Jury Finds in Favor of Coldwell Banker in Horiike

We previously reported on Horiike v. Coldwell Banker.  In that case, Mr. Horiike, alleged that the Coldwell Banker listing agent of a property he purchased failed to adequately disclose the square footage of the home he purchased in Malibu, California.  The jury in the original case found in favor of Coldwell Banker.  Mr. Horiike filed an appeal alleging that where there is dual agency broker, even if there are different agents, a fiduciary duty is created.  The California Supreme Court held that such fiduciary duty can be created where it is the same broker, but different agents.  (Please see prior decision, a summary of which was previously reported on our website.)

The matter was remanded back to the trial court for a further trial on the breach of fiduciary duty claim.  A Southern California jury recently, again, found in favor of Coldwell Banker.  Hopefully, this will be the end of the Horiike litigation.
 

Shannon B. Jones, Partner sbj@sbj-law.com