Real estate agent lodges claim for more than $743,000 in alleged unpaid commissions

A commercial real estate agent has lodged a claim in the Federal Court for more than $743,000 in allegedly unpaid commissions.

Dane Crawford was a senior member of the Colliers International commercial real estate agency in Newcastle before he resigned last year.

In a statement of claim lodged in the Federal Court, Dane Crawford says he handed in his resignation based on representations that Colliers International made about the amount of his outstanding commissions.

In the claim, Mr Crawford says when he discussed resigning with his employer, he was told he would be entitled to half of the 50 per cent of gross commission on contracts that had been exchanged but not yet settled. He said he went ahead with the resignation on this understanding.

Mr Crawford is claiming he would not have resigned had he not been entitled to the commissions. According to the claim, following Mr Crawford’s resignation, Colliers advised him he was owed $297,500 in commissions. Mr Crawford claims this was an alleged breach of his contract which entitled him to a base salary and 50 per cent commission on revenue earned above $180,000 and 10 per cent on revenue below that amount.