I work in a real estate office and can honestly say that this would never happen with any of our agents. It is actually not allowed that a listing agent have a buyer agency Co tract signed with a buyer for that property unless they were already an existing buyers agent for that client before the client saw that house, confusing...but it is ti protect the buyer. True... A listing agent absolutely must disclose to the buyer their agency relationship and obligations to the seller, that way the buyer can decide whether to proceed with the appointment, or to be represented by their own agent (do some research and get protected- dual agency is a really messy situation for EVERYONE involved) I don't know if the agent and broker dealt with in this situation were just very poor at explaining what was happening or what, but this should never happen. A listing agent cannot hold a listing hostage just to try to trap buyers into signing a contract with them, however if the house does not work out for that buyer, it is smart and encouraged to then try to obtain that client by offering to show them more homes in the area and then establishing a buyers agent relationship with them.