I’ve never heard any Realtor talk about the details of the listing cancellation. So I decided to vlog/blog about it.
There are 2 types of listing cancellations:
1. Cancel Protected – This is when the Seller cancels the listing with the Realtor before the expiry date of the listing contract. The Realtor must comply to this cancellation request. The Seller must wait till the end of the listing contract before listing it again on the MLS with another Realtor. If the Seller tries to list it with another Realtor, the Real Estate Board will not allow the listing to go on MLS.
Example: Sally lists her home with Bob the Realtor from January to June 31st. Sally requests to have her listing cancelled on March 31st. Bob must comply. From April 1st to June 31st, the listing will be cancelled on MLS and Realtors who look up the history will see that it is in Cancel Protected status. If Sally wants to list her home with George the Realtor, she must wait until July 1st to list it on MLS with George.
2. Unconditional Release Form – This is when the Seller requests a cancellation of the listing and wishes not to be on Cancel Protected status, doesn’t want to wait until the expiry date of the listing contract and wants to list it with a new Realtor right away. The Realtor does not have to comply with this request and there’s nothing the Seller can do about it.
Example: Sally lists her home with Bob the Realtor from January to June 31st. Sally requests for an unconditional release form on March 31st. Bob can do 2 things:
a) Say NO
b) Sign the unconditional release form and give Sally an unconditional release of her listing
Sally the Seller is always trying to find loop holes. She wants to sell her home right away and wants to switch to George the Realtor right away. She knows that if she puts her home up on an Exclusive Listing (listings that do not go on MLS) with George, she can bypass the Real Estate Board.
So, WATCH WHAT HAPPENS!
If Sally gets an Exclusive Listing with George on April 1st and sells it BEFORE June 31st, Sally has to pay George’s real estate brokerage the listing commission AND Sally has to pay Bob’s real estate brokerage the listing commission under Bob’s listing contract with Sally that hadn’t expired yet. Therefore, Sally has to pay TWO COMMISSIONS!
If Sally sells it AFTER June 31st, Sally’s contract with Bob will have expired and will not be on Cancel Protected status and will only have to pay George’s real estate brokerage the listing commission.
So Sellers Beware!
If you have any questions on real estate matters, please feel free to contact me.
What would happen if, in the above example, Sally cancelled her listing with Bob on March 31st and then put it for sale privately and sold it privately before June 30th? Would Sally owe any commission to Bob? And what if the purchaser had looked at the house through Bob before the cancellation was done?
Hi Karen,
Give me a call or email me and we can discuss further into that kind of case.
Great article. However, you’ve missed an additional option. Conditional Cancellation. This is when Bob agrees to allow Sally to list and sell without pay two commissions. This could be for eg: Bob agrees to accept a fee from Salley to offset any initial expenses Bob has incurred in listing the property. I mean let’s be real. Nobody would go on a 1,000 km plane trip with only 500 km worth of fuel and Bob would never have agreed to take the listing at a shorter term.
Where do I get a blank copy of the Unconditional Release Form? My agent only sent me a Termination of Listing Agreement that doesn’t state that it is unconditional. I did not sign it.