Klinger
Klinger v. Realty World Corp.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Crosby, J.
*1551 Opinion
—This is a squabble between a realty company and an agent hired to market one of its franchises. Real estate salesman William Klinger contends the trial court erred in failing to award a commission from Realty World Corporation for the sale of a second franchise. He also challenges the court’s computation of prejudgment interest on the commission due for the sale of the first. Only the latter contention has merit.
I
Realty World, a nationwide real estate franchiser, sells area licenses to real estate brokers who then subfranchise offices in their regions. William Janeski was president of Realty World in January 1978 when a great deal of money was found to be missing from a client trust account in the Greater Los Angeles/San Fernando Valley regional franchise, owned by R. W. Western, Inc. Gilbert Wert, a 50 percent owner in R. W. Western, was implicated in the misdeed.
In a settlement with the California Department of Real Estate, Realty World guaranteed repayment of the missing funds by Wert and R. W. Western. To compensate Realty World for this and the damage to its reputation, R. W. Western agreed to divide the large scandal-plagued region. It reconveyed a new…