Owner Must Pay Broker's Retainer Fees

A shopping center owner hired a broker to lease space in the center. The contract required the owner to pay the broker a monthly retainer fee. The owner failed to pay the broker its retainer fee for four months. So the broker sued the owner, claiming that it had violated the contract and asking the court to order the owner to pay it the fees due.

A Minnesota appeals court ruled that the owner had violated the contract by failing to pay the broker its monthly retainer fees. And the court ordered the owner to pay the broker the retainer fees due. The court rejected the owner's argument that the broker had violated the contract first. The only significant violation the owner alleged was the broker's failure to submit monthly reports, the court noted. But there was no evidence that the broker was ever told what types of reports were required or notified that it had violated the contract by not submitting such reports, the court said [Urban Retail Properties Co. v. Talisman Brookdale, LLC].