William L. Lyon & Associates, Inc. v. Superior Court

—This original proceeding illustrates the perils that real estate brokers and their agents assume when acting as a dual listing agent with duties to both the buyers and sellers of the same house. We consider whether Civil Code section 2079.4 1 or the standard buyer-broker agreement form issued by the California Association of Realtors (Association) governed the limitations period for filing breach of contract and tort causes of action against petitioners William L. Lyon & Associates, Inc., and Connie Gidal. 2 *1300 The buyer-broker agreement form serves to give real estate brokers the exclusive right to represent prospective buyers of residential property. The preprinted form also imposes a two-year limitations period on any legal action against the buyers’ real estate broker. In this case, slightly less than three years elapsed after the close of escrow and before the buyers, real parties in interest Ted Henley and Patti Henley, sued Lyon & Associates.

The Henleys allege that Lyon & Associates committed breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligence, and negligent misrepresentation by failing to investigate and disclose problems with the house they…