Expired listing contract, will the vendor the REA?

Negotiations on a property that I was after have unfortunately finally broken down and both parties have walked away as we just couldn't reach a common ground.
It seems that the listing has been pulled on realestate.com.au and it had been on there for a while, so I'm assuming that the listing contract has come to an end (or at least is close to it).

Does the vendor still have to pay the REA if I buy it after the contract has expired? Otherwise I could go back and ask the vendor directly if he wants to sell it under my conditions as he wouldn't have to fork out a few grand to the REA.

According to the selling agency agreement, since you as a potential buyer of the property were "introduced" to the property during the agency period, then the agent is still entitled to his commission. Note I said that this is according to the agency contract as signed by the vendor and the agent.

However, more recent court cases, indicate that to claim commission the agent must be "the effective cause" of a sale..... and quite clearly in this case the agent has not been able to effect a sale.

So it will depend on the vendor's attitude to defend a commission claim in court, if it comes to that.

Thanks Propertunity, that's very interesting.
You wouldn't by any chance know where I could start looking for those rulings, would you?
It might certainly be worth contacting the vendor in a week or two and see if he's interested.

You would start by asking the vendor what his contract says in regards to compensation for the agent.

spludgey said:

Thanks Propertunity, that's very interesting.
You wouldn't by any chance know where I could start looking for those rulings, would you?
It might certainly be worth contacting the vendor in a week or two and see if he's interested.

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Another way to further protect the vendor from a potential claim is to have them sign a new exclusive authority with another agent that does not charge a commission. If you want my assistance here happy to oblige.

spludgey said:

Thanks Propertunity, that's very interesting.
You wouldn't by any chance know where I could start looking for those rulings, would you?

Click to expand...

From the REI website:
http://www.reinsw.com.au/Effective-Cause-of-Sale-JLMar2011/default.aspx