Perhaps never has the term caveat emptor, or buyer beware, been more important in the housing market than it is now, a time when more and more buyers and sellers are being asked to sign what could be onerous and one-sided contracts.
On the buy-side, buyers are being asked to sign pacts linking them to the real estate agents who helped them find the houses they eventually buy. For the most part, the agreements are said to be so unfair that the Consumer Federation of America is suggesting that buyers might want to hire a real estate attorney and work directly with the listing agent rather than sign the contracts buy-side agents are handing them.
CFA has examined more than 40 so-called buyer-broker contracts from more than three dozen states, most of which were written by state Realtor associations, and found them wholly lacking in consumer protections. In fact, most were written to protect the agent, not his client, CFA claims.
