Also known as: real estate broker · real-estate broker · real-estate brokers · realtor · real estate agent
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A licensed intermediary who assists parties in buying, selling, or leasing real property in exchange for a commission. The broker earns the commission by producing a buyer ready, willing, and able to purchase on the seller's terms or upon execution of the contract of sale, and the seller may not in bad faith refuse to complete the transaction to avoid payment.
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Renata Russo listed her waterfront warehouse with Crown Ocean under an exclusive agreement. Crown Ocean presented River Naval, which signed a contract at the full listed price with secured financing. When Russo refused to close and withheld the commission, Crown Ocean recovered because it had produced a buyer meeting the seller's terms.
Rebecca Ross, a broker, followed a neighborhood association's policy of steering minority buyers away from certain blocks. Homeowners sued under fair housing rules, and the court held that state authorization of such broker practices constituted impermissible state action supporting the discrimination claim.
Raphael Rivera, a broker marketing homes in Willingboro, posted for-sale signs despite a township ordinance banning them. The court struck down the ban as an unconstitutional restriction on commercial speech that prevented brokers from effectively communicating with potential buyers.
Regina Robinson hired a broker to re-let her vacant apartment after the tenant left early. The broker advertised and showed the unit, satisfying the landlord's duty to mitigate damages, so the original tenant avoided liability for the full remaining term.
Ricardo Rojas, a broker, arranged the sale of a grocery store building subject to state milk price regulations. The court upheld the regulations as a valid exercise of police power even though they affected the broker's commission calculation on the transaction.
Ryan Roberts, a broker, listed a single-family house for sale to Oxford House for use as a group home. The city zoning ordinance limiting such uses was held invalid under the Fair Housing Act, allowing the broker's transaction to proceed without the discriminatory restriction.
A broker earns a commission by producing a buyer ready, willing, and able to purchase on the seller's terms or upon execution of the contract of sale. The seller cannot in bad faith refuse to complete the transaction to deny the commission.
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Recovery in restitution is barred when the statute of frauds specifically requires a writing for broker commissions and allowing recovery would frustrate the statute's purpose. The broker cannot recover the exact amount promised under the unenforceable oral contract.
…that it include at least three architects, one historian qualified in the field, one city planner or landscape architect, one realtor, and at least one resident of each of the city’s five boroughs. N. Y. C. Charter § 534 (1976). In addition to the ordinance’s requirements concerning the composition of the Commission,…
…1966) (duty satisfied where landlord advertised the premises through a newspaper, placed a sign in the window, and employed a realtor); Re Garment Center Capitol, Inc. , 93 F. 2d 667, 115 A.L.R. 202 (2 Cir. 1938) (landlord’s duty not breached where higher rental was asked since it was known that this was merely a…
…interests desire. Proposition 14 in the setting of our modern housing problem is only another device of the same character. Real estate brokers
…neighbors also expressed concerns their property values will decrease as a result of Sow 1. James Kesterson, an appraiser and realtor
…of the Civil Rights Act itself. It provides, in pertinent part: (1) A person engaging in a real estate
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When a broker participates on her own account in the transaction, she must disclose her self-interest and all facts that would reasonably affect the principal's judgment. Failure to disclose a higher offer from another buyer breaches the duty of fair dealing.
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An agency relationship arises only when the principal manifests consent for the broker to act on the principal's behalf and the broker consents to do so. A broker's license alone does not create agency without these mutual manifestations.
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It is unlawful for brokers to deny access to multiple-listing services or discriminate in membership on account of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin. Brokers also cannot steer buyers on prohibited grounds.
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