Judge settles real estate fee flap
Real estate executive Marie Zere, right, and her daughter Michelle. (June 12, 2006) Credit: Brian Ballweg
Marie Zere and Ronald Parr, among the best-known names in Long Island's real estate and commercial development industry, had been friends for decades, often working together on projects. But they had a falling out that wound up in court in 2007. Last week a judge ruled in Zere's favor.
Zere, a veteran real estate broker with Zere Real Estate Services in Ronkonkoma, and Parr, a veteran developer of the Ronkonkoma-based Parr Organization, had clashed over whether Parr owed Zere a broker's fee for work she did in helping to bring about a contract under which Parr was hired as the general contractor for the Touro Law Center in Central Islip.
Last week, State Supreme Court Judge Emily Pines, ruling in Riverhead, awarded Zere $307,000, plus interest.
Pines said Zere "demonstrated, by a fair preponderance of the credible evidence, at trial, that she provided the introduction" of the Parr Organization to Touro. Parr said he will appeal.
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