Former realtor legally “threatened” me at a bar. Should I be concerned?
December 9, 2018 9:06 AM   Subscribe

In mid-2017, a realtor helped me find an apartment, but it didn’t pan out. I’ve seen this person from time to time at bars and social events since then. I was recently approached to at a bar by this person, and was vaguely “threatened” of being taken to court. Recommendations on how to proceed?

2017 was a really crazy year for me. As you can see in my past Asks, I was still living at the old place where my landlord was raided. In spring 2017, I connected with a Deaf realtor specifically to get help finding an apartment to live in. This realtor helps deaf people find apartments in the local area; houses too, maybe.

I applied to an apartment complex through this person (took me to the apartment complex and helped walk me through the process). Ultimately, I decided I didn’t like the apartment complex and decided not to go through with it. I verbally said I decided I didn’t want to continue searching and would be back in touch, should I need services, because of (see below). I think this person took me to one or two locations in their car. This person was a bit disorganized in general. This happened between spring and early summer 2017, and the last point of professional contact happened in early summer 2017.

I decided to continue on a month to month lease at my old place in summer 2017, as my then-landlords were vague in when they would sell/close the place (for sure, in less than a year), and made the best out of it. In January of this year, I moved to a condo with a roommate (see past Asks). I then moved in late spring to my current apartment, where I live currently. I have been happy overall here, so far.

Between early summer 2017 to now, I did not contact the realtor professionally, nor did the realtor contact me to follow up other than one time via email (which is when I think I verbally responded I was not interested, but I could have maybe not… I can’t remember, unfortunately, but I do remember telling this person verbally that I would contact them if I wanted or needed a place). We communicated via email and via “videophone” (FaceTime).

I saw this person from time to time at bars/deaf events (between early summer 2017 to now) and we exchanged polite hellos, and even had a few short conversations. All good, all civil, we were practically friends. This person even added me on Snapchat. Not a word was said about the “case”.

Last night, I ran into this realtor at a bar. Completely out of the blue, this person began talking about our professional relationship in 2017, how this person had to use gas to take me to/from the apartment(s), how this person could have gotten a significant commission from where I currently live if I had applied to my apartment complex through them, and that based on our contract, this person could take me to court for that (I’m assuming the “lost income” from not getting commission for where I currently live, I dunno?).

This person said it in kind of a low-key, “just saying” tone, which is why I added quote marks to “threaten” in the title - the realtor said that most Deaf clients fall through and never get back, that this person loses money on Deaf clients, etc., but then the realtor said that it was okay and that it was “just saying” and “just letting me know” that taking people to court for those circumstances was possible. It was kind of framed as more of a “lesson/tough love” talk, not specifically saying that I’d be taken to court, but it was general and vague.

I explained that life got the best of me and that I was sorry things didn’t work out, but that I did appreciate the help, and also said I didn’t appreciate them bringing it up, especially as any talk of money/court triggers my anxiety. This person said they were just letting me know, that many people don’t like to talk about money, but vaguely said it was all good. We changed the subject, then before closing, this person added in one more commentary about how frustrating it was. I was very taken aback by this unexpected and unpleasant exchange, especially taking place in front of other friends at a public bar.

I left, feeling very anxious that this person would take me to court for real, and feeling very uncomfortable. In hindsight, I wish I didn’t say where I live now — this person asked me which apartment I lived at right before they plunged into the conversation with the "threat" at the bar, so I didn't see that coming, and thought that person was just merely curious. I didn't give the person the specific unit number, but did give the apartment complex name (more than 300 people live here though). However, this person could have easily figured my current living location out from past Snapchat stories, so maybe they knew already.

A few things:
-I do not have the contract itself (other than email confirmations saying I had signed the contract). I am not sure if I should ask for it/sign in the platform and locate it, or “let sleeping dogs lie.” If I log into the platform, they could see that I signed in and “use that against me.”
-This was over a year ago, so why bring this up now? Especially if we saw each other plenty of times in-between, and nothing was said at all.
-The time between signing the contract with them in spring 2017 and me signing my lease with my current apartment was a bit more than a year, just in case there was a 12-month "expiration" period for the commission thing on the contract.

I’m feeling anxious, however, that this conversation opened a can of worms. I’m not sure if I’m technically still under this person as representation, or what this person said about the contract is true, and I could end up being sued. Should I be concerned, or should I brush this off as a random bar rant/drunken tirade/this person bluffing? This person didn’t appear drunk to me, but you never know.

