Dear Sirs,
I have recently bought a property from a lady settled in the US. In the deal there was a broker involved known to the lady on a personal & professional level and he helped transact the entire matter.
In the early stages I asked the broker verbally as to how much commission would I have to pay to him and he did not address the issue. After a few weeks I wrote to him a mail asking the same question and yet again he did not reply or address this issue. The agreement to sell categorically stated that the seller would pay to the broker commission of 1.50% and the buyer would pay to his consultant commission as mutually decided. Here again since the issue was not specifically addressed with regards to my liability.
Based on the above I assumed that there is no commission to be paid by me. On signing of the sale deed the broker kept all files (past documents / correspondences / receipts) related to the property stating that he would segregate and hand over in proper manner.
After 2 weeks of the sale deed he called and asked for his commission and when I stated that there was no discussion on the same (in the 5 months that we had been interacting) he got wild and stated that this is understood and needs no specific clarification.
Now he refuses to part with the files till the commission is paid.
Query - is he right in claiming commission despite the fact that there was no agreement of the same. If not, what is my recourse to claim the files from him.
Regards
