Would you go after a client that breaches a buyer brokerage agreement?

[Chris Elliott]

This question deals more with agency than investing but I figured there's enough agents on this site to get some good feedback.

Would you go after a client that breached a buyer brokerage agreement and bought with another Realtor? I had a lady I was working with that was looking to basically gut her retirement account to buy her son and pregnant daughter in law a house. Kids didn't have any money, credit, or stable employment so she was helping out. We signed a buyer-broker contract in Sept through the end of this year. For whatever they disappeared the first week of November after I had showed them a dozen or so houses . . wouldn't return phone calls or emails. To the best of my knowledge, I was kind, professional and responsive; I figured they just gave up their search. So I check tax records this morning and low and behold they closed on a house with another broker on 12/5.

First time this has happened to me. Given the knowledge I have of their situation and it being 6 days from Christmas, it's hard to want to enforce the contract. On the other hand, I'm not crazy about someone taking $3,000 out of my pocket. Spoke to my broker and he suggested I email her just to see how she responds. What would you do?

[Dmitriy Fomichenko]

Steve's advice above is right on the money! Don't create a headache for yourself by pursuing this, you might be able to get your $3,000 but your loss (wasted time, etc.) worth much more than that so it's not worth it.

Kindly contact her and ask for feedback. By being nice and professional in this way you may win her trust back and get a referral from her in the future, who knows...