A broker holds an open listing on a California property. The broker introduces a buyer to the property, but the buyer makes no immediate offer. Three weeks later, the buyer contacts the seller directly and purchases the property without further involvement from the broker. Under what circumstance would the broker most likely be entitled to a commission?

Correct Answer

C) Only if the open listing contained a safety clause and the sale occurred within the specified protection period

Under an open listing, a broker is entitled to a commission only if they are the procuring cause of the sale. When a buyer circumvents the broker and deals directly with the seller, the broker's procuring cause claim is significantly weakened because the unbroken chain of events leading to the sale was broken by the buyer's independent action. A safety clause (also called a protection clause or extender clause) protects the broker by entitling them to a commission if a buyer the broker introduced purchases the property within a defined period after the listing ends or the introduction occurs. Without a safety clause covering this scenario, the broker has no enforceable commission claim.