Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group

"Scott Bader was the listing agent on a home we purchased. Five days after we completed the purchase agreement for the home, we received a letter from the seller’s attorney stating the seller wanted to terminate the purchase agreement because they had changed their mind. With no legal grounds to terminate the purchase agreement, I contacted listing agent Scott Bader to discuss the situation. During this brief call, Bader made it very clear to me that he did not want to be involved in the situation, that I should hire an attorney, and he even asked if I could “leave his name out of it.” With no support from Bader or Coldwell Banker (a large, national company), I had to spend many hours of my time and hire my own attorney to ensure the completion of this transaction. Ultimately, after significant expense, I was able to complete the sale as originally agreed to. So, while I did all this work to ensure completion of the sale, Bader and Coldwell Banker happily accepted a big commission on the sale. After the sale, I politely asked Bader and/or Coldwell Banker to reimburse me for our legal fees. Our legal fees amounted to less than 5% of the tens of thousands of dollars in commissions received by Coldwell Banker. Coldwell Banker responded to my request for reimbursement in part by saying, “we must decline your request” and “we cannot control, nor are we responsible for the behavior of our clients.” What a cop out. A customer-centric company would do the right thing and reimburse me for my legal fees. Coldwell Banker profited handsomely while abandoning me to do the heavy work of using legal means to ensure the closing of this deal. Even if your client’s behavior is not your fault, it’s still your problem to fix by making me whole on legal fees. Clearly, Coldwell Banker has lost my future business and when I’m asked about real estate agents, you know how I’m going to respond."