From the March issue: The New York State Department of State quietly fined the Corcoran Group $70,000 this past June as a result of a 2006 complaint filed by an unhappy co-op buyer who discovered that dozens of the firm’s agents were working without licenses, The Real Deal has learned.

A state investigation prompted by the complaint found that 79 brokers and agents — including several top producers at the firm — had licensing irregularities.

Corcoran admitted it violated state law through an agreement known as a consent order, signed in June, that said from the start of 2006 to the end of 2007, 44 of its approximately 900 agents were unlicensed. An additional 17 were licensed but not through Corcoran, and 18 were working as agents under names that were not licensed. [more]

From left: Lauren Muss, Carrie Chiang, Janet Wilkinson and Pam Liebman

Residential brokerage the Corcoran Group held its annual company awards ceremony this week, honoring some of its top-producing teams and agents. Lauren Muss was named the Individual Salesperson of the Year, while the Carrie Chiang Team was honored as the Top Team of the Year. Janet Wilkinson took home the Rookie of the Year prize. At Corcoran Sunshine, the top-selling onsite sales team was comprised of Graham Spearman, Aidan Sullivan, Melissa Ziweslin, Lynne Brown and Lena Nusimow, who work at Extell Development’s the Rushmore, at 80 Riverside Boulevard between 64th and 65th streets. TRD

Top row, from left: Howard and Steve Rubenstein, Donald Trump, Mort Zuckerman; bottom row, from left: Jerry Speyer, Dottie Herman and Pamela Liebman

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is the most powerful man in New York City — so says the New York Observer, which released its annual list of the top 150 most powerful New Yorkers. This year’s ranking included 24 influential real estate players, including real estate PR bigwigs Howard and Steve Rubenstein of Rubenstein Communications (ranked 17th and 78th, respectively), Donald Trump (19th), Boston Properties honcho Mort Zuckerman (20th), Tishman Speyer co-founder Jerry Speyer, Prudential Douglas Elliman CEO Dottie Herman (53rd) and Pamela Liebman, president and CEO of the Corcoran Group (89th). The list included a handful of surprises, as well. TRD [more]

The Rushmore and Extell’s Gary Barnett

It’s more legal trouble for the developers of the Upper West Side Rushmore condominium, who’ve just been hit with a lawsuit by a former broker with the Corcoran Group who claims he’s owed $132,900 in unpaid commissions, Crain’s reported. John Nelson, who was a referral director at the brokerage, said he brought buyers to the table for 28 apartments in the building by Extell Development and the Carlyle Group. But while he was paid half the commission promised for signed contracts in the building at 80 Riverside Boulevard, he claims the developers stiffed him for the remaining half once his buyers closed on their new units. And according to the suit, it’s not the first time this has happened: Nelson also sold apartments Extell’s the Avery, at 100 Riverside Boulevard, for which he had to “chase” the developer for “the payments owed to him,” his attorney said. The Corcoran Group is not involved in the suit, but CEO Pamela Liebman said Extell is always “diligent in paying brokers.” A spokesperson for Extell and an attorney for the defendants said the suit has no merit. [Crain's]

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Richard Smith, CEO of Realogy

Realogy, the real estate giant that owns the Corcoran Group, Citi Habitats and Century 21, today reported a net income of $222 million for the second quarter of 2010, which it attributed to increases in home sales and prices, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company, which lost $1.9 billion in 2008 and had appeared close to bankruptcy last year before raising $515 million in new loans, saw its revenue increase to $1.3 billion last quarter, up 23 percent over the same period in 2009. The gains were in large part due to an 11 percent year-over-year increase in home sales at its Realogy Franchise Group affiliate and a 16 percent increase at NRT, its brokerage unit. Home sale prices in the second quarter were also up 5 percent at RFG and 12 percent at NRT over last year. “Clearly, Realogy had a strong second quarter,” said CEO Richard Smith. “Looking forward, however, it is shaping up to be a difficult third quarter because of the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit and an uncertain near-term outlook for the economy.” TRD

