Opinion ID: 1953412
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Terms of Sale Dictated by Benjamin and the Listing Agreement

Text: The house was appraised at $136,000 and Benjamin testified that he made clear to Jenkins that he wanted at least $120,000 out of the house . . . in a lump sum, that is, in cash. He also testified that he explained to Jenkins that this was because of the need to cover his brother's nursing home expenses and because both brothers were of advanced age. Benjamin testified that although he gave permission to Jenkins to sell the Nash Street house, Jenkins never presented him with any written listing agreement to sign, testimony corroborated by his wife, who was present at the time of the original discussion. Benjamin also testified that while he knew that Jenkins would be entitled to a commission for the sale, he was not told what it would be. William Evans, the real estate expert called in the Strausses' case, testified that the standard of practice is for the real estate agent to prepare a written listing agreement. Jenkins testified with respect to the listing agreement, at first claiming that he was unable to locate a copy of the listing agreement for the Nash Street house, although asserting, I did have one. After Evans' testimony, while testifying in his own case, Jenkins had an amplified recollection of the preparation of the listing agreement. He testified that Benjamin had approached him and told him that he was interested in selling his brother's house, that he met Benjamin and his wife at William's house after church, and that Benjamin said he wanted around $120,000 to $125,000 for the house. Indeed, Jenkins even recalled that he was carrying his old briefcase with him, and that he wrote up a listing. He testified, however, that he could not recall whether or not he had actually given Benjamin a copy of the listing agreement. On cross-examination, Jenkins' testimony with respect to the listing agreement changed considerably. When asked whether there was anything in the listing agreement that would have provided that the seller would pay certain creditors of the purchaser, or that the seller would provide six percent help to whoever the purchaser is toward the purchase cost, he was unable to recall. At a later point during this cross-examination, his recollection with respect to his writing up a listing agreement shifted yet again, and he testified that while it was his general practice to write up a listing, I don't know whether I did it that Sunday [presumably when he met Benjamin at William's home] or not.