Numerous court decisions offer guidance as to whether or not an agent is – where there are competing commission claims – an effective cause of any particular sale.
Although merely introducing a buyer to the property is not enough by itself to make out a commission claim, at the very least if an agent introduces a buyer but the owner sells to a different buyer shortly after the end of an exclusive agency period at the same price and on the same terms, the first agent has a good commission claim.
It is possible that two different agencies can be an effective cause of sale, one through the introduction of the buyer and one through the closing. Click here to consider this example.
Click here to see an example of an owner being required to pay an introducing agent commission where the sale occurs through another agency after the expiration of the first agent’s appointment.
Many factors must be considered to determine whether or not an agent who had made earlier offers of a property on behalf of the same buyer, can be considered an effective cause of the sale, as can be seen in this example.