REALTOR® WINS HIGH PROFILE JURY TRIAL
After only two hours of deliberation yesterday, the jury unanimously vindicated a buyer's agent accused by his clients of failing to disclose that two other homes in the neighborhood sold for less than what they paid. As a trial court case, this decision in Ummel v. Little is binding on the parties to the case, but has no binding authority for other cases. Moreover, the buyers may file an appeal.

This case involved a couple who bought a home in a coastal Carlsbad community in 2005 for $1.2 million. They regretted their purchase when they discovered that two other homes sold for about $150,000 less than theirs. They sued their real estate agent for negligent misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty. Their lawsuit grabbed national attention, given the recent downturn in the real estate market.

At the trial, the agent's attorney argued that there were valid reasons these two other properties sold for less. One home, for example, had a lap pool which was unappealing to many buyers, and the sellers wanted to rent back the home for two years.

The agent's attorney is David Bright of White and Bright LLP in Escondido, California. Mr. Bright is a member of C.A.R.'s Strategic Defense Attorney Referral Panel. C.A.R.'s Strategic Defense Program is a collective effort by C.A.R. and panel participants to assist in the defense of claims against REALTORS®. For more information about C.A.R.'s Strategic Defense Program, go to http://www.car.org/index.php?id=MzUzMTg.

C.A.R. provides REALTORS® with many legal articles covering a wide range of topics of interest. Some of the new or newly revised legal articles available at http://qa.car.org are as follows:

- REO Transactions, available at http://www.car.org/index.php?id=MzgyNDM.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), available at http://www.car.org/index.php?id=Mzg0MTI.

More info: http://www.car.org/
***********************************************************************

Realegal. is published by the
CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®, a trade association
representing nearly 200,000 REALTORS® statewide.

Executive offices: 525 South Virgil Ave., Los Angeles CA 90020
Phone (213) 739-8200; fax (213) 480-7724
Legislative offices: 980 Ninth St., #1430, Sacramento CA 95814
Phone 916-492-5200; fax 916-444-2033

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To contact C.A.R. regarding Realegal., click on this link:
http://www.car.org/index.php?id=MTEx

Copyright (c) 2008 CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®(C.A.R.)