Real estate agent Paige Rausch and Boback Commercial Group, owned by broker Jim Boback, filed suit against the city oe Cape Coral to collect a commission of more than $1.3 million they claim is owed to them for a 652-acre purchase of foreclosed properties in April.
The plaintiffs in their lawsuit contend that they alerted the city about the sale and guided them through the process, for which service they are seeking a 10 percent commission on the $13.8 million deal. They maintained that while there was no written brokerage agreement between them and the city, Boback Commercial had made its intention to be compensated known to the oher party. Their lawyer, Jason Holtz of Holtz Mahshie DeCosta, said, “The majority of (real estate transactions) do, in fact, have a written brokerage agreement. It is, however, not legally necessary and it’s not an excuse for non-payment where the law would otherwise provide for the real estate professional to be compensated for their work.”
City Councilman Kevin McGrail, in an earlier interview with reporters, said that Steve Pohlman, interim city manager at the time of the deal in qustion, was already looking into purchasing the land before the firm contacted the city. Said he, “It’s like you're working on your project at home and your neighbor offers to help. You didn’t ask for the guy to help, he just did.”
Mayor John Sullivan last Wednesday said he was somewhat surprised Rausch and Boback went through with the suit. Said he, “I don’t see how they could possibly hold the city responsible when they didn’t have a contract. And secondly, we were the buyer, not the seller – and the seller usually pays the commission.”
No comments:
Post a Comment