HOPKINS-EASTON & ASSOCIATES, INC., APPELLANT,
v.
SANTANA PROPERTIES, INC., APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1990-01-16
No. 89-1403
Before SCHWARTZ, C.J., and BARKDULL and NESBITT, JJ.
557 So. 2d 70 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1990)

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

A real estate broker appeals a trial court judgment awarding it $9,000 for a claim to half of a defaulted purchase deposit. The appellate court reverses and awards the full $75,000 (half of the $150,000 deposit), holding that although the broker breached its fiduciary duty by failing to disclose its claim when presenting a second sales contract, the property owner had already unilaterally decided to retain the entire deposit, so the breach caused no reliance or change of position.


Holding

The broker is entitled to $75,000 (half the $150,000 deposit) plus interest from the date it was entitled to the deposit. Although the broker breached its fiduciary duty by failing to disclose its claim, the property owner had already determined not to account to the broker for half the deposit, so the breach caused no reliance or detrimental change of position by the owner.


Headnotes

[1] A real estate broker, as a fiduciary for the seller, must disclose all material information regarding a prospective purchase and sale.

[2] A broker may be estopped from claiming a portion of a defaulted deposit if they fail to disclose that claim at the time they present a subsequent contract for a lesser pr…

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“A broker is a fiduciary for the seller of real property and is required to reveal all information material to a prospective purchase and sale.”

Establishes the broker's fiduciary duty to disclose material information to the property owner.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

The broker was given an exclusive listing to sell property for $3,850,000 with a 6% commission. The broker produced a buyer who contracted to purchase…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This is an appeal of a non-jury trial judgment in favor of appellant, Hopkins-Easton & Associates, Inc. The appellee property owner gave the appellant broker an exclusive right to sell certain real property at a price of $3,850,-000.00. This listing agreement called for 6% commission. The broker produced a buyer who signed a contract with the owner calling for a purchase price of $3,800,-000.00 with a $150,000.00 deposit. In the event of default by the buyer, one-half of the deposit was to be retained by the owner and one-half was to be awarded to the broker. This contract went into default and the owner retained the entire $150,-000.00. Subsequently the owner told the broker to find another buyer. The broker then produced a contract with the purchase price of $3,600,000.00 calling for a 6% commission and this contract ultimately closed and title was transferred. At no time prior to the signing of this second agreement did the broker inform the owner that it was going to claim one-half of the deposit posted under the defaulted first contract, and the owner had unilaterally determined not to account to the broker for one-half of the deposit. After the signing of the second agreement the broker demanded not only 6% under the second purchase and sale but also one-half of the deposit on the first agreement. The broker received 6% on the second sale price upon closing, but did not receive one-half of the deposit posted by the original agreement. The broker instituted suit to collect one-half the original deposit. After final hearing the trial judge awarded the broker $9,000.00 as additional compensation, being 6% of the $150,000.00 retained by the seller under the first agreement. The broker appeals contending that its entitled to the full one-half of the $150,-000.00 deposit, or $75,000.00.

A broker is a fiduciary for the seller of real property and is required to reveal all information material to a prospective purchase and sale. Klien v. Pyms Suchman Real Estate, 303 So. 2d 401 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974). Therefore the broker would ordinarily be estopped to later claim one-half of the original deposit because of his failure to disclose his claim at the time he presented the second contract calling for a lesser price to the seller. However, in the instant case we hold that because the owner had already determined not to account to the broker for one-half of the default deposit, the breach of the fiduciary duty in failing to disclose the claim did not affect the determination of the seller to retain all the defaulted deposit or to sign the second purchase and sale agreement. There was no reliance or change of position brought about by the broker’s silence, the seller already having determined to retain all of the original deposit.

We therefore reverse the damage award in the final judgment and return the matter with directions to the trial court to increase the award to $75,000.00 plus interest from the date the broker was entitled to one-half of the defaulted deposit.

Reversed and remanded with directions.

Concurrence
SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge

SCHWARTZ, Chief Judge

(specially concurring).

While I entirely agree with the result reached by the majority, I would base it upon another, perhaps simpler analysis. I think it clear that, under the unequivocal terms of its contract with the seller,1 the broker earned half of the deposit in the first, aborted transaction. Since there are no facts upon which a waiver of or estoppel to that claim can be constructed, Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. v. Vogel, 195 So. 2d 20 (Fla. 2d DCA 1967); 22 Fla.Jur.2d Estoppel and Waiver §§ 86-7 (1980), the vested right to recover simply remained fully in effect.

. I cannot agree with the court that there was any obligation or even any occasion to reveal this fact to the seller, since it obviously already possessed the same information concerning the terms of its own agreement. Cf. L & N Grove, Inc. v. Chapman, 291 So. 2d 217 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974), cert. dismissed, 298 So. 2d 412 (Fla.1974).


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw