Legal Case Summaries

A Minnesota appellate court has considered whether a lower court properly ruled that real estate salesperson and the property’s owner had immunity from a lawsuit brought against them by a snowmobiler.

Ocello, LLC (“Ocello”) listed for sale three vacant lots with real estate professional Charles Pfeffer (“Listing Broker”). Sometime around October 2002, the...

A Utah court has considered whether a salesperson could claim a portion of a commission which her former brokerage was not able to collect from the seller.

Cindy Young (“Salesperson”) secured a buyer for an apartment building listed with the Salesperson’s firm, the Wardley Corporation d/b/a Wardley Better Homes & Gardens (“Brokerage”). At the closing,...

A Tennessee appellate court has considered a challenge to an arbitration conducted by a REALTOR® association.

A commission dispute arose between Grand Developers New Homes, LLC (“Developer”) and Option Realty LLC (“Buyer’s Representative”). The Buyer’s Representative claimed it was entitled to receive a commission from the Developer for the sale...

An Indiana court has considered a member’s pro se lawsuit against a REALTOR® association, challenging an adverse ruling in a Professional Standards hearing.

John Kelly (“Member”) was a respondent in a Professional Standards hearing conducted by the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALTORS® (“Association”). The hearing panel found that the Member...

The Supreme Court of the United States has considered whether parties could establish the standard that a court would subsequently use to review an arbitration, rather than the standards set forth in the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”).

Hall Street Associates, L.L.C. (“Landlord”) leased a manufacturing site to Mattel, Inc. (“Tenant”). The lease...

A California federal court has considered whether to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) against brokerages who allegedly received illegal referral payments from a hazard reporting company.

HUD brought a lawsuit against Property I.D. Corp. (“I.D.”), a hazard reporting company, and the following...

A New Hampshire federal court has considered a challenge to the constitutionality of its real license laws by a website that advertised “for sale by owner” (“FSBO”) listings.

Skynet Corporation d/b/a ZeroBrokerFees.com (“Website”) operated a website which provided information to buyers and sellers of real estate who did not want to utilize a real...

A New Jersey appellate court has considered whether a trial court had properly refused to uphold an arbitration award arising from a hearing conducted by a REALTOR® association.

Greg Gaske (“Buyer”) contacted two real estate brokerages, the Van Dyk Group, Inc. (“Van Dyk”) and Island Realty (“Island”), about his interest in purchasing a home. The...

A Florida federal court has considered whether the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (“Act”) allowed a buyer to cancel a purchase contract with a developer because the developer failed to comply with the Act’s requirements.

In 2004, C & G Enterprises, LLC (“LLC”) entered an agreement to purchase a unit in a development created by the Lighthouse...

A Wisconsin court has considered two trade associations’ challenge to a municipal ordinance temporarily halting the subdivision of land in the municipality while it considered smart growth legislation.

The Town of West Point (“Town”) adopted an ordinance (“Ordinance”) establishing a “temporary stay or moratorium on the acceptance, review, and...