Real Estate Licence Required for Breach of Contract Claim

March 11, 2013

In July 2008, the Dean Group entered into a standard listing agreement agreement to sell Metal Systems, Inc, including the real estate owned by Metal Systems.  TDG sued Metal Systems in May 2010 for breach of contract and quantum meruit, and the trial court dismissed these claims on summary judgment.  TDG appealed.  On appeal, Metal argued that the contract claim failed because TDG could present no evidence of a valid, enforceable contract on the ground that the listing agreement included real estate and TDG presented no evidence that it held the real estate licenses required by the Texas Real Estate License Act.  The Court agreed, finding that TDG did not “allege, prove, or create a fact issue that it was a real estate license holder at the time the Agreement was signed.”  It therefore upheld the trial court’s dismissal.

Dean A. Smith Sales v. Metal Systems