Breaking a Contract With Your Agent

• 1). Speak to the agent. In most cases your concerns can be overcome and addressed successfully, as they are a result of simple miscommunication.
  
  Since selling a home can be a very stressful experience for any home seller, small problems can feel like larger problems than what they actually are.
  
  If you find, however, that the real estate agent has disclosed facts about your property to a potential buyer, such as telling the prospect that you will take less than the listing price, she has violated the listing contract (a violation of fiduciary capacity) and should be fired on the spot, since she is not representing your best interest.
  
  
• 2). Read the listing agreement carefully before you make a decision to break a contract for any other reason than violation of fiduciary capacity.
  
  One area to specifically evaluate is whether or not the agent is going to charge transaction fees or other expenses. These are items you are agreeing to pay for whether you break the contract or not.
  
  Another area of the contract to evaluate is the protection period for the agent you are intending to fire. Most listing agreements are written in such a way that if a buyer saw the property during the time that the fired agent's contract was active, and that buyer purchases the property, you will pay three sets of commissions--one to the agent you fired, one to the new agent you have hired and one to the agent representing the buyer.
  
  
• 3). Contact the owner of the brokerage after you have made a decision to fire your real estate agent. Provide the broker a list of reasons you wish to terminate the contract, and site any specifics where the agent has violated the agreement. Make certain you can prove any accusations where there is an implication of something illegal or in something that is in direct violation of the agreement.
  
  The broker will then send a statement to the seller for what they owe the brokerage that they have fired, and a time frame in which it is to be paid. If, however, the agent violated the contract the broker will let you out of the contract with no cost to you as the seller. At that point the terms for transaction fees or commissions will be voided.