I do regret not cleanly wrapping this up in 2017 — I thought I had, verbally, but I guess things fell through the cracks. It was a really crazy year, and this year was as well, with all the transitions. I could have asked the realtor to help with the current apartment, but I was pressed for time due to the previous roommate situation and needed to do what was best for myself, and anyway, we had already fallen out of touch professionally for about a year at the time.

I’m just not sure what to do next. I’m going home soon for Christmas for a couple of weeks, and I don’t want to worry about getting served for court or being in contempt for not appearing if I do get served, because I would be out of town. This hurts, especially as I don’t make that much money and pay a lot of money for my current apartment home — I have made it work so far just fine, but this could easily be a huge financial blow to me (sued amount, if applicable, and legal/court fees). I genuinely feel I have done nothing wrong. I don't need this additional stress. Could I use my EAP provider (who I have been seeing for therapy) to maybe write a letter asking the court to consider that I’ve been through plenty of hardships and unclear verbal/written communications, just a happenstance (especially the lack of follow up on the realtor’s part for over a year) — if it comes down to that?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Any suggestions on how to proceed? And yes, I know you are not my lawyer, etc. Thanks!
posted by dubious_dude to Law & Government (41 answers total)
 
This person is 100% full of shit. Disengage and don't think about it again.
posted by clseace at 9:16 AM on December 9, 2018 [100 favorites]


You owe this person nothing and they have nothing they can legally hold over you. People flake on real estate agents all the time and it is just part of the cost of doing business. Pay this person no mind and avoid them in the future. In the vastly unlikely event that they serve you with an actual lawsuit, you would most likely go to court and get the case dismissed immediately.
posted by mskyle at 9:17 AM on December 9, 2018 [27 favorites]


They had your contact information. That you've seen them out and this only comes up almost two years later? Drunk talk.
posted by rhizome at 9:19 AM on December 9, 2018 [40 favorites]


I don’t think you have to do anything at the moment. My bet is he’s not going to do anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were just drunk and blathering. If he does wind up suing you (highly doubtful), then at that point you can get a lawyer who will look at the contract, your current lease, etc., and I doubt you’d owe much if anything even if it did come to that point. I think maybe just avoid him at events (especially those with alcohol) for a bit.
posted by kapers at 9:23 AM on December 9, 2018


Yeah, there is nothing legally actionable here. You're fine. Keep on keepin on.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 9:24 AM on December 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


I don’t think you have anything to worry about here.
posted by kat518 at 9:24 AM on December 9, 2018


I was just thinking about you! So glad things are going well! I'm guessing this person was either drunk or is having financial problems or both, and since you were there they started ruminating on how they might have had more money if only you'd come through for them or something. You owe them NOTHING! I'd block them on social media and avoid in person though, because they sound primed for drama.
posted by masquesoporfavor at 9:25 AM on December 9, 2018 [19 favorites]


IANYL I don’t think you should worry about this unless (and I think it’s probably really unlikely) he initiates a lawsuit against you or you receive a demand letter from an attorney. I would not hesitate to log in and download a copy of the contract.

Also, while I’m not sure of the specific rules in your state generally courts and legal proceedings don’t work that fast. Courts tend to close for all federal holidays, so if you were to be served most likely nothing is going to happen before the holidays.

In reality he was probably drunk or having a tough financial time and taking it out on you.
posted by SpaceWarp13 at 9:34 AM on December 9, 2018


This person is full of shit and you should ignore them, however I will add that you cannot be served if you are not there.* Regardless, you'll typically have at least 30 days after service to respond, including asking the court for a later or different date of trial. You wouldn't be held in contempt; if anything, the judge would get pissy at the person filing the lawsuit for not adequately serving you. So leave for Christmas with an unburdened spirit on that count; you can't be served when you're not there, so there won't be a trial date you can't attend. And regardless, if you don't show up at small claims court, you're not held in contempt, you just have a judgment entered against you (i.e., the plaintiff wins by default).

Finally, I think you're in DC? DC small claims court has mandatory mediation to attempt to settle the dispute before it's allowed to progress to trial.

I honestly find it absurd to think she'd go to all the trouble and expense of filing a lawsuit and hiring a process server and going through mediation and the whole nine yards.

