- Jurisdiction
- Illinois
2 yrs back a real estate agent's company and us executed a rental listing agreement which has the following clause :
Term: The term of this Agreement ("Term") shall commence on the Effective Date and shall terminate upon the earlier of: (i) the execution of a lease for
the Property (the "Property Lease"); (ii) the Closing (as defined below) of a Property Sale (as defined below); or (iii) one (1) year from the Effective Date. If
the Effective Date is inadvertently left blank, the Effective Date shall be the date upon which the Agreement is fully executed and delivered. Upon expiration
or termination, all obligations of both parties shall cease except as otherwise set forth herein; provided, however, such termination shall not affect Owner's
obligation to pay (or cause xyz-real-estate-company to be paid) any and all Leasing Commissions (as defined below) or Property Sale Commissions (as defined below),
along with all other amounts due xyz-real-estate-company hereunder.
Purchase Of Property By Tenant: If both the Approved Tenant and Owner execute a real estate purchase contract (the "Purchase Contract") for sale of
the Property and complete the Closing (as defined herein) (a "Property Sale"), Owner agrees to pay xyz-real-estate-company, or cause to be paid to xyz-real-estate-company, a
commission equal to six percent (6%) of the Purchase Price of the Property ("Property Sale Commission") as set forth in the Purchase Contract. Payment to
xyz-real-estate-company of the Property Sale Commission shall be made by the escrow or closing broker, and payment shall be made simultaneously with the
disbursement of proceeds of sale and payoff of any mortgage indebtedness on the Property. As used herein, the term "Closing" shall mean the time at which
the proceeds of Property Sale are disbursed to or at the direction of Owner or Owner's lender and a deed is delivered to the Approved Tenant.
We asked the real estate agent about the above clause and the response was "this is a company policy and we cannot do anything about it".
The real estate agent found a tenant for us and we paid all the service fees for the service they provided back then.
We executed a 2yrs rental listing agreement with the tenant 2 yrs back.
Towards the end of the tenancy, the tenant expressed interest in buying the property.
We approached the real-estate-company and told them that we are not interested in any service from your side, but for the above said clause we would like to see if the 6% can be negotiated, we called and the company person would never answer our call. We emailed and he didn't negotiate a lot.
We spoke to a real estate attorney after this and he said, the listing agreement term is over long back and the obligation to pay the commission was not triggered during the term of the agreement. So you do not owe the company anything.
We took his legal advice and sold our property to the tenant.
Now, the real-estate company sent us a 'Debt Collection' notice and has given us few days to respond otherwise a lawsuit seeking not only the 6% but attorneys' fees and costs.
We approached the lawyer who advised us that time and he said he cannot commit to accepting our case.Any guidance on how to find a lawyer?
My question -
1. any guidance on the overall case to help us is appreciated.
2. they said "lawsuit seeking not only the 6% but attorneys' fees and costs" - what does the costs mean here?
Term: The term of this Agreement ("Term") shall commence on the Effective Date and shall terminate upon the earlier of: (i) the execution of a lease for
the Property (the "Property Lease"); (ii) the Closing (as defined below) of a Property Sale (as defined below); or (iii) one (1) year from the Effective Date. If
the Effective Date is inadvertently left blank, the Effective Date shall be the date upon which the Agreement is fully executed and delivered. Upon expiration
or termination, all obligations of both parties shall cease except as otherwise set forth herein; provided, however, such termination shall not affect Owner's
obligation to pay (or cause xyz-real-estate-company to be paid) any and all Leasing Commissions (as defined below) or Property Sale Commissions (as defined below),
along with all other amounts due xyz-real-estate-company hereunder.
Purchase Of Property By Tenant: If both the Approved Tenant and Owner execute a real estate purchase contract (the "Purchase Contract") for sale of
the Property and complete the Closing (as defined herein) (a "Property Sale"), Owner agrees to pay xyz-real-estate-company, or cause to be paid to xyz-real-estate-company, a
commission equal to six percent (6%) of the Purchase Price of the Property ("Property Sale Commission") as set forth in the Purchase Contract. Payment to
xyz-real-estate-company of the Property Sale Commission shall be made by the escrow or closing broker, and payment shall be made simultaneously with the
disbursement of proceeds of sale and payoff of any mortgage indebtedness on the Property. As used herein, the term "Closing" shall mean the time at which
the proceeds of Property Sale are disbursed to or at the direction of Owner or Owner's lender and a deed is delivered to the Approved Tenant.
We asked the real estate agent about the above clause and the response was "this is a company policy and we cannot do anything about it".
The real estate agent found a tenant for us and we paid all the service fees for the service they provided back then.
We executed a 2yrs rental listing agreement with the tenant 2 yrs back.
Towards the end of the tenancy, the tenant expressed interest in buying the property.
We approached the real-estate-company and told them that we are not interested in any service from your side, but for the above said clause we would like to see if the 6% can be negotiated, we called and the company person would never answer our call. We emailed and he didn't negotiate a lot.
We spoke to a real estate attorney after this and he said, the listing agreement term is over long back and the obligation to pay the commission was not triggered during the term of the agreement. So you do not owe the company anything.
We took his legal advice and sold our property to the tenant.
Now, the real-estate company sent us a 'Debt Collection' notice and has given us few days to respond otherwise a lawsuit seeking not only the 6% but attorneys' fees and costs.
We approached the lawyer who advised us that time and he said he cannot commit to accepting our case.Any guidance on how to find a lawyer?
My question -
1. any guidance on the overall case to help us is appreciated.
2. they said "lawsuit seeking not only the 6% but attorneys' fees and costs" - what does the costs mean here?
