ask george & chuck
March 10, 2008

Lease details, referring brokers
Answers to real estate questions as appearing
in the Houston Chronicle

Dear George: I own a home that I'm going to lease for two years before I sell it. However, I'd like to reserve the right to terminate the lease early if I decide to sell the home sooner. My REALTOR® stated that she cannot alter the Residential Lease contract with a provision that gives me, the landlord, such an option. Is this true?

Answer: Your REALTOR® is correct in that she isn't allowed to change the wording in the preprinted portions of the lease. However, you can make whatever changes you wish to the wording in the preprinted portion of the lease. Additionally, Paragraph 26 of the lease is a blank area provided for you to insert other business details.

A better option might be to limit the original term of the lease to one year. Section 4 contains automatic-renewal and notice-of-termination language that could very nicely accomplish what you desire. It should have been explained to you by your REALTOR® that you can sell the property at any time, subject to the terms of the lease agreement. In other words, a person willing to purchase your home with a paying tenant already in it can purchase it. Remember, however, that there is also the tenant to consider. He may not wish to move into a property only to find out a few months down the road that the landlord has fallen on bad times and has decided to sell.

Dear George: My husband and I contracted with a real estate firm for six months to sell our house. During this six-month period, our daughter contracted with a builder and listed our real estate firm as the referring real estate brokerage as a courtesy. Actually, this real estate firm wasn't involved in her search for a builder or her subsequent negotiations. Our house never sold, and our daughter needs the funds from our sale to close on her home, which is almost complete.

Our daughter's builder recommended a REALTOR® who may purchase our home if our former REALTOR® withdraws her name from the builder's contract. The owner of our former real estate firm who is listed as the referring brokerage refuses to withdraw her name from the builder's contract. Neither the owner nor any agents of her real estate firm earned any referral fee. What recourse do we have?

Answer: Contracts mean something. When a your daughter lists your REALTOR® as the "referring REALTOR®" on her new home, the builder can only be released from paying the referral fee by the broker of the REALTOR®'s firm. The builder has no say in the matter. The person who makes the referral, your daughter in this case, cannot withdraw her referral. The entity listed as the referring REALTOR® is not required to do anything, meet anyone, or perform any services other than to refer the person who is the buyer to the builder.