Prepare And Protect Yourself – What Is A Non-compete Agreement And How Can It Help You?

Suppose you open up a real estate agency in Albuquerque. You decide that you want to hire and maintain real estate agents to serve clients in Albuquerque, Los Lunas and Placitas. You intend to give them offices to meet their potential buyers (or sellers).  You coach them on the best methods you know to respond to clients’ needs and show clients properties that meet their goals and aspirations. You educate them about the prices people are paying for various types of homes in certain locations.  AND – and this is a BIG “and” – you give them online access to the listings of available houses in the markets that you are serving.

Assume further that, at the end of say one year, the term in which you contract with a particular agent to work for your company, that agent decides to terminate the arrangement and go on his own.  Although you may have verbally told that agent she can no longer follow up on any leads she may have gotten by virtue of her working for your company, she goes out in the first few weeks after the termination and finds three new buyers for houses that were listed in the online registry you had developed for your own agents.  T3he question arises can you take any legal action for this breach of his promise to you.  The simple answer is “no.”  You need a written covenant or agreement not to compete to stop someone – or seek damages from them – for unfairly competing against you or your company once they leave your employ.

An agreement or covenant not to compete states that once an employee leaves your employ, he or she cannot engage in certain similar activities for profit within a certain time frame and geographic zone.  The law in New Mexico imposes some limits on both the geographic radius and time frame in which these restrictions can stay in place.

The lawyers who work at the Law Office of George “Dave” Giddens at 505-633-6298 have both the expertise and the determination to protect you from having a former employee take unfair advantage of the privilege you gave them when they worked for you.  Call us at the above number or or visit our website at www.giddenslaw.com so you can make sure any contract you have with employees contains an air tight covenant not to compete under New Mexico law.