Is it unethical practice?

[Fay Feng]

Hello BP! This story was from my previous failed transaction. A potential short sale.

10.27.18 - offer accepted

11.20.18 - the day of scheduled closing, me and my agent was notified by seller’s agent few hours before closing time that seller could not come up with $1000 closing cost, asking if I could make further concession. I felt not being respected and being taken advantage of so I refused, and would like to sign the mutual release to get out of the contract.

11.24.18 - before I get my earnest money back and the signed mutual release, the seller’s agent put the house back on the market!

11.27.18 - still no response on earnest money and fully signed mutual release, the listing still live. My agent called the seller’s agent requesting him to pull the listing off, seller agent agreed but never did match his action with his own words.

12.03.18 - after I sent a serious demanding letter on 11.30.18 to seller’s agent, they finally signed the mutual release and returned my earnest money. On the EXACT same day, the house went to pending status.

My question is: is it a violation of any regulations/laws that the seller’s agent put the house back on market and actively sell it while it was still technically under contract with me?

I have filed a consumer complaint against the seller’s agent but the state investigator advised me to talk to a private attorney. I am in Indiana and the seller’s agent is the managing broker of his firm.

While I do not want to waste any time and energy dealing with this type of seller’s agent who had difficulties keeping his own words, but I also want to know if this is a common practice? So that I can set my expectations for my future interactions with other real estate professionals.

Thank you for your thoughts!

[Seth Ferguson]

Hi @Fay Feng,

It sounds like a lot of time is going into dealing with this when you didn't want the house. It might sound blunt, but you elected not to close, which was your prerogative. Why waste your time and energy?

I've learned that it's best to focus on the next deal and not to bogged down.