When you enter listings into the MLS, 你有没有使用过一个下拉菜单，自动从评估区记录中插入平方英尺? 达拉斯地区的一名经纪人和她的经纪人埃比·哈利迪(Ebby Halliday, REALTORS®)因为这样做而面临诉讼. And they lost.

The brokerage appealed the decision. They didn’t believe the jury’s conclusion was correct. Neither did Texas REALTORS®, 哪家公司提交了一份法庭之友简报，支持该经纪公司的断言，即该代理和公司没有做错任何事.

位于达拉斯的德克萨斯州第五地区上诉法院重新审理了此案，推翻了陪审团的裁决.

How This Transaction Wound Up in Court

此案源于2015年的一笔公寓交易，其中MLS的挂牌信息中包含了来自达拉斯中央评估区(Dallas Central Appraisal District)的数据. 当上市代理从MLS的下拉菜单中选择“tax”时，评估区的数据将自动填充到该平方英尺. The listing description displayed the square footage as “1,178/Tax.”

Since the buyer purchased the condo with cash, there was no lender-required appraisal, nor did the buyer choose to have an appraisal performed. The buyer assumed the livable area of the condo to be 1,178 square feet, based on the appraisal district’s information. However, after the transaction closed and the buyer measured the condo, he found the livable square footage totaled only 885 square feet.

The buyer sued the agent and brokerage, 声称违反了《2021十大正规彩票app》(DTPA), statutory fraud, and negligent misrepresentation. 买方还声称，经纪公司在对代理人的监督和培训方面玩忽职守.

在2017年的一次审判中，陪审团裁定买家胜诉，判给他32335美元. 根据评估区报告的面积与公寓实际可居住面积之间的差额，他声称自己多付了这笔钱. 法官在陪审团裁决的基础上增加了律师费和其他费用.

Although the jury had agreed with most of the buyer’s claims, the jury did find in favor of Ebby Halliday, REALTORS®在其dtpa索赔辩护中表示，该经纪公司及其代理人不知道，也不可能合理地知道评估区的面积是不正确的. The judge, however, disregarded that portion of the jury’s finding.

What Happened on Appeal

Ebby Halliday, REALTORS®对陪审团的裁决提出上诉. In the appellate judges’ written opinion of the case, 在2021十大正规彩票app行业中，“/税”一词被理解为指平方英尺信息的来源, which in this case was DCAD.该意见还承认，“在业内，住宅的平方英尺被理解为‘宜居’的平方英尺。.”

评委们还注意到，清单上有一条评论，称有关面积的信息来源“被认为是可靠的，但不能保证”.”

The opinion affirmed that there was no evidence that Ebby Halliday, REALTORS® actually knew that the condo measured less than 1,178 livable square feet. 上诉法院的法官指出，初审法院陪审团发现“埃比不知道，也不可能合理地知道，它所依赖的记录或来源是虚假的。.”

The judges reversed the judgment of the trial court, concluding: “Based upon our review of the evidence, 我们的结论是，没有一个理性或公正的陪审员会发现埃比做了虚假陈述，或者当时知道DCAD的记录是不正确的.

因此，证据在法律上不足以支持陪审团的裁决. Given this holding, we need not consider Ebby’s remaining issues. 我们推翻了法院的判决，判决(买方)不拿任何东西.”

“This legal victory for Ebby Halliday, REALTORS®在上诉层面也是我们所有会员和mls的一大胜利,” says Texas REALTORS® General Counsel Lori Levy. “我们提交的法庭之友简报提出了一个强有力的法律论据，说明为什么当评估区信息不正确时，中介和经纪公司不应该承担责任. That Ebby Halliday, REALTORS®在法庭上的争论是巨大的……它为未来基于评估区域数据的平方英尺纠纷提供了法律先例.”

The Texas REALTORS® form Notice of Information from Other Sources (TXR 2502)，当会员从评估区等来源提供信息时，可以使用.