A plaintiff sued a real estate brokerage firm and a real estate broker claiming that he was owed monies in connection with the sale of a property. He sought at least $1.1 million, plus prejudgment interest for “certain services he provided to the defendants with respect to the premises.” The defendants moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to CPLR §§3211(a)(1) and (a)(7).

The defendants contended that the complaint should be dismissed because the plaintiff “is attempting to collect a portion of the commission for the sale of the… premises, but plaintiff is not a licensed real estate broker, and he is therefore prohibited from collecting/splitting any commission pursuant to Real Property Law (RPL) § 442 (§ 442) and from commencing legal action to recover such commission (§442-b).”