*I mean you can, eventually, but it's a months-long process and since they know where you live and you're not hiding from them they would have any reason to do it that way.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:42 AM on December 9, 2018 [7 favorites]


They sound bitter about their work life in general - it really can be dispiriting to be reliant on clients and on clients' personal tastes and on luck. I empathize with them, though I think they were completely wrong to take their frustrations out on you. (If it bothers them so much, they need to stress their understanding of a client's obligations both before the contract is signed and throughout the process. Which would probably lose them some business - but that's the tradeoff.)

Also it sounds like this person does a lot of work with the Deaf community, and aside from the general stresses and costs involved with suing someone, taking that kind of aggressive step could probably do them a lot of harm in a small, tightly-knit community, especially since it's not like you actively screwed them over. (You could just as easily have been one of those clients who ask to be shown dozens of different places and ultimately decide to move out of town. That is a risk every agent takes and it can wear you down, but it's part of doing business.)

If you're really worried, you can probably do a records search and see what lawsuits that agent has been involved in. If they're not actively suing people left and right, I really doubt they'd start with you.

Overall, you've got someone who's feeling the frustrations of a career that relies on whims, goodwill, and thoughtfulness on the clients' part regarding how an agent makes their living. I think what you experienced was an alcohol-fueled, ham-handed attempt to educate you (as a stand-in for the general public) on the last part.
posted by trig at 10:12 AM on December 9, 2018 [3 favorites]


She has no basis to take any legal action against you but you’d be doing yourself a favor to never speak to her again, she sounds manipulative.
posted by STFUDonnie at 10:14 AM on December 9, 2018 [4 favorites]


Yes, drunk talk and probably short on money for the holidays. Pay-no-never-mind, as my grandma used to say.
posted by crw at 10:22 AM on December 9, 2018 [2 favorites]


Even for buy|sell real estate contracts, the standard time period for which they could claim that you owe them a commission is 3, maaaybe 6, months. But that's assuming an exclusive contract, which I doubt you had, that's very uncommon for rental transactions with much less money involved. You're in the clear.

Rental realtors don't tend to earn a living that way, it's not a life career. That person sounds like they're just coming around to realizing that, that there's very little in it for them, no matter how hard they try to bleed the stone, even with the most heavy handed tactics that aren't really theirs to use (like exclusive contracts).

One thing that isn't clear in your story: is it possible that the realtor thinks you got the new condo immediately after terminating with him? Do they know it was a year? If you only added them to your Snapchat recently, they could be mistaken on how long you've been in the condo.

Also glad to hear you're in a good place, long removed from that group situation.
posted by Dashy at 10:25 AM on December 9, 2018 [3 favorites]


Honestly? It sounds like she was looking for a bit of sympathy and understanding, correctly or not, and your anxiety made it mean more. She never showed you the place you rented, she never followed up, etc. Another thought is she may just have needed to air this out so your acquaintanceship could continue without that over her head. I would look at this from a human standpoint first. I think you are just fine.
posted by MountainDaisy at 10:48 AM on December 9, 2018 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: Thanks for your responses, everyone! Based on the responses, it seems like I have nothing to worry about and this was either a drunken tirade, or alcohol-fueled attempt to "educate" me, which came across badly. My friend, unprompted, did say she observed the person acting weirdly/erratically last night as well.

It's not that I don't sympathize - I can believe it must be hard in the RE market! However, the realtor had my contact information and did not follow up for over a year, and had plenty of opportunities to approach me at past events, which is why I was thinking, why now? And why so unprofessionally, especially at a bar? My friend also mentioned to me that the realtor had shared, on their personal Facebook page, frustrations about another tenant and asking for opinions. My friend also said that the realtor could have broken the code of ethics by bringing up "our situation" in a public space, especially in front of people.

Question: Would it be worthwhile to sign into the platform and download/look at the contract for peace of mind? I don't want to "wake up the sleeping dog", because I don't know if the realtor can see if I've signed into the platform or not, or get alerts, and that may "wake them up", if that makes any sense. I really wish I had the hindsight to download the contract and save it last year. Again, life really got the best of me then.

