Has anyone ever dealt with an agent?

[hausdok]

Hi All,

I'm doing a condo in downtown Seattle for a professional ballplayer tomorrow. He's out of town, so his agent and mother will be meeting me onsite.

Anyone know whether an agent who has a power of attorney can legally sign a pre-inspection contract and act on behalf of one of these guys?

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[tbird]

It would depend if it is a limited power of attorney or a broad power of attorney. A limited power of attorney is for one specific reason, say a real estate transaction. Broad of course is for what ever, all trust is placed in their hands.

Disclaimer: This is my opinion, which may not be correct.

[Richard Moore]

Explain to the agent and mother what they are signing and that by doing so they agree that your client will be held to those terms. I have to believe any reasonable judge would find that good enough.

Besides which, I assume it's a very nice condo. Probably not a lot that could go wrong that you could get blamed for.

[hausdok]

Nice? Hmmm, 600 sf for $700,000 I believe.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[Richard Moore]

$500,000 of which is probably location and view. I'm constantly amazed at some of these high-end, high-rise condo prices, but I love the inspections. Usually some of the thinnest reports I get to write.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by hausdok

Hi All,

I'm doing a condo in downtown Seattle for a professional ballplayer tomorrow. He's out of town, so his agent and mother will be meeting me onsite.

Anyone know whether an agent who has a power of attorney can legally sign a pre-inspection contract and act on behalf of one of these guys?

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

Google up "doctrine of apparent authority".

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[MMustola]

I was advised by my attorney that an agent or any rep could sign the contract and it would most likely hold up in court. His opinion is that it is not up to me to understand or interpret their exact agent relationship. I have had agents sign for the client many times but have never had this theory tested in court. I am interested in other peoples view of this.

P.S. If I know the client can not attend the inspection I always fax or email them the agreement. Having the agent sign is not ideal but it is better then nothing.

[randynavarro]

When I run into that situation, I put the report in the mother's name.

[Scottpat]

I have had agents sign my contracts before. Never had a problem. I guess I won't know if it is a problem until it gets to a court! Judges have a tendency to do what they want.

My gut feeling is that it would not hold up in court if the buyer denied telling the agent to sign for them. No proof that the agent was given permission to sign. Now if they have permission in the way of a "Power of Attorney" or a letter from the buyer in the buyers handwriting, then I can see it holding up.

I just finished up an EW case that involved many documents (Change Orders) that were never signed by the owner of the home, but were signed by the builder and the owners father who lived next door. The judge tossed out the $224,000 in change orders and it was like they never existed. The owner never gave his father permission or his power of attorney.

[chicago]

Right at the bottom of my standard contract agreement it states client or Representative on the dotted line.Bet you wanted to meet the ballplayer though and I can't blame you.

Maybe on the final walkthrough.

[hausdok]

Nope,

I don't follow sports at all and really couldn't care less. If he were one of my professional woodworking heroes, I'd probably be all wound up; But sports? Nah.

I've lived here for more than 11 years and have never been to a football, basketball, or baseball game and don't plan on ever going. As long as he pays and I've got my ducks in a row I'm happy.

They are testing my patience though. They just postponed until Thursday.

OT - OF!!!

M.

[homnspector]

It always worries me if my client hasn't read the contract. I don't even like to present it at the inspection, I would much rather have them read it before I show up. I have had a few clients that don't like the contract and decide to hire somebody else, which is fine.

There is that group of people who feel it is beneath them to read and sign contracts, everything should be done by someone else. I think I would be tempted to do what Randy suggests, make sure the report is in the name of and addressed to whoever signed the contract.

[kurt]

It's probably meaningless anyway. I've done a few jobs for sports stars (Sammy Sosa was one), and they all act like we're from Mars.

The only reason they're getting an inspection is their agent & attorney's told them to. Be prepared for about a dozen lawyers to be there, and half a dozen realtors.

[chicago]

Sounds like alot of uneasiness with prying eyes hoping to find trouble.

Anyway I guess I could have mentioned that I do like many and E_Mail the agreement ahead of time whenever possible and no one can say there was no time to read it that way.

Just like Mr Mustola suggested

[Brian G]

In any given court on any given day, who knows? But if I had to bet I'd go with the idea that the representative either has a signed, legal power of attorney or they don't have squat. I'd hate to try to beat a ball player in court. He'd probably bring the judge an autographed bat from a famous teammate or something. [:-basebal

Brian G.

No Client Signature, No Inspection [:-dog]

[hausdok]

Hi,

Well, the agent claimed to have full power of attorney to act on behalf of his client, so I didn't argue with him. Just did my thing. Found a few things I wouldn't have expected to find in something in that price range, but that's normal.

This is what $750,000 buys in Seattle these days. The subject residence is the center window on the top tier. I'm told they came down $100,000. Jeez, he's going to have the best seat in the house on the 4th of July.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[mthomas1]

Well, at least it buys a bit of cove molding... around here 750K sometimes buys a drywall box with a support column in the corner of the bedroom or in front of the living-room window....