Inman

Real estate brokers sue Trump over commission

Donald Trump is being sued by three real estate brokers who say he still owes them $1.3 million after the profitable sale of land and apartments he owned in Manhattan’s Upper West Side, news sources said.

Barbara Corcoran, founder of the large New York real estate brokerage The Corcoran Group, and two additional brokers allege they have a contract that calls for Trump to pay them $4 million in commissions from the real estate deal, according to an AP report.

Corcoran’s attorney, Richard C. Seltzer, told the AP that Trump paid the brokers only $2.7 million, and the lawsuit asks that Trump pay the remaining commission immediately.

Carrie Chiang and Susan Cara-Madden are two brokers who are also plaintiffs in the suit, news reports said.

The lawsuit centers on the sale of 77 acres of Trump’s property stretching from 59th Street to 72nd Street along the Hudson River in the Upper West Side to Extell Development Corp. and the Carlyle Group, according to an AP report. The deal, which closed in October, was valued at $1.8 billion.

Trump’s attorney Jason Greenblatt said there was no due date for payment of commission to the brokers, the AP report said.

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