(Ontario)
Question:
You obtain a listing, show the property to a buyer customer and obtain an offer from the customer. The offer states the deposit will be submitted “upon acceptance” of the offer. Before you can meet with the sellers and present the offer, the buyer calls you and informs you he has changed his mind and does not want you to present the offer.
Which of the following statements best explains how you will deal with this situation?
a. You don’t present the offer and you don’t keep a copy of it because it was never really a valid offer.
b. You tell the buyer that you must present the offer and inform the sellers of what has taken place
c. You don’t present the offer but you keep a copy of it for the brokerage records
d. You return to the buyers and if you cannot convince them to submit the offer, you simply give it back to them.
Answer:
This is not a very good question. I believe the 2 marks goes with #b. This is because the Seller is a Client and the Buyer is a Customer. The delivery to the “agent” is deemed to be delivery to the Seller. The Customer cannot “call back” the Offer.
However, that analysis is not really correct from a legal perspective. The Customer never had any explanation that that would be the case. No conversation around that issue ever took place. The document was to be taken and presented to the Seller for the Seller’s consideration. That presentation might be several hours later. In the meantime, the Customer might change their mind and wish to withdraw. At, this point, the answer to a Buyer Client would have been “yes” but the Answer to a Buyer Customer would have been “no”.
I think you sense that the second answer is somewhat absurd.
Brian Madigan LL.B., Broker