ISSUE:

Is a Listing Agreement for a single buyer valid where the Listing Agreement’s expiration date is “close of escrow”?

ANSWER:

See Discussion.

DISCUSSION:

All written listing agreements must, among other things, have a definite duration or expiration date, showing dates of inception and expiration. See A.R.S. § 32-2151.02(A). In other words, the listing agreement should have a definite expiration date. In this instance, identifying the expiration of the listing agreement to be at “close of escrow”, although probably sufficient in most cases, would be a problem, if for instance, escrow never closes. The better practice, therefore, is to draft the listing agreement so that it terminates on a specific date.