Are auctions open for being sued?

[Fred Z]

The normal real estate agent that you find to shows you houses is working for the seller regardless of who the listing agent is. You have to explicitly ask for a buyer's agent for things to work differently and you probably have to pay that buyer's agent a fee yourself that is completely independent of the sales commission. Most people have no idea about the buyer's agent option. And if you know how the game works, you don't need that option anyway.

You have to remember that the normal agent showing you houses is not just a salesperson trying to get a bigger commission, that agent is obligated to pass any information on to the seller to might give the seller an advantage over the buyer. This obligation is either part of the Realtor code of "ethics", standard contracts or some nonsense. So you really have to be careful what you say around the agent. If you say, I'll offer $250K, but I'd go to $275K if I have to. You know what, the agent that is showing you the house is obligated to pass that bit about the $275K on to the seller, so that the seller can use that information when countering. It is not a two-way street, if the agent knows the seller is willing to take $240K, they will never pass that information onto the buyer.)

Sorry, but don't think so! I have been a professional for 26 years, and in Ca. and most places I believe, that is not realy true. Sorry to disagree....but agents representing buyers have NO duty to disclose to seller anything spoken to that agent! There are also forms, which are signed in triplicate......that detail this situation exactly! IE" buyers agent, sellers agent, and agent for both buyer and seller...(dual agent). Nowhere does it say that info given to an agent gets passed onto the other agent OR SELLER! just not true!
anyway, we are off the thread.........just wanted to shape this a bit more correctly. But, who cares? We are talking about cars.....and the BJ auctions.........and i do wonder what responsability they have!
fred z