Court of Appeal affirms implied right to agent commission and limits to qualified privilege in defamation claims

24 Mar 2017

This case concerns a claim for real estate agent commission and defamation of the agent in connection with a collective sale, and serves as a timely reminder on the following issues:

(a) The importance of ensuring that engagement contracts with real estate agencies contain express terms regulating the agency’s right to commission.

(b) The Court’s readiness to imply into the agency-principal agreement a right of the agent to receive commission, should its services be the “effective cause of the transaction”.

(c) Vendors and purchasers who intend to lodge complaints against real estate agents should take care when doing so, so as to avoid a defamation claim.

To read the update, please click here.