Case Law Summaries

IMO Sayers v. New Jersey Real Estate Commission

• Opinion Date: October 6, 2000
• Real Property Law
• E-Mail

BROKERS; LICENSING—Leasing activities conducted as an agent of a property owner do not qualify as activities of a salesperson under an employing licensed broker for purposes of qualifying to take the broker’s examination.

An individual licensed for 13 years as a real estate salesperson was denied the opportunity to sit for the Real Estate Broker’s Examination by the New Jersey Real Estate Commission on the ground that she had not fulfilled the experience requirement for licensure as set by N.J.S. 45:15-9 and N.J.A.C. 11:5-3.8(a). She worked for a property management company that managed approximately 750,000 square feet of space in New Jersey. She was responsible for finding tenants to lease space and to conclude successful lease transactions. The Commission affirmed the initial denial of her application by the Executive Director because she “has not worked as a salesperson as defined in N.J.S. 45:5-3 and has not been operating under the employing licensed broker on a full time basis.” She appealed and the Appellate Division stated it “will not reverse an agency decision unless it is arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable or it is not supported by substantial credible evidence in the record as a whole.” The Appellate Division concluded that the individual “was not employed full-time as a real estate salesperson and that when she handled certain properties she was not acting as a real estate salesperson, but rather as agent, . . . and that these do not fulfill the experience requirements for licensure as a real estate broker.”

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