Produced by Ren Jie
Ms. Chen, aged years old, found a house through real estate agency A but decided not to buy it due to an unagreeable price. Later, she purchased the same house through real estate agency B, only to receive a legal letter from agency A demanding her to pay the intermediary fee.
It is understood that many second-hand housing intermediaries require customers to sign commitment letters before showing them houses. Ms. Chen fell victim to this unwritten rule of the second-hand housing intermediary market due to carelessness.
■ Reporter: Ye Yip
She signed without much thought after hearing that money is only paid upon purchase
More than ten days ago, just after moving into her new home at Unit 1, Floor 26, Jinzi Gate Mansion in Yuzhong District, Ms. Chen Xingying was busy tidying up when there came a knock on the door. Upon opening the door, a man handed her a piece of paper, saying, "Teacher Chen, I've brought you something; you can take a look."
Upon receiving it, Ms. Chen was dumbfounded — it was a "Legal Letter Regarding the Immediate Payment of Agency Intermediary Fees and Other Expenses," demanding Ms. Chen to pay the intermediary fees and related expenses within two days.
The legal letter was sent by Chongqing Daze Real Estate Agency Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Daze Real Estate). To understand the matter clearly, we need to go back more than two months ago.
Mr. and Mrs. Chen Xingying come from the rural area of Changshou. Her husband has been working in the main city for many years. In June this year, Ms. Chen came to the main city to look at houses. While wandering around Liberation West Road in Yuzhong District, she entered Daze Real Estate, where the staff told her about several good properties and invited her inside to check them out.
After understanding Ms. Chen's requirements, the staff said there was a suitable property available, and if she signed her name, they could immediately take her to see the house for free. "At first, I didn't want to sign, but they said that payment would only be required upon successful transaction, and signing only indicated that they had taken me to see the house and done the work," said Ms. Chen. Hence, she signed her name on the two sheets of paper presented by the staff.
Subsequently, the staff took her to see the over 100 square meter house on the 26th floor of Jinzi Gate Mansion. The asking price was over 600,000 yuan, and despite the intermediary trying to negotiate with the owner, the final price remained at 580,000 yuan. Ms. Chen thought it was too expensive and decided against buying it.
Why should I only buy from you when everyone else has the same property?
Not long after, Ms. Chen went to another intermediary company called Banghua to look at houses. Unexpectedly, Banghua also recommended the same house on the 26th floor of Jinzi Gate Mansion to Ms. Chen.
With the help of the staff, on July 12, Ms. Chen successfully purchased the house for over 550,000 yuan, paying over 10,000 yuan in intermediary fees to Banghua Company and completing the transfer procedures. Ms. Chen did not expect to receive a legal letter from Daze Real Estate demanding payment of intermediary fees shortly after moving into her new home.
Although Daze Real Estate had shown her the house, it wasn't successful. Why were they demanding payment of intermediary fees?
Yesterday, when the reporter visited Daze Real Estate, Hu Ke, the store manager of the Liberation West Road branch, took out a copy of the "Intermediary Entrustment Agreement" and the viewing record. It read: "Party A (Chen Xingying) promises to only contact the owner of the listed properties through Party B (Daze Real Estate). If Party A (or anyone related to Party A by marriage, blood, friends, agents, or colleagues) privately transacts with the owner of the property recommended by Party B, it will be considered a breach of contract by Party A, and Party A must bear five times the penalty." Similarly, the viewing record emphasized that if purchasing the aforementioned property, one must do so through Daze Real Estate.
Manager Hu stated that Ms. Chen signed the document when viewing the property, which means she acknowledged such an agreement. Initially, the staff endured high temperatures multiple times to show her the property and negotiate with the owner, doing a lot of work. Later, she transacted through another intermediary. Wasn't all our work wasted? "Many viewers try to bypass us and 'jump orders' after viewing the property. Signing such agreements is now a common practice in our industry. Collecting money from her is part of our intermediary business rules."
Wu Jian, the lawyer from Chongqing Haili Law Firm who accepted the commission from Daze Real Estate, clearly stated in the legal letter the reasons for demanding payment of intermediary fees: Chen Xingying and Daze Real Estate have already formed a legally valid contractual relationship, which should be protected by law. According to the agreed terms, Chen Xingying should pay the relevant fees.
Although the legal letter was clear, Chen Xingying still couldn't quite understand: When receiving the keys from the landlord, there were labels from several real estate agencies attached to the keys, indicating that the landlord had previously entrusted multiple agencies to sell the property. Before buying the house, she had seen this property in at least three different agencies. Since every agency had the same property, why should she only buy from one specific agency?
□ Industry Perspective
Such commitment letters need standardization
When reporters approached companies like Gangyun Real Estate in Nan'an District and Zhongyuan Properties in Huangnihe, Yubei District under the guise of potential buyers requesting to view properties, the staff all requested signatures on statements committing to only purchase the viewed properties through their respective agencies.
A staff member from the Chongqing Land Resources and Housing Evaluation Broker Association mentioned that to ensure the rights of real estate agencies and prevent viewers from directly contacting homeowners to make deals outside of the agency, intermediaries generally require viewers to sign commitment letters. This is considered an unwritten rule in the industry.
Despite this, the association staff noted that there are issues with non-standard practices: Commitment letters often fail to specify an effective time period. Does that mean once someone views a property through your agency, they can only buy through you for life? Therefore, both parties should ideally specify an effective time period when signing relevant agreements.
□ Lawyer's Reminder
Do not sign your name casually
Are such statements and commitment letters considered "tyrannical agreements"? Do they have legal effect?
Lawyer Han Longtao from Chongqing Hezong Law Firm believes that intermediaries providing pre-printed commitment letters and agreements fall under "standard contracts". In case of disputes, interpretations unfavorable to the party providing the contract should prevail.
Specifically regarding the issue Ms. Chen Xingying encountered, since the commitment letter lacked detailed information such as the property's size and price, it means Ms. Chen signed the commitment letter without being fully aware of the specific details of the product, rendering the commitment letter invalid.
Additionally, lawyers remind that one should never sign their name casually. Once signed, one may sometimes have to bear corresponding responsibilities.