This post was fact checked by Lisa Rogers, Principal Attorney and Partner at ARK Attorneys.
While most real estate transactions go well, sometimes clients may not be happy no matter what you do. Your clients may blame you even if you did nothing wrong, because that is just how some people are. And good news, negligence lawsuits in real estate are more common than you think, so if you are being sued, don’t panic.
Mistakes can happen while you are trying to balance multiple listings and contracts, open houses, and dealing with many clients who each have different needs. This is where negligence can come in.
Negligence is considered a type of real estate malpractice and is different from fraud because there is no intent in doing wrong. Even if a real agent acts in good faith, failure to act, carelessness, taking the wrong action, or just an error in judgment can cause a negligence lawsuit.
The most common reasons for a negligence claim to be filed against a real estate agent include:
In order to go forward with a negligence claim, these four elements must be proven:
Once proven, the court can award compensatory damages, require the agent to cancel the contract they breached, and award other damages like emotional distress.
Negligence claims can have a big impact on a real estate agent, so if you’d like to lower your chances of finding yourself in that boat, be proactive!
Always:
Real estate agents get sued for negligence on a regular basis. It is part of being a real estate professional. By communicating with your clients and having a record of every interaction you can help reduce your chances of a negligence lawsuit happening. And many times you can find a way to settle out of court reducing the negative impact a full lawsuit can have on your business.
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