Brokerages fight over six-figure commission from $7M mansion sale

One Denver realty company is accusing another of stealing its commission following the sale of a $7.3 million mansion south of the city.

The dispute has its origins in 2018, when the real estate agent Christy Owen of Kentwood Real Estate helped McKay and Nina Belk buy a $2.1 million home in Cherry Creek.

McKay Belk is an heir to and the former president of Belk department stores, which is based in North Carolina, and a former Coca-Cola board member. He and his wife are philanthropists who operate youth programs at their ranch in Norwood, a town in southwest Colorado.

“Because of Owen’s exceptional service to the Belks in connection with their purchase of the 400 Milwaukee property, the Belks gained trust in Owen and planned to hire Owen for all their future real estate sales and purchases,” according to a lawsuit filed on Oct. 7.

This summer, the Belks decided to sell 400 Milwaukee St. and move to another home. But when they called Kentwood, the company led them to believe that Owen had retired. In reality, she had only changed employers, to Urban Market Partners, according to that latter firm.

This became apparent when the Belks made a courtesy call to Owen in June, last week’s lawsuit alleges. After learning she hadn’t retired, they hired Owen to find them a new house. By August, the couple had decided on East Willamette Lane in Greenwood Village.

Just across from the Glenmoor Country Club, that five-bedroom, seven-bath, 12,000-square-foot mansion was bought for $7.25 million. Coincidentally, the seller’s agent was Kentwood.

“Owen represented the Belks for months before the Belks decided to purchase Willamette Lane,” Urban Market alleges in its legal complaint. “Owen was therefore stunned and shocked to receive a letter from Kentwood, dated Aug. 22, on the eve of the closing of the Willamette Lane property, challenging her right to the commission she had plainly earned.”

“Kentwood presently retains Urban Market’s commission,” the latter firm went on to say, “and intends to permanently deprive Urban Market of its commission.”

Urban Market is suing Kentwood for theft of its $203,000 commission, along with fraud and breach of contract. It is also suing the Kentwood agent Soley Maria Bogadottir, who it accuses of intentionally misleading the Belks about Owen’s retirement, for fraud. Bogadottir wanted — and ultimately got — the Cherry Creek listing for herself, according to Urban Market.

“This matter is a commission dispute, which is typically handled by arbitration through the Realtor Association,” Kentwood CEO Gretchen Rosenberg said in an email. “It has been Soley and Kentwood’s intent to file a request for arbitration rather than litigate the matter.”