I showed a rental and the potential tenant wanted to rent the place. I asked the owner, the owner said that he didn’t want to because he is upset with this person.
A few months later the renter found out that the place was still available, and he still really wanted to rent the place. He went over to the owner, (I told him who the owner was, and he told me that he knew him) and he made peace with him.
The next day he asked to rent the place that he really wanted. The owner told him that he has to go through our agency because he gave it to us for exclusive listing.
The renter convinced the owner to make a contract directly without the agency. The owner put in the contract for renting the place which they signed, that he has to go by what the Posak Rav of our community will decide if the renter has to pay the agency fee or not. So we went to the Posak Rav of the our community after the signing and he said that he doesn”t deal with דיני ממנות
The Posak said to go to a Rav who does, that is why I am coming to you.
Thank you so much for your help.
Answer:
To my understanding, both parties agree that the rental only came about on account of the mediation; without the mediation of the agent, the potential tenant will not have reached the owner, and will not have found the house.
Based on this understanding, there is no question that the fee has to be paid, and the fact that the contract between the owner and the tenant states otherwise doesn’t make a difference. The fact that some months came between the agent’s presentation and the final contract, doesn’t make any difference (see Mishpat Shalom 185).
Please re-submit if a clarification is required.
Best wishes.
