A middleman is not entitled to a commission in a real estate transaction in lack of a brokerage agreement or a realtor license

Middlemen assisted a company in acquiring rights in real estate and demanded payment against it even though at the time they did not hold a valid real estate brokerage license and there was no written brokerage agreement.
The Court held that the middlemen are not entitled to brokerage fees. A person contending entitlement to a brokerage fee in respect of a real estate transaction must show that at the time of the brokerage he had a license, a brokerage contract was concluded between him and one of the parties to the transaction or both and he was the effective element to the transaction. Here the brokers did not have brokerage licenses at the relevant time nor was a written agreement signed and therefore they are not entitled to brokerage fees.