Laws in Michigan

[gjmdeputy]

My wife and I are trying to buy 1 acre of land in Michigan. After several calls to the agent she finally called back with the property info. My wife's friend is an agent so she said she would help us on the side. We submitted two different offers which were both declined but it took over two weeks to respond to the written offers that were submitted. After that I didn't want to deal with the agent anymore so I called the township to find out who owns the property and contacted the owner myself. We agreed on a price and he was willing to close the deal. The agent then called us and basically said that we couldn't close without our agent knowing otherwise she would be sued for lost commissions if the real estate company found out. We are legally bound even though we didn't sign a contract with her. She also said we would have to wait 180 days to be free and clear without legal penalties.

I think she is lying to us and to her seller in order to keep the property on th emarket and get her commission.
If anyone could help clarify the laws on this transaction, I would greatly appreciate any help.

Thanks

[elklaw]

Well it sounds like the agent is claiming that there is an oral contract or agreement, and given that the agent did do work on the deal, there is a case to be made in court that the agent had been retained since work was done and there was no formal termination. IF you terminated the agent orally or in writing, that is a case that you can make also. Otherwise, the agent is going to claim something like quantum meruit, that thte agent provided a service of value to you that requires payment regardless of a contract being in place. So this one is a toss up. I suggest that you speak with a Michigan real estate attorney or attorney local to the area that the purchase is to occur in to get a better sense of how things might go in that local court.