Q1 2015: Agency, PCD Rights, RESPA, Employment

This edition of the quarterly report analyzes legal trends in risk management areas that effect real estate professionals: Agency, Property Condition Disclosure, RESPA, and Employment.

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In This Issue

The video edition of the quarterly report analyzes legal trends in risk management areas that effect real estate professionals: Agency, Property Condition Disclosure, RESPA, and Employment.

A. Cases

This section looks at two cases where damages were awarded for breaches of fiduciary duty based on misrepresentation. The key misrepresentations involved a development that was failing by the time the plaintiffs invested in it (Haena) and an undeveloped lot that did not have a legal access road (Helmke). In another case, a court determined that a broker cannot be liable for...

A. Cases

This section examines two new cases involving the merger doctrine and a merger clause. One case deals with structural issues in a home’s foundation (Schoembs), while the other concerns a bat-infested apartment (Katethis). A third case discusses whether a real estate licensee has a duty to investigate the seller’s representations (PH West Dover Props).

1. Schoembs v....

A. Cases

This section examines an opinion analyzing a broker’s refusal to transfer the salesperson’s listings to his new sponsoring broker (Gang) and a case addressing a broker’s direct liability for its own negligence and its possible indirect liability for negligent acts of independent-contractor salespersons (Polio).