Zinnemann

The Real Estate Recovery Program (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 10470 et seq.) allows persons who have been defrauded by a real estate licensee to recover from a state monitored account, funded from real estate license fees (the Recovery Account). To be eligible to recover, an applicant must have obtained a final judgment against the licensee for fraud or conversion of trust funds arising directly from a transaction in which the licensee performed acts for which a license was required, and the judgment must not have been discharged in bankruptcy. (§ 10471, subds. (a) & (c)(7)(F).) The maximum amount payable to claimants against any particular licensee is limited to $100,000. (§ 10474.) When multiple claimants seek more than this amount, the Real Estate Commissioner (the Commissioner) must file an action for determination of the prorated share to be distributed to each claimant. (§§ 10471.6, 10474.5.) This appeal arises from such an action. Appellants are one group of claimants (the Bagnol Group) who contend that the trial court erroneously determined that a second group (the Allison Claimants) was eligible to share in the recovery, reducing the Bagnol Group’s portion. The trial…