LOCALLY:
We have a buyer’s registry system where the brokerage firm that has the buyer under contract registers their buyer and when any other brokerage firm is approached by a buyer, part of the due diligence of a buyer’s agent is to check the buyer’s registry to see if the buyer is already committed to another brokerage firm.

Brokerage firms who fail to check the “Buyer’s Registry” and proceed to work with a buyer who is registered as currently under contract to another brokerage firm, forfeits their entitlement to commission on the completion of a transaction.

Contracts:
On the issue of whether or not to enforce a binding contract against a former client, ask yourself if the situation were reversed would the client expect the brokerage firm to live up to the terms of their contract and would they take steps to enforce it.

One might wonder why anyone would go to the trouble of entering into a binding contract, if they had no intention of enforcing it, unless it was cost prohibitive or there were other issues.

The other side of the coin is that the buyer’s defence may be that you breached your fiduciary duty to them and as a result they terminated the agency relationship. Under the law of agency, where the agent has breached their fiduciary duty, the agent can be terminated without notice.

Therefore, unless you can prove that you did not breach your fiduciary duty, having crossed all the T’s and dotted all the i’s and documented everything, then the success of your legal action against the buyer may be in doubt.

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.

If we had such a "Registry", I guess I would even check the registry for potential "Customers" with whom I DO NOT intend to have an Agency Agreement, but are known to have had recent contact with other Practitioners.

Does your "Buyer Registry" indicate the duration of the Buyer Representation Agreements, or their Expiration Dates (like Listing Agreements) ?

I think if we had such a "Buyer Registry", Agents might be cool to using it for fear that they would lose Buyers to their Competitors when the EBA Expired. Has that been your experience?

Vermont:
The Buyers Registry is described as follows:

The Buyer Registry Service (BRS) is a database of Buyers under a Buyer Representation Agreement. It will serve to help clarify any
confusion about a particular Buyer’s relationship with a REALTOR®. It will ultimately help to make the “Buyer side” of real estate transactions more professional and offer greater Buyer consumer protection. Also, the BRS acts as a useful tool for listing representatives to find buyer representivatives for a specific property. For privacy, no details about the Buyer are accessible except to the Buyer’s REALTOR® and Broker of Record.

Entering a Buyer’s information into the database requires a Buyer Representation Agreement with a term of at least 60 days and an optional consent form called the Buyer Representation Agreement Data Form. Information from the data form is entered into the database by the broker or an authorized representative. For privacy,again no details about the Buyer are accessible except to the Buyer’s REALTOR® and Broker of Record.

There are several benefits to members who use the BRS. Authorized TREB users are able to search the BRS to determine whether or not a potential Buyer is already registered and under a Buyer Representation Agreement with another REALTOR®.

Using the Reverse Search tool, Members can search the BRS to determine if there are registered Buyers for a specific listing. By
entering characteristics of a property, including price, location, type and style, the BRS will reveal a list of Brokers with registered Buyers with similar search criteria. (Buyers’ names remain confidential.)

The Buyers benefit by having more people working to find them a suitable property. In addition, having an indication as to the number of potential buyers for a property type or specific area will also help both Listing and Buyer REALTORS® to develop more precise strategies with respect to multiple offers.

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.