Locally: Non-compete clauses, referred to as restrictive covenants in an employment contract are enforceable, depending upon the actual wording and legal interpretation.

NON-COMPETE CLAUSES, are usually inserted in employment contracts to prevent employees who have usually established a personal relationship with a number of the firms clients and upon leaving their employer take all the clients with them, or have clients (without solicitation) voluntarily following the employee to a new employer.

Reasonable restrictive covenant in such matters are usually limited to “clients of the employer “ and do not prohibit the employee, following his termination from soliciting “non-clients” of his former employer.

In a recent decision involving "insurance agents" the legal interpretation giving insight, as to what is reasonable and enforceable can be found in the decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal in H.L. Staebler Company Limited v. Allan, 2007 CanLII 37692.

the details of which can be found by via the Link or cutting and pasting of the following URL

http://www.canlii.org/eliisa/highlight.d...008onca576.html

Important Notice: This information is provided as basic educational information by the author and is not a substitute for the advice of an expert and/or the advice of a lawyer. There is NO representation as to legality, accuracy, correctness of the herein information and the reader is strongly urged to consult a lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction to ensure accuracy before acting on this information

I'm gonna be very general here b/c I don't want to give you any advice that you rely upon b/c I have not read the contract and/or your state statutes and cases regarding non-competes.

I used to be a practicing attorney in employment law and other areas. We dealt with non-competes all over the country. There is a different statute in every state (there may be some states that do not have them at all; I haven't checked every state; but most states have them). Then they have (usually hundreds) of cases interpreting those statutes. Whether any particular non-compete is enforceable, and its terms, would vary greatly depending on the particular contract and the statute itself. The statute may prohibit certain limitations--typically geographic limits that are too wide and time limits that are too long. 5 years would be crazy long from my recollection of the time periods (typically 1 to 2 years would be more common). So, I would NOT assume that the contract is unenforceable, until and unless you talk to a GOOD attorney who has handled these types of cases before (not just ANY attorney).

That being said, I don't care if it's enforceable or unenforceable, and neither should you. RUN!!!! This is a bad idea. People change. You may change. And you can't predict her behavior. Heck, it might be a ploy to get rid of competition--just hire everyone in town, have them sign a non-compete, and then fire them. (Some non-competes have specific terms, like only if you quit the job, but still . . . YOU MAY CHANGE YOUR MIND and still want to sell real estate, just not with her.) What if you are a top producer and she starts killing you on the splits or other compensation issues? This happens OFTEN in real estate. Do not lock yourself in.

FYI--normally the clock starts ticking when you leave the job.

Good luck.

Tina

You should not rely upon this advice. You should consult an attorney who can review the actual statute and rules before you make any decision based on the legal issues discussed in this post. I do not know the specifics of your case and cannot give accurate advice without knowing the specifics.

I think if you talk to a local attorney, you'll find that most of these "non-compete" clauses aren't worth the paper they're written on. I personally signed one many years ago, when I worked at a local mortgage company. I then resigned my position to accept a position with WAMU. The local mortgage company didn't bother trying to hold me to the "non-compete" clause that I signed, willingly. You will find that courts in most jurisdictions take a very dim view of employers attempting to restrict people from making a living in their chosen field!


John from Boston

I am so glad I asked this question here because coming into this brand new, I just didn't know if this was standard practice. I'm going to call this Broker and set up a meeting with her asap to discuss the Non-Compete with her further. It truly is a deal breaker. I so appreciate all of the input from everyone here, thank you all again!

Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that I spoke with my potential Broker today and explained my concerns about the Non-Compete agreement. She pulled out her copy and looked it over and realized that it was for Licensed Real Estate Assistants not Licensed Real Estate Agents! She said if for whatver reason, things don't work out, I am free to go wherever I want to. I am so releived! Geez, I stressed over nothing!

She apologized to me and said she wasn't sure why she brought that up except maybe because she had last interviewed an applicant for a licensed R.E. Assistant.

Somehow, I am not comforted by the fact that the broker didn't know the difference between a real estate agent agreement and assistant agreement.

This would make me even more concerned about her as a broker!!!

And five years for any non compete is insane.