Judge’s Initial Ruling Favors Irvine Firm Over Coldwell Banker
A small, Irvine-based commercial real estate firm has won a preliminary victory in an effort to obtain a commission of more than $400,000 from Coldwell Banker Commercial Real Estate Services, one of the nation’s largest real estate concerns.
In a tentative decision Monday, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lester E. Olson ruled that Lee & Associates was due half of a $600,000 commission that was paid to Coldwell Banker in 1983 and 1984, plus interest. The total exceeds $400,000.
The disputed commission was paid to Coldwell on a 10-year, $15-million lease that Hughes Aircraft Co. signed in 1982 for research and development space at the Canyon Corporate Center in Anaheim. The complex is owned by the Macklin Co., a Newport Beach-based developer.
The court is expected to issue a final judgment this fall. Coldwell has objected to the court findings, claiming that many of Judge Olson’s findings in the case are ambiguous or wrong. Coldwell attorney Wallace Rosvall refused comment.
Lee & Associates sued Coldwell in 1984, claiming that the giant real estate firm had unfairly taken all of the commission after Hughes rented the 365,000-square-foot space from Macklin.
According to court documents, Macklin hired Coldwell to peddle the property in 1982. Coldwell then sent out descriptions to other area brokers to find out whether they had any prospective tenants.
Several weeks later, Lee & Associates broker Thomas Casey mentioned to a Coldwell broker at an open house that Hughes might have some interest in the Anaheim property. Then, through a series of telephone calls and meetings, Casey helped Coldwell arrange a negotiating session with Hughes representatives that eventually turned into a deal, the judge found.
In similar cases in Orange County, the commission is usually split in half, but Coldwell illegally refused to pay, Judge Olson ruled. Hughes has a rule that requires its representatives to deal only with the principal broker, which in this case was Coldwell.
Though Coldwell offered to pay Lee & Associates a referral fee, the company turned it down, saying that half the commission was owed. The firm also turned down a proposed $30,000 settlement in 1988, said Ed Broffman, an attorney who represented Lee.
