The former Christie’s International Real Estate franchise covering the tri-state area claims its agents are behind billions of dollars in sales volume.
But agents say payment issues have been pervasive at the firm in recent years, with some waiting months to get paid from some of those deals despite complaints to leadership, according to five current and former agents who spoke to The Real Deal.
The allegations of delayed payments come less than two weeks after Christie’s International abruptly terminated its licensing agreement with the company. The following week, the company announced it was joining The Agency as The Agency One Rock.
The reasons behind Christie’s dropping its tri-state affiliate remain unclear. A spokesperson for Christie’s did not respond to a detailed list of questions about the alleged payment issues, but said in a statement that the company “terminated our affiliation with this franchise to protect the integrity of the Christie’s International Real Estate brand.”
A spokesperson for The Agency did not respond to a request for comment.
“Commission payments were egregiously late and still not paid for many months despite numerous notifications to leadership,” said one agent, who is still with the brokerage, estimating the company owed him as much as $60,000 in late commissions from March and April. Agents were granted anonymity to openly discuss payment issues without fear of retaliation.
Agents said that the firm’s leadership provided no explanation for the late payments and that managing brokers were left in the dark as well. Text messages between one former agent and the managing broker for an office in central New Jersey viewed by TRD show agents asking about commissions from deals that closed almost two months prior.
“This is way out of hand,” the managing broker writes in response to questions from the agent about the status of their commissions.
Regulations set by New Jersey’s Department of Banking and Insurance generally require brokers to pay agents within 10 business days of receiving commissions. A representative for NJDOBI said that no formal disciplinary action has been taken against Christie’s International Real Estate Group and would neither confirm or deny if the department had opened any investigation.
The firm is in court over similar allegations, with oral arguments on its motion to dismiss a lawsuit from agent Stephen Braconi scheduled for Thursday. Earlier this year, Braconi sued its New Jersey operation and its broker of record, Darlene Bandazian, alleging unpaid commissions and later accusing the firm of unfair charges.
Braconi, who joined the firm in 2020, filed an initial complaint in January that accused the brokerage of failing to pay him over $145,000 in commissions from deals closed in late 2025, despite a provision in his independent contractor agreement requiring the company to compensate agents within 10 days of receiving funds from a closed deal.
In April, Braconi filed an amended complaint that removed most allegations of unpaid commissions, instead claiming the firm charged him $77,000 in bogus costs, including technology and desk fees. He also accused the brokerage of wrongfully reducing his commission split and withholding more than $17,000 in commissions on closed deals.
The amended complaint did maintain that Christie’s failed to pay Braconi in a timely fashion and failed to provide “a complete and comprehensive written explanation” of its alleged delays in payment.
In a response to the lawsuit, an attorney for the firm claimed that Christie’s records showed that Braconi had been paid on “multiple transactions” identified in his initial complaint. The court also rejected Braconi’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have frozen the company’s funds.
In March, Christie’s filed counterclaims alleging that Braconi owed almost $40,000 in unpaid fees and that Christie’s inadvertently overpaid Braconi for several months at the end of last year after he reached an annual gross commission income of $1.35 million, triggering a reduction in commission splits. Christie’s also alleged that Braconi, who left the firm at the end of last year, violated non-solicitation terms in his ICA after leaving.
“Mr. Braconi’s lawsuit is baseless and is being vigorously defended,” an attorney for The Agency One Rock said in a statement, pointing to the amended complaint and a court’s denial of his request for injunctive relief. “The litigation remains pending and includes counterclaims asserted by Christie’s arising from Mr. Braconi’s own conduct and obligations under his Independent Contractor Agreement. We look forward to presenting the full facts through the judicial process.”
The British auction house built its real estate arm through licensing agreements with local brokerages. In 2017, Christie’s established its own office in New York City, replacing what had been a long-term licensing agreement with Brown Harris Stevens.
Four years later, Chicago-based @properties acquired Christie’s brokerages and affiliates in a “long-term global brand license agreement.”
Ilija Pavlovic had operated a Christie’s affiliate through his New Jersey-based brokerage, Special Properties Real Estate Service, since 2017. He expanded the firm’s operations through the Christie’s International Real Estate brand in New Jersey and the New York suburbs in the following years, entering the New York City market with a Manhattan office opened in 2023.
Now under The Agency, Pavlovic’s firm oversees roughly 1,200 agents across 20 offices.
Sam Lounsberry contributed reporting.
