Robbins May Lose Realty License : Corruption: The state wants to take away the accreditation because of the lawmaker’s court convictions. He is fighting the move because it could cost him a $1-million commission.

Former state Sen. Alan Robbins, serving a five-year federal prison sentence on political corruption charges, is fighting a state effort to strip him of his real estate broker’s license so he can collect a potential $1-million commission on the sale of valuable Marina del Rey leases, The Times has learned.

“Real estate law requires brokers to be honest and truthful,” said Robin Wilson, the Department of Real Estate’s top lawyer, “and Mr. Robbins has pleaded guilty to several crimes” related to the kind of activities he would be engaged in as a broker.

The dispute over Robbins’ real estate license shows that even behind bars, the former Democratic lawmaker--a high-profile San Fernando Valley political fixture for two decades--is attempting to use the skills that earned him the reputation as a consummate deal maker. It also provides a glimpse at how Robbins plans to spend his time once he is out of prison and how he is appealing to Capitol lobbyists for help in avoiding the revocation.

Dan Garrett, Department of Real Estate spokesman, said the agency is seeking to take away Robbins’ license based on his conviction on income tax fraud and racketeering charges. But he said Robbins is entitled to a hearing and the felony conviction “is not automatic grounds for revocation.”

David Shane, Robbins’ lawyer, said one reason Robbins is objecting to the revocation is that he could be entitled to “a big commission” from partners in a Marina del Rey development if he holds onto his license.

If the development is sold, the partners would owe Robbins a commission, but “he has to have a broker’s license at that time,” Shane said.

Douglas Ring, a spokesman for the Marina Two Holding Partnership of which Robbins is a partner, confirmed that the former lawmaker would be due a commission--perhaps as much as $1.2 million--if the leasehold is ever sold. But Ring said that “we have no desire to put the thing on the market” and that the partners are attempting to oust Robbins from the enterprise.

Robbins resigned from the Senate in November, 1991, after agreeing to plead guilty to public corruption charges and cooperating with federal authorities. His cooperation included wearing hidden taping devices and is believed to have been instrumental in leading to the corruption indictments of lobbyist Clayton R. Jackson and former Coastal Commissioner Mark L. Nathanson.

Jackson has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled for trial in October. Nathanson, who pleaded guilty last month, is to be sentenced in August.

Robbins has been in custody for more than a year, primarily at the Federal Prison Camp at Lompoc. He also spent time in the El Dorado County Jail in Placerville so he could be close to Sacramento to help authorities with their corruption probe.

As part of his agreement with prosecutors, Robbins, a lawyer, also resigned from the State Bar of California. So, without the ability to practice law, Robbins, a real estate developer while serving in the Senate and a broker since 1978, may turn to real estate to earn his living once he has served out his sentence, Shane said.

One possible compromise, Shane said, would be for the department to allow Robbins to work under the supervision of another broker.

“I’m putting material together to put him in the best light,” Shane said. “He’s trying to hold his life together.”

As part of Robbins’ defense, Shane said he is attempting to line up letters of support from lobbyists in the Capitol.

Dugald Gillies, a lobbyist who represented the California Assn. of Realtors for years, said he turned down a request to help Robbins. Contacted by The Times, Gillies said he has a blanket policy not to intervene with the department on disciplinary actions.

Jim Peel, a department lawyer handling the case filed against Robbins last July, acknowledged that most disciplinary actions are heard by an administrative law judge in less than a year.

But Peel said the department has been waiting to schedule a hearing until Robbins is sentenced in another federal case. In that case, Robbins pleaded guilty last year to three counts of providing fraudulent information about his financial status to obtain a $900,000 loan from Independent Bank in Encino.

In explaining the delay, chief counsel Wilson said Monday that the 50-year-old Robbins “presents no threat to the public because he is in prison. He can’t effectively practice real estate.”

Last week, Peel said that “there’s a good possibility that there won’t be a hearing until he’s released from custody,” in part because of the pending sentencing in the bank loan case. But on Monday, Peel and Wilson said they now anticipate holding a hearing before an administrative law judge in Lompoc in October.

Peel said he did not know the reason for the reversal but speculated that the department had been waiting to schedule a hearing so it could handle sentencing in both federal cases at the same time.

The department oversees 115,000 licensed brokers and another 255,000 sales people with active real estate licenses. It seeks to revoke about 260 licenses a year in cases in which a license holder has been convicted of a crime.