Legal information capsules| A real estate broker and his commission |
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A real estate broker doing business under a prestigious banner signed an exclusive brokerage contract with the defendant for the sale of his house. A week after the installation of the sign "For Sale" on the ground of the said property, Mr. Cormier, potential buyer, phoned the office of the broker for the sale price. The receptionist has noted the wrong phone number; no follow-up has ever been done with the person concerned.
Once the contract was completed, the client decided not to renew his broker contract since the house was still not sold and he would try to sell it himself. Note that the broker has never recovered his promotional sign. Subsequently, Mr. Cormier contacted the owner of said property for a visit and then made an offer that was accepted by the defendant / owner. The sale was completed within 180 days from the date of expiry of the exclusive brokerage contract with a person who was interested for the duration of the contract, the broker calls his commission. The brokerage firm has not demonstrated that Mr. Cormier wanted to buy the building or that discussions had been held for this purpose during the contract period. For that we can conclude that a broker has an interested party to a residence, it is a description has been made to the prospective buyer or a visit or discussions took place, which is not the case here. The mere sight of a poster "for sale" by a possible purchase for the duration of the brokerage contract is not sufficient to qualify it as "interested person". To qualify as an efficient cause would have had the dealer take concrete action to accomplish the sale occurs, not only the installation of a sign in front of the house. JE 2011-1526 |