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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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An unreported 1999 decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Ileka v. Lyons, involved the sale of a property in Chicago, owned by an elderly white woman (the “Seller”). In July 1997, she listed her home for sale with the real estate brokerage firm Erickson Realty and Management Co. (the “Brokerage”). Mary Small, a licensee affiliated...
A decision from the Court of Appeals of Arizona found the broker exculpatory clauses in a form purchase contract were unenforceable and also clearly distinguished between the disclosure duties owed to a home buyer by the listing brokerage and those owed by the brokerage representing the buyers.
This case involved a single family home located in Cave Creek, Arizona, which Mr. and Mrs....
An April, 1999 decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Bortz v. Noon, addressed the issue of misrepresentation in the context of a licensee acting as an innocent conduit of information from a third party.
In 1986, Albert Bortz (the “Buyer”) entered into a contract with Mr. and Mrs. Noon (the “Sellers”) to purchase their home located in Pittsburgh. A...
In 1999 the Supreme Court of South Carolina decided the case Darby v. The Furman Company, Inc. In this case, Gwendolyn Darby (the “Seller”) owned a large tract of land located in Greenville County, South Carolina. She contacted a real estate brokerage, The Furman Company, Inc. (the “Brokerage”), spoke with Bill Fogleman, one of its salespeople, and listed a 53 acre...
A Colorado procuring cause case, Telluride Real Estate Company v. Penthouse Associates, LLC, addressed the claim that state statute governing real estate brokerage relationships abrogated Colorado common law (case law) of procuring cause. In this case, Steve Hilbert, a licensee affiliated with Telluride Real Estate Company, showed the Revenue Penthouse, a condominium located in Telluride,...
A 1998 case from the Court of Appeals of Idaho, Hilbert v. Hough, addressed the important element of certainty in a contract. In this case, the Hilberts (the “Buyers”) entered into an agreement (the “Agreement”) to purchase a parcel of land located in Bannock County, Idaho from the Houghs (the “Sellers”).
The legal description in the Agreement...
A 1998 case from the Court of Appeals of Arkansas, Cantrell-Waind & Associates, Inc. v. Guillaume Mortorsports, Inc., addressed a real estate broker’s right to a commission in the context of an option to purchase and the property owner’s duty of good faith and fair dealing.
On August 1, 1994, Guillaume Motorsports, represented by its president and sole shareholder, Todd...
The California case, Field v. Century 21 Klowden-Forness Realty, found that a broker in a fiduciary relationship with the buyer may be required to examine such things as public records and title documents for the buyer, as opposed to a seller’s broker, who has no such duty.
In Wardley Corporation v. Welsh, the Utah Court of Appeals found that the real estate broker did not have an agency relationship with the seller, and instead, was acting as a finder. This unusual case involved Grant Welsh, a developer (interestingly, he also was a licensed real estate broker and a real estate training class instructor). Randy Young, a real estate salesperson affiliated with...
Shapiro v. Sutherland, a decision from the Court of Appeal of California, addressed disclosure obligations of a relocation company and the prior homeowners. David and Mary Sutherland had lived in their home in Burbank, California for 15 years when Mr. Sutherland’s employer, IBM, relocated him to another state. IBM had a relationship with a relocation company, Prudential Resources...