Opinion ID: 1985228
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Bedson's status as an in-house salesperson.

Text: This Court's directive in State Bar Ass'n was very specific: a licensed broker who prepares a real-estate contract must set out the precise language of the attorney-review clause at the top of the contract's first page. However, we acknowledge that the in-house transaction presented in this case was not the factual situation presented in State Bar Ass'n. The record in State Bar Ass'n indicated that the Bar Association was primarily concerned about the third-party broker who listed property and brought the seller and buyer together, thereby functioning as an intermediary. In such a situation, confusion may arise over whether the broker was acting to further the interests of the seller, the buyer, both, or just his or her own. Indeed, many buyers think that the real-estate broker is representing them and protecting their interests. Bedson alleges that the situation in which the buyer is dealing directly with the seller or an employee of the seller does not implicate the same concerns. In such a case the buyer knows that the broker is representing and protecting the seller's interest only and that the buyer must protect his or her own interest. Bedson asserts that Calvert could not have misunderstood whose interests he was acting to further because she knew he worked for Landarama and was not an independent middleman. But the facts do not support that assertion. Calvert was an unsophisticated buyer. Bedson's status as a full-time employee did not necessarily dispel Calvert's perception that he was somewhat neutral. The fact that Calvert asked Bedson whether she needed an attorney may show that she perceived Bedson as a neutral party to the transaction. Even if Calvert knew that Bedson was working to further only his employer's interests, State Bar Ass'n's directive would still apply because Bedson was a real-estate broker. Although Bedson's full-time job was to sell condominiums owned by Hovnanian, Bedson's salary consisted of commissions from sales of the condominiums. Those commissions provided Bedson with an incentive to sell a condominium to Calvert without regard to Calvert's best interests. He may therefore have been inclined to push her towards a deal that may have been against her interests. The realtor is interested in making the sale and earning his commission. It is natural for him to gain his customer's confidence and trust and to encourage the parties to sign the contract. It is also easy to assure the lay person that an attorney is not needed and that the seller or buyer should avoid an unnecessary cost. [ State Bar Ass'n, supra, 93 N.J. at 484, 461 A. 2d 1112 (Schreiber, J., dissenting).] That Calvert would have benefitted from an attorney cannot be disputed. An attorney would have required the inclusion of a mortgage-contingency clause in the contract. An attorney-review clause in the contract might have led Calvert to consult an attorney, whose job would have been to further Calvert's interests. Instead, Calvert was left to rely on Bedson, who acted only to further his own and his employer's interests. We thus conclude that Bedson's status as an in-house salesman did not excuse his failure to include the attorney-review clause in Calvert's contract.