Fact Pattern: You are a buyer’s agent. You enter into a 2-month exclusive representation agreement using C.A.R.’s Buyer Representation and Broker Compensation Agreement (BRBC). Under paragraph 2A of the BRBC, your Representation Period begins on February 1, 2025 and ends on March 31, 2025. Under paragraph 2B, the buyer is looking to buy a home in San Diego County. Under paragraph 2E, you have no “Continuation Period.” Under paragraph 2F, either side can cancel the BRBC with a 30-day written notice. On February 17, 2025, the buyer submits to you a 30-day notice of cancellation effective March 19, 2025.

Multiple Choice Question: Which one of the following statements is false? Pick the best answer:

A. You must continue to show properties to the buyer until March 19, 2025.
B. You will be entitled to compensation if the buyer enters into a contract to buy a San Diego home before March 31, 2025.
C. Any list of properties with Broker Involvement must be given to the buyer by March 24, 2025.
D. If the buyer’s offer to purchase a property with Broker Involvement is accepted by the seller after March 31, 2025, you will have no right to compensation.

Answer: Answer A is a true statement, and not the correct answer. When a buyer issues a 30-day notice of cancellation, the cancellation is not effective until 30 days later. As the buyer’s agent, you must continue helping the buyer during those 30 days. For future reference, if you don’t want to continue working for 30 days with buyers who have already said they want to cancel, consider inserting a shorter number of days for the notice of cancellation in paragraph 2F of the BRBC.

Answer B is a false statement and the correct answer! Before the March 19 effective date of cancellation, you are entitled to compensation if the buyer enters into a contract to buy a San Diego home. However, after March 19, you are only entitled to compensation if the buyer enters into a contract to buy a San Diego home with “Broker Involvement” (see definition below), as long as you timely deliver a list of such properties to the buyer (see paragraph 5B of the BRBC).

For a property to have “Broker Involvement,” you must have shown the property to the buyer, given the buyer your agent analysis of the property, submitted an offer, or performed other services as a buyer’s agent (see paragraph 4B(4) of the BRBC). However, merely sending the buyer a list of potential properties, like an MLS feed, does not, by itself, constitute “Broker Involvement.”

Answer C is a true statement, and not the correct answer. To be protected after the effective date of cancellation until the end of the Representation Period, a buyer’s agent must give the buyer a list of properties with Broker Involvement within 5 days after the effective date of cancellation (see paragraph 5B of the BRBC). In this particular situation, that protection period will only be from March 19 until March 31.

Answer D is also a true statement, and not the correct answer. If the buyer does not enter into a contract to buy before your Representation Period ends on March 31, you will have no entitlement to compensation, even if the buyer ends up buying a property with “Broker Involvement” (see paragraph 4 of the BRBC). For future reference, if you want to protect yourself for a longer period of time, consider having a longer Representation Period and/or including a Continuation Period in your BRBC, as long as the BRBC agreement does not last longer than 3 months.

-Thank You to Nicki Marcellino (La Jolla Manager) for suggesting this week’s legal tip!

Copyright© 2025 Shared Success Center, LLC (serving HomeServices of America companies). All rights reserved. Any unauthorized reproduction or use of this material is strictly prohibited. This information is believed to be accurate as of February 17, 2025. It is not intended as a substitute for legal advice in individual situations, and is not intended to nor does it create a standard of care for real estate professionals. Written by Stella Ling, Esq.