"trader_4" wrote in message
...
On Friday, August 29, 2014 9:02:16 AM UTC-4, Pico Rico wrote:



I agree that if you agreed to the deal, received the givt certificates,
then didn't use one of their referal brokers, then the company has a
legitimate claim against you. But it's not for some astronomical
amount. What their damages would be is whatever referal fee they would
have gotten from one of the realtors for the referral. No reason to
believe that's much.

I bet they are writing their contract so they get the commission, and then
they will share it. So, arguably, their damages are 6% of the sales price.
I am not sure that would hold up, given that they need to share the
commission, but that must be the approach they are taking. Maybe they are
adding a percent or two on the top, or maybe they will take a percent from
the real brokers. That could be a few thou per house.


The biggest flaws I see in all this a

1 - No mention of what exactly the gift certificates are. That no
clear examples are even given is a red flag. They could turn out to
be something with little value to you. Also those certificates are not
handed out upfront, apparently you get some each year for four or five
years.

yep. Who needs a white elephant?


2 - You don't know what realty firms they would have participating say
5 years from, when you do want to sell your house. If I knew that a
couple of the respected local firms would be the choice, then I would
consider the deal. That you don't know what the situation will be years
down the road is a big problem.

yep. or what commissions might be with or without this "arrangement".



nop, the "scamming company" would come after you.


I agree it's actually the company that would have the case, for their
referal fee. I doubt they are going to come after you in court, when
they don't even have a presence in your state. And if they did, they
don't have some $10K lawsuit, it's probably not worth pursuing.

if they get big and turn into a paper mill, they could persue smaller cases
efficiently. And maybe they will gum up the works on the sale of a house so
it will be settled through escrow "willingly" by the seller.