Coldwell Banker Real Estate Agent Sued After Double-Ended South Florida Sale

Barry Cohen and his wife made a generous offer for a waterfront South Florida home located in Sarasota on West Royal Flamingo Drive after falling in love with the property during a real estate showing. Even though their offer was $400,000 over the asking price, another bidder’s offer was accepted, prompting Barry to visit the homeowner and ask what had happened. 

Real Estate Agent Obscures Best Offer 

The owner and Barry Cohen soon discovered that Roger Pettingell, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker, had acted as the transaction broker for both the owner and the winning bidder. In order to make the offer of the bidder for whom he served as a broker look more attractive to the homeowner, Pettingell was allegedly dishonest and hid information about the other offers to sway the owner’s decision. 

This proved effective since the owner of the property did not know that Cohen’s offer was the highest and that he volunteered to waive the inspection. As a result, the owner accepted a lower offer, not having been provided all offers in writing by Pettingell.  

Coldwell Banker Sued After Agent Collects Double Commission  

Acting as the transaction broker for the owner and winning bidder allowed Pettingell to collect a 6% commission on the sale, versus the 3% he would have collected had he only served as the broker for the owner. This totaled $276,000 or more than a quarter-million dollars on a single sale. 

Pettingell is now named as a defendant in a lawsuit against himself and Coldwell Banker, which alleges that Pettingell failed to meet his obligations to present all offers to the seller equally, in writing, in order to manipulate the seller into selecting the buyer whom Pettingell also represented. 

Get Help from a Real Estate Litigation Attorney Today 

In Florida, a real estate agent cannot represent both the buyer and seller of a property. However, the law allows agents to get around this by acting as a transaction broker for both. In situations like this, unscrupulous real estate professionals can take advantage of both buyers and sellers to collect a double commission. 

Get help with your real estate dispute from an experienced South Florida litigation attorney by contacting Feinstein Real Estate Litigation & Business Law at 954-767-9662 (Fort Lauderdale), 561-981-6212 (Boca Raton), or 305-728-5267 (Miami). Our legal team is available now to assist you.