said:
At first the broker denied the existence of the list and informed him that
it was the buyer's responsibility to ascertain that all the promised
equipment was delivered with the sailboat.



Dave wrote:
The broker was, of course, right. He's getting paid to bring the parties
together, not to guaranty either what the seller says about the boat or that
the buyer will actually pay the agreed price.


OTOH there is in fact such a thing as misrepresentation, bad
faith, and fraud.

If you think it's perfectly OK to sell somebody a boat, hand
over a list of equipment to be included, make a contract on
that basis, and then break the contract, I suggest you don't
really have any business doing business.


But as a matter of customer relations most will try to help the buyer and
seller resolve such disputes if they arise.

Also as a matter of keeping their business license.

Fraud is illegal in all 50 states. So is breaking a contract.

It's also possible that the broker in the OP's situation
described above was just plain stupid. They're not all
rocket surgeons. Most are in the business because they
really really like boats.

DSK