I have sticky situation with a Miami Lakes Realtor who works for a national franchise. We have an executed contract in one of my rental properties and the Realtor did not give me the escrow money and took the tenant to another property to rent. The Realtor was not happy with getting a rental commission. He demanded a commission for subsequent renewals or else.
I had listed the Miami Lakes property in the MLS and this Realtor showed it while the property was still rented and presented me a lease agreement signed by the tenants. I went to his office to exchange the keys for the money. I signed the lease agreement and we had an executed contract. We agreed the starting date was March 1, 2009. The rent was $2,000 dollars a month with a year lease.
I asked the tenant in the back to leave since I had rented the whole house. The old tenant gave me the keys Thursday night. The Realtor emailed me and said he had the lease agreement signed and he had $6,000 dollars in escrow. He would deduct his $1,000 commission and give a check for $5,000 dollars. We would exchange the keys and the money.
We met in his office on Friday night. The Realtor gave me the lease agreement signed by the tenant and I signed it as a landlord. I also signed the contract to lease where it specified his renewal commission policy. I gave him the keys and asked him for my money. I did not receive the money in escrow and the house remains vacant and not rented. We have an executed contract and the Realtor did not give me the escrow money and took the tenants to another property.
The Realtor insisted I had to sign a renewal agreement where he would get paid on subsequent year’s renewal. He would get a commission every time the tenants would renew the lease. I objected at first and said that the rental commission was not renewable. It was only a one time lease and no renewal commission was allowed. The Realtor became very upset and said if I did not sign the renewal commission agreement he would take his clients and rent them another house. Reluctantly I signed the lease agreement and the renewal agreement. I was forced to sign since I did not want to lose the tenants.
We had another tenant interested in renting the property but did not rent to them because I had signed a lease agreement already with the Realtor. Also I asked the old tenant to leave because the new tenants wanted the whole house by March for 01. Now I am stuck with no tenants and a vacant house.
I have been blind sighted, blackmailed, ignored, and wronged by this Realtor. He never gave me the escrow deposit. I have called him many times and emailed him. I told him I was considering reporting his actions to the DBPR, FREC, and bring him up on ethics charges. I also told him I was considering taking legal action against him for damages. He has not answered any of my emails and telephone calls.
Is this ethical behavior? – The Realtor demanded renewal commissions or else he would redirect the tenants to another property even though we had an executed contract.
This Realtor is a piece of work. He said he was trained by the best and if I did not sign a renewal agreement the deal was off. Who does he think he is? What gives him the right to make decisions for the tenants with an alternative motive? How can he ignore an executed contract? The tenants signed the lease and gave the deposit. Who is he to decide for them? Can he blackmail the landlords in this manner? Should he be allowed to demand a commission intefinitely. Tomorrow I will call our attorneys and the DBPR so they can tell me the proper way to proceed. In the future if the Realtor demands renewal commissions I would walk away immediately.
Hector Lesende is owner/licensed real estate broker in Miami real estate Serving Miami, Miami Lakes real estate, Coral Gables real estate, Hialeah Real Estate Miami-Dade and Broward counties. We offer a South Florida foreclosure list Property Search
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