contract-law
Real estate listing agreement legal wording question
<p><a href="https://i.stack.imgur.com/xhu7s.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/xhu7s.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>This is a Georgia association of realtors Form 201, "exclusive seller listing agreement". I have cropped the part about commission. My question is part c. at the very bottom of the attached image. </p>

<p>Survival: The commission rights of Broker and the commission obligations of Seller set forth herein shall survive termination or expiration of this Agreement. </p>

<p>This Survival clause sounds like its indefinite. So how does this make sense when there is a defined period for this realtor agreement? What does it even mean? Thanks.  </p>

<p><a href="https://www.theceshop.com/sites/default/files/block_image/PDFs/ga-contracts/F101%2006.01.19-watermark.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">§7 on the Protected Period</a> says</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Notwithstanding the above, no listing commission shall be paid to
  Broker if this Agreement has either expired or been terminated upon
  the mutual, written consent of Broker and Seller and the Property is
  sold or contracted to be sold to a prospective buyer by or through
  another licensed broker with whom Seller has signed an exclusive right
  to  sell  listing  agreement.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If you owe the Broker a commission, you owe it even if the agreement has expired, for example if the agreement expires before the closing, which is what the survival clause says (the end of the agreement does not mean the end of the broker's right to a commission, or the seller's obligation to pay). By putting this clause in, they explicitly say what common sense tells you – when you owe for a service, you have to pay even if the paying comes after the end of the agreement
So their rights are indeed indefinite, but if the agreement expires and is not renewed, they do not gain a right to a commission. §7 is the agreement-expiration escape clause.</p>
