Pagano Co. v. 48 South Franklin Turnpike, LLC

At issue in this appeal is whether a purchaser of commercial property is liable for the real estate broker commissions due under the leases it acquired under a general assignment from the seller. In VRG Corp. v. GKN Realty Corp., 135 N.J. 539, 556, 641 A.2d 519 (1994), we held that in order to incur liability by virtue of such an assignment, the purchaser must have “affirmatively assume[d]” the seller’s obligation to pay the commissions. A separate express promise by the purchaser to pay broker commissions certainly will satisfy that standard. But that is not the only way to do so. Rather,…