In Horiike v. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Co., (2016) 201 Cal.Rptr.3d 1, 383 P.3d 1094, the California Supreme Court ruled that all salespeople working under a single broker in a “dual agent” transaction owe the same fiduciary duties to both buyers and sellers that the broker does, even if different agents within the brokerage represent the buyer and seller separately.

In Wong v. Stoler, (2015) 237 Cal.App.4^th 1375, the court of appeal reversed the trial court judgment denying rescission remedies to defrauded home buyers.  The buyers purchased a hillside home for $2.35 million. The sellers failed to disclose and actively concealed the facts that: the home was on a private sewer system that went down a steep ravine through public open space; that the property was subject to an informal homeowners’ association to maintain the sewer system; and that the local government agency had issued a notice of abatement to fix leaks in the sewer system.  Plaintiffs’ experts testified that the sewer system was susceptible to damage, and that system failure was inevitable and would cost $500k-$600k to replace two of the lines.