Are buyers agents legally obligated to deal only with the listing agent in NYC?

[lisa]

I’ve had two agents in the past 20 minutes who knew that I was the owner because they had previously seen the listing say that they are legally obligated to deal exclusively with the listing agent.

How do we handle this? Do I just give them our partner broker's contact info?

[HauseitAdmin]

Hey guys, thanks for taking your FSBO listing off market!

This kind of trolling can happen if you’ve just listed FSBO, as a lot of these agents who were soliciting you will still have your contact information. If they reach out to you directly, feel free to just copy our partner broker and say that they're your exclusive listing agent.

The ones who have sent you a message like that directly (without inquiring on the listings our partner brokers have posted), who already have your contact information, do not have real buyers. They are just being difficult now that they didn’t “win” the listing.

Please read this great article on how to deal with solicitation like this: https://www.hauseit.com/how-to-deal-...-selling-fsbo/ and please remember to remove all of your previous FSBO listings. Thank you!!

[gulu]

I have an Agent Assisted FSBO listing with Hauseit. A buyer's broker who my partner broker looped me in with asked me the following:

Thank you. One question for you: Are you a licensed real estate salesperson or broker?

Which I replied that no, I was the owner. He then sent this message to me:

I appreciate the comps. However, since you are not a licensed real estate salesperson or broker, I do not want to jeopardize my license or your broker’s license, nor you having to pay two commissions. All communication must be through your broker. I will follow-up with your listing broker, if needed. Thank you for showing.

He also sent this to my flat fee listing broker:

I explained to your client, that communication must be between us, and that I cannot communicate with another broker’s client. I will be in touch should my client want to proceed.

How should I respond or proceed with this?

[HauseitAdmin]

Hi Gulu, this buyer's agent is free to do whatever he wishes, but there is no prohibition against owners showing or negotiating their own property. Otherwise, For Sale By Owner would be illegal right? It’s funny how some agents pretend that they are lawyers!

With that said, REBNY rules do technically have a clause that says buyers’ agents should get the permission of the listing agent before contacting or negotiating directly with the owner. This is meant to protect against brokers trying to steal each other’s clients. However, by looping you in our partner broker has already given you permission, and can more explicitly do so as well.

We’ve only seen this kind of time wasting once or twice, and it’s always been by agents who don’t have serious buyers. There’s nothing further to do here.

Please take a look at the bottom of this article to learn more!

Thank you!

[aslan]

My guess is this guy either doesn't have a real client, or the client isn't interested since it sounds like you did show the apartment. In either case, the guy is probably a little frustrated and trying to cause trouble, or perhaps he's just misinformed and overly cautious (not a good trait for a deal maker).

Quite unnecessary given that brokers are busy or traveling and ask the owners to cover showings for them all the time, regardless of the commission structure. I'm quite serious by the way. If an agent has three listings, how often do you think showing requests or open houses will coincide? Sometimes the owner steps in, regardless of how much they are paying.

If the guy comes back and actually has an offer, and still refuses to be cooperative, then you can remind him to do his fiduciary duty to his client. His "buyer" is suffering because he is being uncooperative without a valid reason. Since there's no legal prohibition or REBNY rules against owners negotiating and showing their own property, why is he holding up his client's deal?