Connect Magazine September/October 2018 | Page 10

REAL ESTATE LICENSEES CAN BE HELD PERSONALLY LIABLE FOR NEGLIGENCE R BY NED HALE, ESQ., BOARD CERTIFIED REAL ESTATE ATTORNEY eal Estate licensees frequently ask their legal WRONG! According to the third district court of appeals, counsel if they can be personally sued by a which includes Miami, in the recent case of Muchnick v. party to a sales contract or a lease. Surely, Goihman, Case No. 3D17-122 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018), a real these licensees reason, they can’t be sued estate licensee is not shielded from personal liability due to personally – they are working for a company the fact that he was acting within the scope of his corporate after all, and isn’t limited liability the main employment because the evidence showed that the licensee benefit of working for a company? personally participated in the negligence. The court said that the licensee owed a duty of reasonable care to the tenants 10 RPCRA.ORG | SEP/OCT 2018