Some concepts to remember about buyer representation agreements and procuring cause.

• Buyer Representation Agreements and entitlement to compensation through MLS are two separate issues.
• To be entitled to the compensation offered through MLS, the selling broker must be the procuring cause of the sale.
• Procuring cause is defined as the broker who started the uninterrupted chain of events that lead to the closing.
• When a buyer who signed a buyer’s rep agreement ditches that Broker and buys from another Broker during the term of the agreement, it generally means the buyer didn’t understand the agreement he signed.
• By license law, a buyer can be released from a buyer representation agreement with at 14 days written notice to the Broker.
• If a buyer signed a representation agreement with one Broker but purchased a property from another Broker, the dispute is between the parties to the agreement and not with the Broker who took the buyer to closing.
• A buyer who signs a buyer representation agreement should never have to say, “I didn’t know what I was signing. He just sent that form to me with a bunch of other forms to sign.”