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Potential Liability For Misrepresentations In Residential Real Estate Transactions: Let The Broker Beware, Dawn K. Mcgee

Fordham Urban Law Journal

While the caveat emptor (buyer beware) theory has traditionally applied to real estate purchases, courts are continuously recognizing a brokers' duty to disclose. Some courts have found duty under an agent-principal relationship; others have found a duty as a matter of public policy, statutory language, ethics codes, or malpractice case law. Courts also differ on whether brokers have a duty to investigate the property and disclose defects. The author recognizes three issues of broker liability about which courts are divided: (1) the level of culpability required to find broker liability; (2) the basis of a real estate broker's duty to …