Copyright Institute of Real Estate Management Jan/Feb 2007Litigation to recover fees often consumes the entire fee the broker earned and would have been paid. This process is usually slow, to the detriment of the real estate brokerages and commissioned agents involved in the transaction. As a result several states have been exploring, or have enacted, a commercial real estate broker's commission lien law. These laws have been enacted to solve the problem of brokers going into a closing of a sale and, without mutual consent, receiving a fee lower than previously agreed upon, or in some cases, no fee at all. lien laws need to be forceful and efficient for commercial lease transactions and real estate sales. Commercial brokers have a greater sense of security when completing a transaction if their states have lien laws. Consequently, their clients and the commercial real estate market as a whole benefit. IREM adopted a new Statement of Policy expressing its support of the enactment of commercial broker lien laws in every state.