(Updated 12/12/2006)
Sixty nine percent of households in Wyoming owned their home in 1995, according to a USA Today report. Nearly two-thirds of the states in the U.S. have a lower rate of homeownership.
Recently a seller sued a buyer for specific performance and
breach of contract after the buyer refused to close. In response
the buyer filed her own complaint against the seller and the
brokers. The crux of the case was the buyer's contention that the
licensee was acting as her representative and that she had
developed a relationship of trust and confidence with that
licensee in this transaction and including numerous other buying
and selling transactions over several years. The licensee argued
that he was acting as the seller's agent. However, testimony
indicated that no agency disclosure form was signed prior to an
offer being made.
The buyer related that the licensee encouraged her to act fast
and she signed a purchase offer for $7.5 million on the same day
she first saw the property. The buyer brought claims including
breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation,
misrepresentation, and failure to disclose.
In the jury instructions the court recognized the concept of
implied agency by instructing that an agency relationship can be
established by implication from the parties' conduct or words,
including a prior course of dealing.
The jury concluded that the licensee was the buyer's agent and
entered a verdict in favor of the buyer for $750,000.