And, to answer Dashy's question, possibly the realtor did not know the timeframe and thought I had moved in my current apartment complex right after the fact, when in actuality, it was over a year after then. That is a possibility. I did not articulate with the realtor last night that I had recently moved into my apartment complex -- I should have, but I was caught off guard.
posted by dubious_dude at 11:22 AM on December 9, 2018


IANAL but I have signed many a contract—I would definitely sign into the platform and download the contract. If you really are in breach—which I seriously doubt you are—it's much better for you to know, and if they were going to sue, they would already be doing it—not waiting for you to download the contract to pounce. If you aren't in breach, they got nothin'. And either way, as people have said, since they specifically said "just so you know!!!" kinds of things, I highly doubt they have decided to sue you and are lurking looking for you to put a foot wrong.

Dashy's suggestion seems very likely to me. Probably they are in a bad spot, heard about you moving, jumped to conclusions that they'd been screwed, and unloaded feelings, which your anxiety made a meal of.
posted by branca at 11:37 AM on December 9, 2018 [3 favorites]


This is not a serious legal threat, this is someone being a jerk. You should put it out of your mind as best you can. Even assuming you had a contract that said you would exclusively use this broker to find an apartment for more than a year (which seems extremely unlikely), the standard broker "commission" on a rental is not more than a couple of thousand of dollars (if even that much). There is no way they are going to file a lawsuit for that amount of money, even assuming there is some basis to sue you (which I really doubt). (Where I live the standard rental commission is one month of rent.)
posted by Mid at 12:06 PM on December 9, 2018


which is why I was thinking, why now? And why so unprofessionally, especially at a bar?

Because they were drunk and aggro. It really isn't personal about you. I don't know ASL, but there is a universal gesture that can be applied to situations like this in the future. Also include me in on everyone else that is happy you're in a better situation.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 12:33 PM on December 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


You're a young person and it sounds like the tone of this conversation was more the agent educating you that cutting him out of the commission on your current place was professionally discourteous. It doesn't sound like he truly cares to pursue this instance legally, but he's letting you know that you shouldn't do this again in the future, because some agents might take the trouble to pursue the legal option (if it does in fact contractually exist).

He is also letting you know that he is unlikely to work with you again, at least in the near future. You can correct this professional faux pas by sending him referrals, and in future contracts by being up front regarding the expectations on what you and will not pay him for.

Or not, there's nothing that says you need to work with him again.
posted by vignettist at 12:54 PM on December 9, 2018 [4 favorites]


There is near zero chance any contract you signed lasted longer than 3 months and/or prevented you from finding your own listing independent of the agent. The contract exists to stop you from seeing a place with the agent, then doubling back to the property to rent it without paying a finder’s fee (commission.)

The license violation is not talking about your professional dealings in public (your friend is incorrect!) The violation is using a concluded contractual agreement to shake you down for money! That is VERY against the behavior stipulated by their licensing agreement. This person knows the law and also knows that your contract expired ages ago! Maybe they are misinformed about how/when you found your condo and signed the lease? That still doesn’t explain why they think you owe them money on a unit they did not show you? Nah. This person took an exam and knows better. Shame on them.

vignettist is wrong since your professional relationship expired months and months ago, this wasn’t someone giving you a deserved “heads up” because there’s nothing about what you were told at the bar that comports with re licensing regulations.
posted by jbenben at 1:20 PM on December 9, 2018 [3 favorites]


Here's the thing: Realtors get salty if they think you've cheated them out of a commission, because that's the only way they get paid for the time they spent with you and the work they did to find places for you to look at. I DO NOT think this person has any intention of suing you, and I fully understand why this all shook out on your end the way it did. But it's also understandable to me why this realtor is peevish that s/he "introduced you" to this place and you ended up (in her mind!) going behind her back to sort it out yourself rather than let her do it and make some money. HOWEVER: You and this person have been out of contact so long that her getting aggressive with you at the bar about it is very out of line (it would be out of line regardless, but especially after this much time -- it's not like you went back to the apartment by yourself two hours after leaving her company and cut your own deal), and it's WAAAAAAY more about whatever is happening with her than you.

I would just forget about it -- she's not going to sue you. I think vignettist has it very correct about how you should proceed in general, going forward. I'm so so glad you are in a better place now!!
posted by Countess Sandwich at 1:21 PM on December 9, 2018


IANAL As far as I know, wanting to hold someone accountable for a legal obligation is legal.
I can't see that you have any online to this person.
You had no contact, the realtor did not find you a place to live. Spending gas $ to try to make a deal is part of the overhead of that business.
Realtor sounds like kind of an entitled asshole, emboldened by alcohol.
I would consider water under the bridge and carry on living your life. Sounds like you're doing well, so yay.
posted by theora55 at 1:26 PM on December 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


But it's also understandable to me why this realtor is peevish that s/he "introduced you" to this place and you ended up (in her mind!) going behind her back to sort it out yourself...”

