GULF STREAM, FL — A Palm Beach County real estate brokerage has filed a civil lawsuit against a Gulf Stream homeowner and two competing brokerages, alleging it is owed a 5 percent commission on the pending sale of a home just north of Delray Beach, according to a complaint filed July 22, 2026 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court.
The case, Palm Group Realty, LLC v. Craig W. Bode, Signature International Premier Properties, LLC, and Coastal Commercial Group, LLC, carries Case No. 502026CA008231XXXAMB and was assigned to Division AN. Palm Group Realty is represented by Adriana C. Clamens of Cohen, Norris, Wolmer, Ray, Telepman, Berkowitz & Cohen, a North Palm Beach firm. The complaint seeks damages in excess of $50,000, the jurisdictional threshold for Florida circuit court, along with costs, post-judgment interest and attorney's fees.
The dispute centers on a house at 920 Emerald Row in Gulf Stream, a small coastal town on the Palm Beach County shoreline immediately north of Delray Beach.
According to the complaint, an agent for Palm Group Realty met with the homeowner and his father at the property in October 2025 to discuss listing it. The lawsuit says the homeowner was not ready at that point to put the house on the Multiple Listing Service, and that in late November 2025 he asked the brokerage to handle it as a pocket listing, meaning the home would be marketed privately to a select group of buyers and agents rather than advertised publicly.
The two sides signed a Buyer Compensation Agreement on Dec. 1, 2025, the complaint states. The filing says that agreement entitled Palm Group Realty to 5 percent of the gross purchase price if the brokerage was the procuring cause of a sale during a 180-day window running from Dec. 1, 2025 through May 30, 2026, a stretch the complaint calls the protected period.
The lawsuit alleges the brokerage delivered during that window. It says agents Christopher Vioni and Marcie Kipper showed the property in December 2025 and received a written offer on Jan. 14, 2026 from Pelican Investment Group, LLC, submitted through Ingrid Kennemer, an agent the complaint identifies as associated with Coastal Commercial Group. The complaint alleges the two Palm Group agents stayed involved in negotiations with Kennemer through the end of February 2026.
A copy of that offer is attached to the complaint as an exhibit. It lists a typed purchase price of $3.1 million with a handwritten figure of $3.3 million, describes the deal as an all-cash transaction with no financing contingency, and names Palm Group Realty as listing broker and Coastal Commercial Group as cooperating broker.
The complaint alleges that on May 1, 2026, while the compensation agreement was still in effect, the homeowner listed the property on the MLS with Signature International Premier Properties. It further alleges that on May 14, 2026 he signed a purchase contract with Pelican Investment Group, the same buyer the brokerage says it produced. The complaint states that, upon information and belief, closing is scheduled for July 29, 2026.
After learning the home was under contract, Palm Group Realty's counsel contacted the two other brokerages to seek the commission at closing, according to the complaint, which alleges both firms denied that any 5 percent commission is due.
The lawsuit brings four counts. It alleges breach of contract and unjust enrichment against the homeowner. It asks the court for a declaratory judgment against all three defendants deciding whether Palm Group Realty was the procuring cause of the sale and whether it is entitled to the 5 percent commission. And it alleges tortious interference with contractual relations against Signature International Premier Properties and Coastal Commercial Group, claiming both knew about the compensation agreement and interfered with it.
Tortious interference is a claim that an outside party knowingly disrupted an existing contract between two others. Procuring cause, the central question in the declaratory count, is the industry term for which broker actually brought about a sale.
The complaint does not state the price of the May 14 purchase contract, so the dollar value of the disputed commission is not established in the filing. The complaint also does not include a jury trial demand.
The filing reviewed by Boca Post does not include a response from any of the defendants, and no defense counsel is listed in the reviewed material. The allegations are claims made in a civil complaint and have not been proven in court.
Boca Post reviewed the complaint, Palm Group Realty, LLC v. Craig W. Bode, et al., Case No. 502026CA008231XXXAMB, filed July 22, 2026 in the Circuit Court of the 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County.
The case is newly filed and pending. No hearing date appears in the reviewed filing.
Boca Post reports on selected Palm Beach County lawsuits as part of its legal desk coverage, helping readers follow public court filings involving local people, businesses, and organizations.
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