Goli Realty Corp., commenced an action for the recovery of brokerage commissions. Goli sued Halperin claiming to have brought a buyer that was ready, willing and able to purchase certain real property that Halperin and his entity, SPJ LLC, were looking to sell. Goli prepared marketing packages for Hess Oil, Walgreens, and others, detailing the property’s attributes. Hess and Walgreens responded with interest, and Goli showed the property to Hess. Hess had Goli send Halperin a proposal which provided for the minimum rent required by Halperin. Goli sent its commission agreement to Haleprin with Hess’s proposal. Thereafter, Halperin contacted Hess directly. Shortly thereafter, Halperin informed Goli that he was not interested in a gas station as a tenant and claimed that Goli had promised to provide an agreement with Walgreens. A few days later, Goli presented Halperin with a proposal from Walgreens, also with the minimum rent. Goli claimed that Halperin agreed to proceed with negotiations with both prospective tenants and to consider how to buy an adjacent property. Despite what Goli had been told, it learned that Halperin had signed a lease with Hess. Goli sued for its brokerage commissions.
Reviewing how the Court discussed the facts and party testimony makes clear that it found Haleprin’s testimony to not be credible. At one point, the Court states that outright. Among other things, the Court seemed troubled by Halperin’s inability to explain why SPJ did not agree to a lease with Walgreens, as brokered by Goli, if Halperin would not accept a gas station tenant, especially as it ultimately signed with Hess.
At the end, the Court was able to find that an enforceable brokerage agreement existed despite the absence of a formal writing. There was no question that Goji was asked to find a tenant and did so, securing two acceptable tenants. Thus, Goji was entitled to the value of its services, which were the same as the commission that he demanded in his proposed brokerage agreement (even though the Court noted that those commission may have been a bit higher than market rates). The Court did not allow that amount to be awarded against the individual Halperin defendants, however, because Goji had done the work for SPJ, LLC.
This point is critical in any lawsuit as it highlights the importance of obtaining some security when dealing with entities. While Goli obtained an award of $293,962, that award was against SPJ, LLC only. If for some reason SPJ cannot pay that amount and has no assets, Goli collects little or nothing. Had Goli had some agreement with the individual defendants, collecting would be far less of a concern. At a minimum, the judgment could have been obtained against an individual and not just a potentially worthless entity.
This case does two things: It highlights the general rule that a broker is entitled to commissions if it is asked to find a tenant and does so, even if that agreement is not in writing. It also illustrates the pitfalls of entering into an agreement with an entity without any security or guaranty from the individuals behind that entity. The broker might be entitled to a fee but without the ability to collect from a defunct entity.