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Stone v. Ohio Real Estate Comm.

Ohio Ct. App.March 16, 2021No. 20AP-96Cited 1 time
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Case Details

Judge(s)
Dorrian
Status — whether other courts must follow this ruling
Published
Procedural Posture — the stage the case had reached
appeal

Related Laws

No specific laws identified for this ruling.

Outcome

The Ohio Real Estate Commission's decision to revoke Brett Anthony Stone's real estate license was affirmed by both the trial court and appellate court. Stone failed to cooperate with the division's investigation, failed to timely notify of address changes, and failed to correct billing errors.

Excerpt

The trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that reliable, probative and substantive evidence supported the Ohio Real Estate Commission's adjudication order that appellant violated R.C. 4735.18(A)(6) and (A)(9) and its decision was in accordance with the law. The evidence supported finding that appellant failed to timely respond to the investigation of the Ohio Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing where after sixteen months since the issuance of the complaint and shortly after a subpoena was issued, did appellant provide response to the division's investigation. Further, the evidence supported during the course of the investigation, it became evident that appellant failed to notify the superintendent that his residential address had changed, twice, within a reasonable amount of time. Also, appellant failed to cite to the record to support his defense that an inaccurate charge to the property owner reflected on the owner statement was due to a contract dispute. Finally, the determination of the appropriate sanction for the violations is strictly for the commission to determine as authorized by law and therefore appellant's due process rights were not violated when the commission revoked his license. All assignments of error are overruled. Case affirmed.

What This Ruling Means

# Stone v. Ohio Real Estate Commission – Plain English Summary **What Happened** Brett Anthony Stone, a real estate agent in Ohio, faced disciplinary action from the state's real estate licensing board. Investigators found that Stone failed to respond promptly to their investigation, didn't notify the board when he changed addresses, and didn't fix billing mistakes in his accounts. Over 16 months, Stone ignored requests from the Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing to cooperate with their inquiry. **What the Court Decided** Both the trial court and appeals court agreed that the Ohio Real Estate Commission was justified in revoking Stone's real estate license. The courts found there was solid evidence that Stone violated state regulations by not cooperating with investigators and failing to meet basic professional responsibilities. **Why This Matters for Workers** This case illustrates that ignoring official investigations and regulatory requests can have serious consequences—including losing your professional license. Workers in licensed professions should take compliance obligations seriously, respond promptly to government inquiries, maintain current contact information with regulators, and address errors quickly. Failure to do so can result in loss of livelihood.

This summary was generated to explain the ruling in plain English and is not legal advice.

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