From what I read, the OP is not in an apartment or complex the realtor showed them.

OP, can you confirm?
posted by jbenben at 1:27 PM on December 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Not trying to threadsit here, just wanted to clarify on this specific part:

But it's also understandable to me why this realtor is peevish that s/he "introduced you" to this place and you ended up (in her mind!) going behind her back to sort it out yourself rather than let her do it and make some money.

The realtor did not show me my current apartment at all. This was completely separate and done on my own. Quick recap: Spring/early summer 2017, the realtor showed me one or two (can't remember) apartments. I applied for one through/with them, changed my mind, stayed at my old group home, communicated verbally that I would contact the realtor if I needed more help finding a new place. Stopped contact. Moved in January 2018 to another home (found via Craigslist) on my own, wasn't happy, applied for and moved to my current apartment in late spring 2018. During that time, zero professional interactions were done with the realtor. The last time the professional interaction happened was early summer 2017, when I was still living at my original group home.
posted by dubious_dude at 1:30 PM on December 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


> communicated verbally that I would contact the realtor if I needed more help finding a new place

Yeah, that's nothing. We've all done that to get out of situations. "I'll be sure to let you know! Thanks! Bye!" Don't worry about it. I wouldn't download the contract.

People who work on commission and are sensible presume they won't make every sale and budget accordingly.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:38 PM on December 9, 2018


vignettist: "it sounds like the tone of this conversation was more the agent educating you that cutting him out of the commission on your current place was professionally discourteous."

This is craziness. You found your current apartment on your own a full year after you last spoke to this person professionally. You don't owe squat in terms of professional courtesy. When a realtor shows you a couple places, you're not promising to give them a cut on every apartment you rent for the rest of your life.
posted by crazy with stars at 2:16 PM on December 9, 2018 [11 favorites]


Jesus. You'd think this person had granted a stay of execution instead of precisely nothing. You didn't tell this guy to become an estate agent, so how is it that he thinks he has the right to unload on you about something that *didn't work out* 2 flipping years ago? He knew what he got into when he chose that career.

You owe this entitled jerk sweet FA. And you could have told him to go pound sand, he deserved it.
posted by northtwilight at 2:34 PM on December 9, 2018 [4 favorites]


Everyone's right; this bozo is full of shit. No court in the land is going to consider those professional expenses by the realtor to be a debt incurred by the client.

However, this appendix to that advice always applies: if you get served, you must respond. I think it's incredibly unlikely, but you don't have to have a great case to take something like this to court; only a bad lawyer.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:36 PM on December 9, 2018


Sorry this interaction happened. I'd have been stressed too. I really think you have nothing to worry about, and I am so glad to see that you're in a new place.
posted by sockermom at 2:47 PM on December 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Update: It appears that I signed up for a contract here: https://nvar.com/docs/default-source/pdfs/k1282exclusiverighttorepresenttenantedu.pdf?sfvrsn=c482dd0d_2 - however, trying to recover the document from DotLoop isn't working, as it does not remember my email/password and fails to recover. However, this is an idea of what I signed.
posted by dubious_dude at 6:18 PM on December 9, 2018


Oh wow that contract. Apparently Northern Virginia realtors are scummy enough to want a cut on every apartment you rent for the rest of your life (scummier than NY realtors even). This is the key sentence:

Tenant shall pay compensation in the amount of ______________________ (“Broker’s Fee”) to Broker if Tenant enters into a lease for real property during the term of this Agreement and any time thereafter.

I read that sentence as saying that the broker gets their fee if you sign a lease during the agreement -- but also if you sign a lease *any time* after that agreement, with no time limit or indeed not even a limit on the number of times they might earn this fee.

I dunno. I am not a lawyer, but I can't imagine a judge would actually enforce this unreasonably broad contract. That said, it sounds like the realtor has a case -- unreasonable and frankly unethical as it might be.
posted by crazy with stars at 9:27 PM on December 9, 2018


Even if the contact does claim to bind you to the broker for life, you still shouldn't worry about it. Chalk it up to a bad day on their part, remember they'd have to be self-destructive fools to start suing their many "unfaithful" clients, and relax. Either shun them or pretend like it never happened when you run into them again.

