LaLa Wang v. New York Department of State (AIV license denied)
Posted by LaLa on 02 Jun 2007
After fighting for many years that the 1975 Apartment Information Vendor law did not apply to her robust online brokerage, in August 2003 Wang was left with no choice but to capitulate to the NYDOS’s previous demand that she obtain an AIV license. Nine months passed and the NYDOS denied Wang the AIV license. Wang appealed and, in November 2004 upon a finding of “trustworthiness,” a judge granted her the AIV license. The NYDOS opposed the granting of the AIV license to Wang and a re-Hearing was set for 31 August 2005. Meanwhile, in June 2005, the NYDOS published the Proposed Rule Making acknowledging the AIV law as “obsolete” and proposing amendments so as to encourage unlicensed AIV to become licensed. And still, while no licensed AIV has ever complied with any of the AIV rules, the NYDOS has refused to enforce compliance. In August 2005, the DOS sought to quash Wang’s subpoenas for DOS regulators as witnesses and obtained an adjournment for November 2005. Another adjournment was requested for February 2006. Bottom line: This case is not about the suitability of Wang for licensure. Wang still operates a Multiple Listings Service, BrokersNYC, for thousands of real estate brokers. This is a case where the DOS is sending a message from the “top” which says “If you exercise your due process rights to challenge NYDOS decisions, we will punish you.”
The reliable inside scoop on Manhattan real estate. Contact us if you would like to participate!