong info in MLS - less square footage, fewer bathrooms, etc. because she just went off old listing. We discovered this for her. It took her hours to correct.

She did not put lock box on until after house was on the market. Husband and I had to take off work for an entire morning to let people in and out.

She did not review the contract with us but just told us to sign.

She pushed us to agree to everything buyer asked for after home inspection.

In sum, we just feel that she never represented our interests - just wanted to make a quick and easy sale and not jeopardize it by countering any offers - and that we did most all of the work for her.

So yes, I am really pissed that we are paying her nearly 20K and I knew this going in. But I really didn't think she would be so negligent and unresponsive. We were thinking of going with Redfin, but picked her because we thought she offered more personal service.

Do you all really think I have no grounds for complaint here? My buyers agent thinks otherwise.

None of what you described is negligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Selling your house quickly at the price you requested is the opposite of negligence. Exactly how were you harmed?

Seriously, she must have done something right. Houses don't sell that fast when negligently marketed.

[Anonymous]

The word negligence has a legal meaning. It does not mean annoying.

[Anonymous]

Give her a bad Yelp review.

[Anonymous]

I feel for you OP, but as others have noted this isn't negligence. I do think you can call the company and attempt to negotiate, but you are going to have to do better than this in terms of problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here are some specifics:

Despite the fact we gave her correct info about our house, she put wrong info in MLS - less square footage, fewer bathrooms, etc. because she just went off old listing. We discovered this for her. It took her hours to correct.

She did not put lock box on until after house was on the market. Husband and I had to take off work for an entire morning to let people in and out.

She did not review the contract with us but just told us to sign.

She pushed us to agree to everything buyer asked for after home inspection.

In sum, we just feel that she never represented our interests - just wanted to make a quick and easy sale and not jeopardize it by countering any offers - and that we did most all of the work for her.

So yes, I am really pissed that we are paying her nearly 20K and I knew this going in. But I really didn't think she would be so negligent and unresponsive. We were thinking of going with Redfin, but picked her because we thought she offered more personal service.

Do you all really think I have no grounds for complaint here? My buyers agent thinks otherwise.

Clearly the mistakes on MLS didn't harm you, since you still sold quickly for the house you wanted.

The only thing here that actually hurt you was her failure to put up a lock box. But why did you AND your husband have to take off work? Did you ask her to let people in?