Commish, what about my commish?

Beautiful! Way to go Blair!!

Blair,

In a Buyer Agency Agreement, I can set the minimum commission. If the buyer wants to make up the difference, then we can go see the house. If they're not willing to make up the difference, its their choice.

That being said, I'm not sure I would ever call a listing agent about the commission offered.

Rich

Looks like he doesn't have a leg to stand on as the Truth is an absolute defense. Hard to argue with that since he is threatening you if you repost his own comments. interesting. What are the elements of a defamation claim? a publication to one other than the person defamed; a false statement of fact; that is understood as being of and concerning the plaintiff; and tending to harm the reputation of plaintiff. If the plaintiff is a public figure, he or she must also prove actual malice. What defenses may be available to someone who is sued for defamation? There are ordinarily 6 possible defenses available to a defendant who is sued for libel (published defamatory communication.) Truth. This is a complete defense, but may be difficult to prove. Fair comment on a matter of public interest. This defense applies to "opinion" only, as compared to a statement of fact. The defendant usually needs to prove that the opinion is honestly held and the comments were not motivated by actual "malice." (Malice means knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth of falsity of the defamatory statement.) Privilege. The privilege may be absolute or qualified. Privilege generally exists where the speaker or writer has a duty to communicate to a specific person or persons on a given occasion. In some cases the privilege is qualified and may be lost if the publication is unnecessarily wide or made with malice. Consent. This is rarely available, as plaintiffs will not ordinarily agree to the publication of statements that they find offensive. Innocent dissemination. In some cases a party who has no knowledge of the content of a defamatory statement may use this defense. For example, a mailman who delivers a sealed envelope containing a defamatory statement, is not legally liable for any damages that come about from the statement. Plaintiff's poor reputation. Defendant can mitigate (lessen) damages for a defamatory statement by proving that the plaintiff did not have a good reputation to begin with. Defendant ordinarily can prove plaintiff's poor reputation by calling witnesses with knowledge of the plaintiff's prior reputation relating to the defamatory content. What are slander and libel? Slander and libel are two forms of defamation. Slander is a spoken defamation and libel is the written form. However, radio and television broadcasts that are defamatory are considered to be libel, rather than slander, even though the defamation is spoken rather than written. What is libel per se? When libel is clear on its face, without the need for any explanatory matter, it is called libel per se. The following are often found to be libelous per se: A statement that falsely: Charges any person with crime, or with having been indicted, convicted, or punished for crime; Imputes in him the present existence of an infectious, contagious, or loathsome disease; Tends directly to injure him in respect to his office, profession, trade or business, either by imputing to him general disqualification in those respects that the office or other occupation peculiarly requires, or by imputing something with reference to his office, profession, trade, or business that has a natural tendency to lessen its profits; Imputes to him impotence or a want of chastity.

We have clients who use a Flat Fee Listing to list their house in the local MLS.  They state the amount of commission they will pay to a Buyers Agent closing the transaction, as part of the listing agreement.  Yet we still hear about brokers/agents who will not show the property because it is a Flat Fee Listing/FSBO. 

Not sure why they would not want to earn a commission or how it represents the buyers best interest. Our conclusion:  easy to say but we believe most brokers/agents want to represent their buyers appropriately and want to get paid a commission when they sell the property.

Mel