The Broker from Hell

[Joel Moody]

Hello,

I am a first time home owner who is trying to sell my home. I signed a six month agreement with a RE broker who is now suing me for breach of contract. The gist of it is, my house has been on the market for 5 months so far, it's been in escrow twice, both times it has fallen through because the loans were not approved (oddly, both times from the same agent). 

During the past month,  the house has only been seen about 2 to 3 times, it was at that time I decided maybe I should think about renting the house out after my contract with my RE broker is over. I called a property management company before I contacted my RE broker, the PM agreed to help me screen renters over the next month in hopes that I will have someone ready to go as soon as my contract is over with the broker. My broker came over one day and found that my PM had removed his "for sale" sign from my yard and replaced it with a "for rent" sign. He was irate. He called me and started yelling at me over the phone that I was in breach of contract and that he would be suing me in small claims court for his commission because the sign had been removed. 

I hired an attorney who has been mediating the dispute between my broker and myself but my broker still intends on taking me to small claims court. He has been fighting with everybody, myself, my lawyer, and my property manager stating that I can either sign an extension to our contract until the end of the year so he can continue to sell the house (which I can't afford to do) or go to small claims court. He also said I can make the whole thing go away if I pay him a counter offer. I have decided to get out of my contract with him and let it time-out (per my lawyers advice) and face him in small claims court.  

My questions, does he have a winnable case and should I contact the California Bureau of Real Estate for what appears to be unethical behavior? 

Thanks,

Joel