Northwest Realty v. Greenberg CA2/2

Filed 6/28/21 Northwest Realty v. Greenberg CA2/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

NORTHWEST REALTY, INC. B305368

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. v. YC072372)

JOSHUA GREENBERG,

Defendant and Respondent.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Ramona G. See, Judge. Affirmed. Spierer, Woodward, Corbalis & Goldberg, Stephen B. Goldberg and Meighan E. Leon for Plaintiff and Appellant. Law Offices of Brad Snyder, Bradley Allen Snyder and Patricia M. Bakst for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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Plaintiff and appellant Northwest Realty, Inc. (Northwest) appeals from a judgment entered following a successful summary judgment motion brought by defendant and respondent Joshua Greenberg. Northwest sued Greenberg for an alleged breach of a contract to pay a commission on the sale of residential property. The superior court granted the motion for summary judgment, concluding because Northwest was not a third party beneficiary it could not prevail on a contract claim for damages and the claim was barred by the statute of frauds. We agree the statute of fraud bars the claim and affirm. BACKGROUND 1. Lease Agreement and Addendum In 2012, respondent Greenberg decided to lease his residential property in Manhattan Beach for a two-year term. Greenberg signed the lease agreement as landlord on December 11, 2012. Ryan and Cassidy McCarthy signed the agreement as tenants on the same date. The agreement identified Re/Max Olson & Associates (Re/Max) as Greenberg’s listing broker and Northwest as the McCarthys’ leasing broker. It also stated the respective brokers were not parties to the agreement. The agreement was signed by Re/Max’s agent, Collin Hicks, and by Northwest’s agent, Alexandra Gauss. The lease agreement was a preprinted form with boxes next to paragraphs to be checked if they applied to the contracting parties. The paragraphs providing for a broker’s commission to be paid by either the landlord or the tenants “[u]pon execution of this agreement” and “as specified in a separate written agreement” were unchecked, and no such separate agreements were executed. One checked paragraph expressly incorporated the addendum into the lease agreement.