Real Estate Agent Refferal Fee

[sendhomeinfo]

I was buying a house for the first time. I was re-united with a childhood friend who is a real estate agent now. He approached me through my brother since his brother and my brothers are currently friends. He called me up and told me that because we are old friends and because of slow down in the housing market, etc- if I buy a house trough him and if i make his my official agent he would give me back 1.25% of the sales price. It would be considered a refferal fee. I said okay and sent him a quick email saying please confirm what we discussed over the phone and he replied yes. So the agreement/contract was that he would write me a personal check after he gets his commission check giving me back 1.25% of the sales price for choosing him as my realtor and buying a house trough him instead of someone else. So I ended up buying a house and know he won't give me the money back as agreed. I have documentations of email sporting the agreement. Can I sue his for the amount owned? Is it a legal agreement? What legal action can I take? Thanks.

 

[dee_dub]

Write him a letter pointing out your agreement and stating that you expect him to honour it, failing which you will have no recourse but to pursue legal action and report him to his licensing board.

It sounds like a legal agreement. There might be some argument about what he got out of the deal - maybe he just promised it to you out of the goodness of his heart, and wasn't legally bound to fulfill it. If it comes to it, you can sue him in small claims court. You might want to consult a local lawyer about your prospects or retain one to conduct the action if the amount is over your small calims limit.