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Who should I sue?....hmm, the Realtor!

Why oh why do we do what we do?

My Broker was talking to me about a potential lawsuit that might be aimed at one of our agents. A large peice of land that one of our agents helped sell had come into question. The land (which had been sold 3-4 times before over the last few years) was ruled by the city that it could not be subdivided. I guess all sales prior, had up to now, had incorrect and inapproprieately authorized. judges hammer on money

Anyhow, not get in to too much detail, when the current owner found out he could not subdivide the land (which is why he had purchased it), he no longer wanted the land and wanted his money back. He went back to the Title company as the city had advised, and they admited to commiting the error. But check this, they advised him to go after the Realtor.... why... because he has E & O insurance.

Even though all the information that our Realtor collected both from the city and Title company show records that the land had no problems and zoned/authorized to be subdivided, the finger gets pointed to Mr. E & O. The client isn't even upset at the Realtor, he just wants his money back and right now the easiest path is through the Realtor.

Why oh why do we do what we do?

Posted by Barbara Gregus on 08/26/2008 10:19 PM

Comments (15)

Lawsuit in the ActiveRain Channel

lawsuit, lawyer, e o, fault, realtor, error

15 Comments on Who should I sue?....hmm, the Realtor!

AUG

2008

Been there, done that...Only problem is when we are sued through our E & O Insurance , they provide the attorney, and we end up paying the deductable, which can be high. Even when you are not in the wrong, we can get sued. The public thinks we have deep pockets and by all means go after us.

Title companies have insurance, too, so just refer the lawsuit back to the title company.

I've had a couple acquaintances—can't call them friends—go through exactly what you described, down to dotting the i's and crossing the t's. Both of them sued the title company and the Realtor was summarily dismissed and the title company's insurance took care of the problem.

Everyone is too lawsuit happy these days anyways its pathetic.... Don't the title companies have some kind of insurance also?? I know when the property I have was surveyed wrong or some goofy thing the title company "bought" the land from me because they missed the error. All previous surveys and county records showed a section of land was included with the property, however it supposedly wasn't so the title company gave me a portion of the money I paided back.... several years after I purchased it (but fairly quickly after the mistake was found lol)

Doncha just love it?!!! We just had a past buyer/client contact us. She bought the house almost 3 years ago...notice I said ALMOST 3 years ago...just under the time limit allowed for law suits. She says that in trying to get the 3RD refinance, the appraiser told her he couldn't include the added on family room because it was not permitted. Now mind you, the previous 2 appraisers didn't have a problem with it. Now, since the seller said there were permits drawn, she wants....something....but we aren't sure what. The good news? We represented her as a buyer. I do think the seller might have a problem, but really, after 3 years?

Jose,

and what if the agnet does not have E&O?

Also, I am not sure that this was not a responsibility of the buyer to make sure he can do what he wanted to do with this land.

Having the zoning is not all. It may not guarantee that you can do what you want to do. Why would the agent be to blame?

. I can tell you that here in AZ it is a consumer side that the ADRE takes. being we are the professionals, it is difficult to fight against the consumer.

It's a greedy world filled with a lot people who want something for nothing being led by an attorney who is in it for his cut.

I am so tired of hearing about lawsuits. Sometimes people make mistakes- we all have. Why can't we do our best to just make it better however we can, and quit running around with the attitude that somebody better pay for any injustice no matter what the size.

Jose, What a shame, I hope it all works out. That is why we have this stuff I guess.

By saying don't the title companies have insurance, you are missing what they exist for in the first place. It isn't a 'title company', it is a title INSURANCE company. Do they have insurance? That is the product they sell. If the title INSURANCE company's prelim did not have a exemption for this defect than the buyer should be filing a claim against that insurance policy.

Title companies have insurance too! I hope the agent told the consumer to get an attorney to answer the question in the beginning... and I hope there is something in writing. good luck

Tell it to me like I am a 6 year old. The seller of some land said that his land could be sub-divided, the listing agent said that the land could be sub-divided, the title company said that it could be sub-divided, the buyer did his due diligence and checked with the local authorities prior to buying the property and learned it could be sub-divided and the Selling Agent gets sued.

Yeah, I think they have a case. Collect the $1500 retainer plus filing fees and the attorney will file the frivolous law suit costing the Agent time and money to defend!

There will always be this type of frivolous law suits when the people in Congress making the laws are in the fraternity of Attorneys themselves.

That's a loaded question, it can't be answered without looking at the contract and listing in order to determine the representation that was made. And what about the buyers due dilligence prior to closing.

BTW: find a new title company to deal with. after all what is title insurance? Did they improperly disclose the condition of the property in the title report?

I think if your E and O is contacted, they may defend instead of pay on this one.

AUG

2008

Yikes!! Our company trainer tells everyone during the company training that all realtors have an invisible neon sign (that we cannot see, but that everyone else can see) above our heads that screams "Sue me! I'm a realtor!"

Nice - whoever looks like the easiest target and won't put up a fight, let's sue that one. Make note, to NEVER use that particular title company again.

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