Legal Case Summaries

Case summaries are provided for educational purposes only, and are not a substitute for legal advice by a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction. Case law may change over time, so be sure to confirm a case is still good law. 

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In McFarland v. Associated Brokers, a case involving a leaking roof, the buyer claimed that the listing broker knowingly concealed the extent of the problem. In this case, Bruce McFarland (the “Buyer”) bought a home listed by Associated Brokers (the “Listing Broker”). According to the decision, he was “assisted” in the purchase by another brokerage (the...

A recent U.S. District Court case involved the issue of whether a landlord’s refusal to make the entrance of an older apartment building wheelchair-accessible was unlawful in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act (the “FHA”). Rodriguez v. 551 West 157th Street Owners Corp. The apartment building in question, located in New York City, was built in 1910. Several disabled...

In 1998 U.S. District Court case, Franceschi v. Mautner-Glick Corp., involved claims that a property manager and the property owner violated the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (the “FDCPA”) when attempting to collect overdue rent. The purpose of the FDCPA is to protect consumers from unfair and abusive debt collection practices, and it regulates collections made by...

A couple bought a new house from the contractor. The lot had a steep slope, and to control drainage and erosion, the contractor had built terraces and retaining walls and had contoured the site to direct drainage away from the house. The property had been listed with a real estate brokerage firm, and two of its sales associates (the “Sales Associates”) handled the sale. Subsequent...

In a case of first impression, the Court of Appeals of Georgia upheld the validity of a commercial broker’s lien under the Georgia Commercial Real Estate Broker Lien Act. Padgett v. City of Moultrie. In this case, a commercial real estate broker (the “Broker”), had entered into an agreement with Cambridge Health Care, Inc. (“Cambridge”) to provide services in...

This Fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case, City of Monterey v. Del Monte Dunes at Monterey, Ltd. This case involves the appeal by the City of Monterey of a $1.45 million inverse condemnation award to Del Monte Dunes, Ltd., (the “Developer”), a development company that had proposed to develop a 37.6 acre oceanfront parcel in the city. At the trial court level, a jury...

Note: This case has not been included in an official reporter and may not be cited as legal authority. Consult with counsel before relying on this decision.

An unreported case decision from the North Carolina Court of Appeals, is a very favorable decision for the real estate licensee, but another court addressing similar issues might not reach the same conclusion.

Lesniak v....

This 1998 case out of Maryland involved a beach house in Ocean City, Maryland owned by David Polland. Polland had not seen the house in several years but was aware that it was in disrepair and had received notices from the city’s Code Enforcement Office about its dangerous condition. A Code Enforcement officer had put yellow "caution" tape across the front stairs of the house,...

In August 1998, the New Jersey Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (“NJMLS”) filed a lawsuit with the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division - Bergen County, against NEWMLS, doing business as the Garden State Multiple Listing Service (“GSMLS”) and the real estate brokerage firms which own GSMLS. NJMLS is owned by the Eastern Bergen County Board of REALTORS®, Inc...

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