Listing agent after back out

1

I recently did an inspection (2 week ago) on a house that had significant water intrusion in the crawlspace. During the negotiations the listing agent tried to continuously downplay the crawlspace. The buyer ended up backing out on this last Friday. The listing agent is now calling me to talk about the report.
My questions:

  1. my state regs says my report is valid for 180 days and I’m assuming that’s only for the buyer.
  2. since the contract for the house is done, the report is over also, correct?
  3. I contacted the buyers agent and let them know what’s going on and that if they were ok with me talking about the report I would need written consent, but that was before I knew they backed out.
    Should I not return the call from the listing agent, or should I get written consent from the buyer to let me talk about the report?
    I’m leaning towards not even returning the call to the listing agent and forget about the whole thing. My fiduciary is to the client.
    This is a new one for me.
    I search a couple of threads like this and couldn’t find this specific one.
    Thanks guys.
2

That is what I would do.

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3

Regardless of the current situation, you are bound by confidentiality with your Client.
NO exceptions.
NO I will not attempt to contact my Client to gain approval.
Who the hell do they think they are to even suggest such a thing?
My reply would be a “Professional” refusal to discuss. Period.
They should have a copy of the report.
If not, they already have your Clients reply! They didn’t want them to have it.

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4

I called both the buyer and their agent and told them that I will absolutely not discuss anything about the report with the listing agent cause my responsibility is to my client. I’m not even going to return the call to the listing agent. No reason to as I cannot discuss anything anyway.
The information and recommendations are in my report which they have a copy of. That’s good enough.

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5

That’s hardly appropriate, FWIW.

Call them back, and explain it to him/her. No need to hide.

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6

My thought exactly, thus my “Professional” qualifier. Don’t burn bridges that don’t need burnin’!

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7

Yeah you guys make a good point. I’ll call him then and be professional.

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8

Just tell 'em sorry, you’re not allowed :cowboy_hat_face:

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9

The above is another possibility, if you want to converse with the other agent.

But, calling him back and reporting confidentiality is good, too.

10

Jacob it is what it is. I don’t know what your state requires or what you can do or not do. Whatever you tell your client should be the same thing you tell the seller or an attorney. Besides never know when you might be working for the seller agent’s client… I don’t think Texas is too far different from Alaska besides the weather.

11

I’ve had many of these calls over the years. Hear what the listing agent says. Sometimes, the questions are general or have nothing to do with your client.

12

I called the listing agent, he’s being real shady, does anyone have time to mentor on a phone call for a few minutes about what’s going on?
Or should I reach out to my insurance company and give them a heads up?

13

Feel free to PM me details of what’s going on.

14

“Contractually I am not at liberty to discuss the finding or details of the inspection. I am more than happy to contract with you for your own inspection and report if you would be interested in learning about the condition of your home.” It is usually crickets after that…

15

I would say this but not offer to do another inspection for another party vs my client.