Interference cases look different from ordinary commission disputes because the problem is not only the party who signed your agreement. It is someone else. Another agent tells your buyer they can get a better deal by switching. A buyer's relative or business partner steps in and closes the purchase in a different name. A developer's representative persuades the owner to terminate your listing just before a buyer you produced is ready to sign. An attorney or consultant structures the transaction so your agreement appears not to apply.
When that happens, the evidence tends to sit with people who have no reason to help you. The steps below focus on preserving what you have and identifying what others hold, before it is lost.
1. Document your relationship with the buyer or seller
Start with the relationship that was interfered with. Save the signed listing or buyer brokerage agreement, any written commission offer, and the communications that show an active, ongoing working relationship: showings, offers drafted, negotiations, financing discussions. The stronger and more specific this record, the clearer it is what was taken from you.
2. Identify the third party and what they knew
Write down every person who appears to have played a role, and how they learned about your involvement. Save anything that shows they knew you were the broker: emails where you were copied, showing feedback sent to them, MLS records listing you, a conversation where your name came up. Note dates. Knowledge is often shown through ordinary business messages that the other side will not think to delete.
3. Capture the specific conduct
Record exactly what the third party said or did, and when. A text from your buyer saying "the other agent said they would rebate part of the commission" or "my partner told me to cut you out" is more useful than a general sense that something was wrong. If someone made a statement to you directly, write it down the same day, with the date, the medium and anyone else present. Save voicemails in their original form.
4. Preserve the transaction that replaced yours
Pull the recorded deed and purchase price, any recorded mortgage, and the corporate filings for any new buyer entity. If a different brokerage was paid, the settlement statement may show it. Track the timing between your last contact and the new contract. A short gap, a new entity with a familiar manager, or a commission paid to someone who did little work can each help show what happened.
5. Send a preservation letter through counsel
The most important evidence in an interference case, such as messages between the third party and your client, internal brokerage communications and payment records, is usually in other people's hands. Through counsel, a written preservation letter can put those parties on notice to keep their records. It should be specific about the transaction, the date range and the types of records, and it should not make threats.
6. Avoid conduct that complicates your claim
Do not contact the third party to accuse them. Do not post about the dispute online or in agent groups. Do not record calls without the consent of everyone on the call; Florida permits interception only "when all of the parties to the communication have given prior consent to such interception" (§ 934.03(2)(d)). Do not offer your former client anything in exchange for testimony.
“when all of the parties to the communication have given prior consent to such interception”
§ 934.03(2)(d)
The Florida rules that matter
The threshold licensing rules apply to every commission claim. Under § 475.41, "No contract for a commission or compensation for any act or service enumerated in s. 475.01(3) is valid unless" the broker or sales associate was properly licensed when the work was performed. Under § 475.42(1)(d), a sales associate may not sue for a commission against anyone except the broker registered as the associate's employer at the time, so claims are usually brought by the broker.
Interference claims often travel with other claims, such as breach of contract against the party who signed your agreement and, where the facts support it, fraud. The deadlines differ: five years for an action on a written contract (§ 95.11(2)(b)), four years for a contract not founded on a written instrument (§ 95.11(3)(j)), and four years for fraud (§ 95.11(3)(i)), with the fraud period measured from discovery under § 95.031(2)(a). The limitation period for the interference claim itself should be confirmed for your facts, so do not wait.
If the conduct was intentional, punitive damages may be available, but Florida does not let a claimant simply plead them. Under § 768.72, the court must first find a reasonable basis in the record or a proffer, and the standard of proof at trial is clear and convincing evidence of intentional misconduct or gross negligence. The evidence you preserve now is the foundation for that showing.
In 2026 we obtained a $47.83 million jury verdict in a broker commission case. This was a jury verdict; post-trial proceedings may affect the final judgment. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Read our case study.
“No contract for a commission or compensation for any act or service enumerated in s. 475.01(3) is valid unless”
§ 475.41
Your checklist
- Save your signed agreement and the record of your active work for the client.
- List every third party involved and save proof that each knew of your role.
- Write down specific statements and conduct the same day, with dates.
- Pull the deed, price, mortgage and entity records for the replacement deal.
- Ask counsel to send targeted preservation letters to the people holding records.
- Avoid accusations, online posts and recordings made without consent.
- Talk with a lawyer promptly so each claim's deadline is identified.
How we handle these cases
We map who did what, and when, against your agreement and the closing record. Then we decide which claims fit: contract claims against the party who signed, and claims against the people who interfered, where the evidence supports them. We plan discovery around the records the other side controls and prepare every case as if it will be tried. We represent brokers throughout Florida. Meetings are by appointment only. Call 305-748-3789 to schedule a time to talk.
This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.