Property under contract pending a sale with someone else?

[Anthony Nieves]

This homeowner decides he wants to back out of a contract after we invested our time and efforts into coaching him how to get rid of his  bad drug using and drug dealing tenants which we had permission to record cleaning out the home, offering to help him sell his belongings on Facebook getting rid of pests and beginning our re-hab. We have filed a memorandum, we have not signed a release for the contract, and yet it is now showing pending on Zillow in a sale. Is this even possible and would the realtor in charge be aware of whats going on? Would the realtor be responsible as well having to have done her own due dilligence? We are seeking a civil lawsuit for specific performance. Any sage advice from the BP investors/lawyers would be greatly appreciated. Thank you 

[Wayne Brooks]

The agent has no liability here....the owner engaged them to sell the property. Would I have caught your memorandum, yes. That’s because I, unlike most, do my own prelim title search since I dealt with a lot of shirt sales and bought foreclosure  auction properties. 

The owner is of course the one with the liability. While you are legally correct, attitudes in the court system, and the particular judge, will determine what happens. The difference between your contract price and their market contract price will likely be a factor in the judge’s mind. They tend to protect owners if it appears they have been taken advantage of....it is not pure legal black and white.