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COMMISSION AWARDED FROM SECOND PURCHASE CONTRACT: A brokerage is entitled to a commission after a buyer purchased property following the expiration of the buyer's representation agreement, ruled a Missouri appellate court, reversing an earlier trial court's decision. Initially, the buyer was unable to obtain financing, so an initial purchase agreement was terminated and soon after the buyer's representation agreement expired. The buyer had resolved the financial issue and then reached an agreement with the seller to rent the property. The brokerage argued, and the court agreed, that it was entitled to a commission because of a protection clause in the buyer's representation agreement, which required the buyer to pay the brokerage a commission if she purchased a property shown to her by the broker within 180 days after the contract expired.
NO DUTY TO ADVISE CLIENT OF TERMINATION DEADLINE: "A salesperson had no duty to inform his client that the purchase agreement required the client to deliver contract termination forms by the deadline contained in the purchase contract, the Court of Appeals of Texas, Austin, ruled, affirming the trial court. The client should have known about the deadline, since it was included in the purchase agreement that was signed."
SELLERS MUST PERFORM PURCHASE CONTRACT: A North Carolina appellate court ruled that buyers were entitled to specific performance after the sellers refused to transfer the property to them. The owners of a lake house entered into a contract with the buyers to sell their home, along with all of its furnishings and boats, but a few days before closing they terminated the purchase agreement. The buyers filed a lawsuit seeking specific performance of the purchase contract. To obtain specific performance, a party must show the existence of a valid contract, its terms, and either the fulfillment of the contract or how the party was ready, willing, and able to perform the terms of the contract - which the court ruled the buyers demonstrated.
Information compiled and summarized by NAR's "Letter of the Law".
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