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From the May issue: A year ago this month, New York’s real estate community experienced one of the darker moments of the recession when Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy — one of the city’s largest and most established firms — announced it would close. However, CBHK turned out to be the only major firm that disappeared. Business, meanwhile, has steadily improved for months. “New York has had a very good rebound,” said Pamela Liebman, CEO of the Corcoran Group. [more]

Sales activity on Long Island’s East End spiked dramatically in the first quarter of this year, according to a market report released today by Prudential Douglas Elliman.

There were 486 sales in the Hamptons and North Fork in the first quarter — more than double the number of transactions in the same period of last year. Meanwhile, the average sales price of an East End home leaped 42 percent to $1.57 million, up from $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2009. The median sales price, $800,000, showed a similarly dramatic uptick of 32 percent from the prior-year quarter.

“We had a tremendous surge in sales activity,” said Jonathan Miller, the president and CEO of Miller Samuel, who prepared the report. “It’s more than doubled.” [more]

From left: Faith Hope Consolo of Prudential Douglas Elliman, Noah Rosenblatt of UrbanDigs.com, Pamela Liebman of the Corcoran Group

As part of its 2010 “Neighborhoods Issue,” New York Magazine asked 10 real estate experts about their picks for the New York City nabes that will offer buyers the most bang for their buck by 2014. Pam Liebman, president and CEO of the Corcoran Group said West Harlem, while Streeteasy.com’s Sofia Song chose Morningside Heights. Melissa Cohn, president of Manhattan Mortgage, said that while southern Yorkville “hasn’t been popular in years,” it’s likely to appreciate in price over the next five years with the advent of the Second Avenue subway line. Retail veteran Faith Hope Consolo of Prudential Douglas Elliman picked the Garment District, where storefront leases are being snapped up west of Penn Station and there are plenty of new condominiums to house their customers. Noah Rosenblatt of UrbanDigs.com chose the Financial District and Jed Walentas of Two Trees Management chose the Far West Side, in the 50s. Other experts had their eyes on the outer boroughs’ Flushing, Bushwick and Prospect Heights neighborhoods. [NY Mag] [more]

A former agent with the Corcoran Group, Jason Riggs, has filed suit against his former employer, alleging that he was the target of ongoing, cruel taunts about his weight, according to the New York Post, and that he was ultimately fired due to weight discrimination. The suit says that Corcoran CEO Pam Liebman would make repeated disparaging comments about Riggs’ purported weight problem, calling him “too fat” and telling other employees at the firm that he had “ballooned up.” Riggs was fired in October 2008, according to the Post. When The Real Deal contacted Corcoran about the suit, a representative responded that the company does not comment on personnel issues.

From left: Mary Ann Tighe, Pamela Liebman, Dottie Herman, and Darcy Stacom

In a town where one’s address often means more than one’s name, it
should come as no surprise that some of the most influential players
come from the real estate industry in Crain’s list of New York’s 50
most powerful women. Freshly-minted REBNY Chair Mary Ann Tighe of CB Richard Ellis came in third, while Pamela Liebman, the Corcoran Group’s CEO, ranked 38th, and rival Dottie
Herman of Prudential Douglas Elliman was right behind at No. 39. Darcy
Stacom, vice chairman of CBRE, came in at No. 50. JPMorgan executive Heidi Miller nabbed the number one spot, with Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris coming in second. Other household names like PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi (No. 4) and iconic Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour (No. 21) also made the list, along with public officials like City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (No. 13), Senator Kristen Gillibrand (No. 20) and City Planning Commission chair Amanda Burden (No. 33). The paper also ranked the top companies to work for: Kimpton Hotels got high marks at No. 9, as did Silverstein Properties (No. 22) and Studley (No. 26). [Crain’s] and [Crain's] [more]