Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, STATE UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES—D. Nev.: Relator not liable for misrepresenting license status, (Jun 28, 2013)

By Jody Coultas, J.D.

Condominium purchasers failed to state Nevada Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) claims against a construction company for allegedly falsely representing that it had a license to sell the condo units, the federal district court in Las Vegas has held (Copper Sands Homeowners Association, Inc. v. Copper Sands Realty, LLC, June 26, 2013, Navarro, G.).

Copper Sands Realty, LLC converted an apartment building into to condominiums and hired Plaster Development Company (PDC), the general contractor on the conversion product, to sell the units. One of PDC’s employees, Jim Cerrone, was a licensed real estate broker, and that license was used to sell the units. The purchasers alleged that PDC violated the DTPA section that prohibits as a person from knowingly conducting a business or occupation without all required state, county, or city licenses.

Private parties may not bring an action under the DTPA, but may bring an action under Section 41.600 if they were a victim of consumer fraud. Consumer fraud is a deceptive trade practice as defined by the DTPA.

There were no genuine issues of material fact to support the DTPA claims, according to the court. The purchasers failed to identify which allegedly false representations served as the basis for the claim, failed to provide any evidence that they relied on the representation, and failed to show damages.

The case is No. 2:10-cv-00510-GMN-NJK.

Attorneys: Terry L. Wike (Law Offices of Terry L. Wike) for Copper Sands Homeowners Association, Inc. James W Pengilly (Pengilly Robbins Slater & Bell) for Jim Cerrone.

Companies: Copper Sands Realty, LLC; Plaster Development Company

Cases: StateUnfairTradePractices NevadaNews