{"id":37108,"date":"2020-02-11T12:17:12","date_gmt":"2020-02-11T10:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.propertyshark.com\/Real-Estate-Reports\/?p=37108"},"modified":"2025-05-22T13:09:36","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T10:09:36","slug":"legal-dangers-of-misrepresentation-by-brokers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.propertyshark.com\/Real-Estate-Reports\/2020\/02\/11\/legal-dangers-of-misrepresentation-by-brokers\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Dangers of Misrepresentation by Brokers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p> <strong><em>NYC-based&nbsp;boutique law firm&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/pnlawyers.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Pardalis &amp; Nohavicka<\/a>&nbsp;brings the latest legal updates from the world of real estate to PropertyShark.&nbsp;Pardalis &amp; Nohavicka&nbsp;handles an eclectic array of matters, representing individuals and business owners in civil litigation, criminal cases and business transactions,&nbsp;currently litigating and representing clients throughout the United States and around the world.<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Selling a home is similar to selling a product. In order to appeal to buyers, listings need to have appealing photos, detailed descriptions of the property and vital information about the surrounding area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, as with any sales listing,\nthe line between marketing and misleading can sometimes get blurry. As a\nresult, when sharing listings, brokers should take care to avoid vague language\nthat could potentially get them into legal trouble for misrepresentation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Misrepresentation can occur in a\nvariety of different ways; the key to differentiating between a case of true\nmisrepresentation and a simple mistake is <strong>intent<\/strong>.\nIf a broker provides information that they believed to be a true statement,\nthen they are not committing any act of misrepresentation. Conversely, if a\nbroker knowingly provides false information for the purposes of making a sale,\nthen this can be considered an act of fraud. The lines are especially blurry\nhere because there is no specific law in place that directly addresses\nfalsifications of real estate listings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, there is a law aimed at\nregulating these falsifications. <strong>The\nProperty Conditions Disclosure Act<\/strong> (PCDA) helps potential residential real\nestate buyers obtain fair information. In accordance with this law, sellers of\nresidential real property are required to provide the potential buyer or\nbuyer\u2019s agent with a complete disclosure statement. This statement must be\ndelivered to either party prior to the signing of any binding contracts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the PCDA, in May of\n2019, the State Real Estate Board of New York added new provisions that deal directly\nwith advertising and listing misrepresentations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>The\nnew provisions prohibit any brokers, agencies or real estate salespersons from\nadvertising listings that are exclusive to a specific broker without that\nbroker\u2019s permission. <\/li><li>The\nadvertisements must be specific and clearly state the name of the exclusive\nbroker. <\/li><li>If\na third-party is paid for advertising, those advertisements must disclose the\nexclusive broker\u2019s name and include the word \u201cadvertisement,\u201d at minimum.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These provisions help clarify any\nconfusion that potential buyers or interested individuals may have, whether the\nmisconception is about the physical property itself or the listing party. On\nthe broker\u2019s side, the regulations also eliminate the ability of other parties\nto advertise exclusive listings without the authorization of the named broker.\nOverall, these regulations create a more fair system in residential real\nestate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Real estate brokers who maintain their integrity can easily avoid being trapped in a case of misrepresentation. Brokers should do their due diligence by performing thorough research and providing clients with the best information they can obtain. Remember, selling strategies are perfectly normal as long as they are <strong>honest<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Authors:<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertyshark.com\/Real-Estate-Reports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2019\/03\/PropertyShark-Taso.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propertyshark.com\/Real-Estate-Reports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2019\/03\/PropertyShark-Taso-150x150.png\" alt=\"Taso Pardalis\" class=\"wp-image-34836\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong><em>Taso Pardalis<\/em><\/strong>&nbsp;is a founding partner of the Law Offices of Pardalis and Nohavicka, a leading full- service NYC law firm with offices in Manhattan, Queens and WeWork. Taso may be a well-known attorney with many cases making headlines in major media outlets, but at heart, he is a true entrepreneur that believes in supporting the small business community. His areas of concentration are: Intellectual Property, Trademarks, Corporate, Business Law and Real Estate Law.<\/em><br \/>______________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertyshark.com\/Real-Estate-Reports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2019\/11\/Nataly-Goldstein.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propertyshark.com\/Real-Estate-Reports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2019\/11\/Nataly-Goldstein-150x150.png\" alt=\"Nataly Goldstein\" class=\"wp-image-36474\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Real Estate and Corporate Transactions Attorney&nbsp;<strong>&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"mailto:nataly@pnlawyers.com\" target=\"_blank\">Nataly Goldstein<\/a>&nbsp;<\/strong>is a graduate of Cardozo School of Law, where she served as&nbsp;President of the Real Estate Law Association.&nbsp; She is experienced in both residential and commercial real estate transactions, as well as representing large banks, such as Wells Fargo and Citibank.<\/em><br \/>______________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propertyshark.com\/Real-Estate-Reports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2019\/10\/PropertyShark-Bio-Graphics.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.propertyshark.com\/Real-Estate-Reports\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/98\/2019\/10\/PropertyShark-Bio-Graphics-150x150.png\" alt=\"Sofia Stefanou\" class=\"wp-image-36309\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Sofia Stefanou<\/strong>&nbsp;is a law clerk at Pardalis &amp; Nohavicka. She is currently a student at NYU\u2019s Schack School of Real Estate. Sofia is a member of NYU\u2019s Undergraduate Real Estate Club, Women in Real Estate Club, and Hellenic Heritage Association. She is currently a member of the real estate law team at Pardalis &amp; Nohavicka.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NYC-based&nbsp;boutique law firm&nbsp;Pardalis &amp; Nohavicka&nbsp;brings the latest legal updates from the world of real estate to PropertyShark.&nbsp;Pardalis &amp; Nohavicka&nbsp;handles an eclectic array of matters, representing individuals and business owners in civil litigation, criminal cases and business transactions,&nbsp;currently litigating and representing clients throughout the United States and around the world. Selling a home is similar to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":37109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9499,328,796],"tags":[11172,11094,11097],"class_list":["post-37108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal","category-new-york-real-estate","category-how-to","tag-old-how-to","tag-new-york-residential-real-estate","tag-real-estate-law"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.4 (Yoast SEO v24.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Legal Dangers of Misrepresentation by Brokers - PropertyShark Real Estate Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As with any sales listing, the line between marketing and misleading can sometimes get blurry. 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