Divorce > Selling House > Realtor Relationship

10 years ago

My sister is getting a divorce and it's nasty. Both still reside in the house and it's on the market. My sister has had a good relationship with the realtor up until recently. You could describe her as a "family" realtor - she helps to buy and sale homes for the husband's extended family. A few months ago, the Realtor even took my sister to lunch to commiserate and said that if she ever needed anything, just let her know, blah, blah, blah.

Out of no where, the realtor has stopped communicating with my sister. Her only communication is with the husband. The realtor will not return any of her calls, emails or text messages. This has been going on for two weeks now. It coincides with some other "not nice" things the husband is doing.

Sister sent realtor an email this morning saying that there will be no more showings. Not just because of the Realtor's change in communication but there are other reasons as well.

Can the realtor just decide not to speak with one of the parties any longer? Can sister stop showings? Does she have any recourse, liking changing Realtors or getting her own?

Not sure if it matters but this realtor specializes in selling high-end homes. Oh, and yes, sister does have a very good lawyer and has communicated all of this to him. I was just looking for some "real world" opinions and experience.

Featured Answer

sylviatexas1

10 years ago

Sometimes people are very angry & vengeful when there's a break-up, & they spend their time & energy thinking of ways to punish the other party or make the other party's life much more difficult, & they always seem to think that *nobody* ever thought of these things before & that *nobody* will be able to figure out that that's what's going on or to put a stop to it.

The only thing I can't figure out here is what the heck the Realtor can possibly be thinking.

What was the question?

Oh, yeah.

Go to the broker.

Don't waste time with the soon-to-be-ex, don't add to the attorney bill (divorce attorneys see these ugly behaviors every day), don't try to reason with the Realtor.

Go to the broker, ask for a different, unbiased agent to be assigned, & if you sense any reluctance from him/her, mention the Real Estate Commission.

I wish you the very best.

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Comments (7)

jewelisfabulous
10 years ago
It's absolutely unconscionable for a realtor to "cut out" communications with one of the sellers in this kind of situation. It seems to me that your sister's best recourse is to contact the realtor's managing broker and inform him/her of the realtor's behavior. Then, she should ask the broker to arbitrate the situation with the goal of requiring the realtor to resume communications with her AND to do so in a pleasant manner. Your sister can't unilaterally fire the realtor without her soon-to-be ex's agreement, but she can certainly utilize the broker to pressure the realtor back in line.
chispa
10 years ago
I wish your sister lots of luck. A few years ago a friend took years to sell her house because the soon-to-be-ex-H refused to accept any offers that they received. Agree with jewel above, but I would first have your sister's lawyer talk to ex's lawyer and put a stop to this childish behaviour on ex's and realtor's part.
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weedyacres
10 years ago
What jewel said. Realtors have bosses, go to the boss. I like chispa's advice too: go to the source.
ncrealestateguy
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
What jewels and chispa said...
MagdalenaLee
Original Author
10 years ago
Thanks all. That message she left the realtor about no more showings garnered a returned call. The realtor gave her a bunch of non sequitur excuses for the poor communication. Lawyer is sorting out the BS. I'm not sure I can handle years of this - and it's not even my divorce!
jewelisfabulous
10 years ago
MagdalenaLee -- Is your sister out from under the whole mess by now? Did the realtor step up or did the broker have to get involved?