That said, if you don't have one consider setting up a savings account for rainy-day emergencies, to reduce stress in the future whenever unexpected expenses threaten to arise. It'll happen every so often, inevitably.
posted by trig at 11:41 PM on December 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


Honestly, this is the issue with a bunch of people on the Internet who have never seen the contract weighing in on your legal liability. But as another ignorant non lawyer, it looks to me like you're probably in the clear if you rented the new place after the date in Section 4 plus the waiting period in Section 8B1. If you rented it before, then you might arguably have some legal liability for the commission or early termination fee. (I suppose they could say you owe the early termination fee either way, but I take it that didn't come up.) But it didn't sound like the person was truly intending to sue you.
posted by salvia at 1:33 AM on December 10, 2018


There isn't any way that a judge would enforce a reading of the contract that says you owe a commission for the rest of your life. 8.b.1 is inconsistent with the idea that a commission will be owed forever without regard to the term of the contract - a judge would read that provision to mean that the right to a commission is limited in time by paragraph 4 and 8.b.1.

This is not realistic legal threat and you shouldn't worry about it. Even assuming that the broker could make some kind of claim in the abstract, filing a lawsuit is a business decision that requires a person to assess what they are likely to gain versus what they are likely to spend/lose. I strongly suspect that whatever the broker fee was, it is not enough money for anyone to hire a lawyer and chase - especially with the negative publicity/reputational effects that would come from suing one's former client. You say that this person is known for helping deaf people find apartments - how would it look in the deaf community if this person ran around suing his deaf former clients? Not a great move, and not worth whatever he might hope to get from "winning" the lawsuit, I am sure.
posted by Mid at 7:14 AM on December 10, 2018 [2 favorites]


The realtor did not show me my current apartment at all. This was completely separate and done on my own

Oh, then yeah. They're being (extra) crazy. Sorry for the misread!
posted by Countess Sandwich at 11:41 AM on December 10, 2018


Response by poster: Hi again,

The update I provided last night, I realized, was kind of in error. That was for NoVA, where I do not reside. The right one can be seen here, for DC and MD. It was found by doing a quick Google search, and I think it's an example even though it has a name listed. I think I remember signing this one. Can anyone help to see if it seems less restrictive than the NoVA version I shared last night?

As for accessing the signed contract, I contacted DotLoop. Unfortunately, it seems I have to create an user account with the same email address as the contract was sent to, then I would be able to access it. I was told the realtor could see in their activity log that I viewed the contract. My fear is that s/he will see it, remember the conversation on Saturday night, and use the fact that I viewed the contract against me, by saying I "knew better", and sue from there? It's kind of back to the fear of "waking up the sleeping dog." For all I know, the realtor was blind drunk and do not even remember the conversation, so I don't want to do anything that would "nudge" the case, if that makes sense. Thoughts?
posted by dubious_dude at 12:26 PM on December 10, 2018


The great thing about the legal process is you don't actually have to think about it until something arrives on notarized paper or by process service. Bar chats, phone calls, emails...none of that carries any weight legally. IANAL.
posted by rhizome at 2:17 PM on December 10, 2018 [1 favorite]


That document says that the contract expires 30 days after it was signed (default language), and a commission is only due if a lease is presented during that time period or if, within 30 days (handwritten language) after that, you sign up for a place "described to or shown to the Tenant by the Broker during the term of this Agreement." And the amount is only 75 percent of one month's rent (handwritten language). We don't know how the handwritten sections differ between this contract and yours, or if the default language is even the same, but that's my quick read of this document.
posted by salvia at 8:24 PM on December 10, 2018 [3 favorites]


I think Salvia has it.
posted by jbenben at 8:36 PM on December 10, 2018


Yeah I agree with Salvia. That new contract is much more reasonable, and if you signed something like that you have nothing to fear.
posted by crazy with stars at 2:05 AM on December 11, 2018


Response by poster: Update: I extracted my contract. 60 days, $0 fee/0% of any new lease agreement. No broker fee. Expired way before I even moved from my group home. It was almost the same contract as I shared, the better one from Google, not the first, scummy one from NoVA. Seems like I'm definitely in the clear! Lesson: save all contracts, regardless.
posted by dubious_dude at 7:21 PM on December 17, 2018 [2 favorites]


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