CJ: CIREBA rules ‘restrictive and one-sided’

(CNS Business): In a dispute between a member of the Cayman Islands Real Estate Brokers Association (CIREBA) and a non-member over commission in a high end real estate transaction, Chief Justice Anthony Smellie ruled that Remax, one of the defendants in the case who acted for the sellers, “could not stand behind the CIREBA rules to keep the full commission for itself” and ordered them to pay the agents for the purchaser, Cayman Realty Consultant (CRC), one-half of the 5% of commission on a US$6.6 million transaction instead of a “referral fee” of US$30,000 that it said it was restricted to pay according to CIREBA rules. The judge said there was no reason in the public interest to justify invoking the CIREBA rules to block an award that was otherwise justified. Read more on CNS Business