2/15/2019   Harrisburg, PA.   This week we completed a non-jury trial against a real estate brokerage company.  We alleged the company negligently failed to supervise one of its agents.  This was a type of Real Estate Broker malpractice. The agent had operated a real estate investment Ponzi type scam targeting first generation Vietnamese Americans.

The real estate salesperson and two associates ran their real estate business out of an unlicensed office in Harrisburg, Dauphin County.  The brokerage company was across the river in Cumberland County.  The broker claimed she had no knowledge of the illicit activities. 

We showed that although the broker had received complaints, and was aware of pending litigation against her agent. despite this, she took no steps to investigate or provide additional levels of supervision. 

In the 2017 trial against the salesperson it was established that our client’s funds were used to purchase a Harrisburg home. During that 2107 trial, the brokerage company nevertheless arranged a sale of that home and allowed the money to be divided between the rogue agent and her mother. 

Following trial we reached a settlement with the broker’s insurance company which required the company to pay the policy limits of $1 Million.   This addressed a question in the press about whether or not a broker would be liable for failing to supervise a fraudulent activity.

In the previous trial, we had obtained a verdict for $813,950 in compensatory damages for our client, $500,000 in punitive damages and about $500,000 in pre-judgment interest.

Our justice system is the greatest in the world.  An immigrant (and proud US citizen) with a 5^th grade education and almost no English abilities was able to take on a prominent brokerage company and win in a case involving more than 24 transactions and tens of thousands of potential exhibits.