Good news for brokers in a closely watched dispute about sales commissions: A state appellate court opened the door for a brokerage to collect a portion of the deposits for 100 pre-construction purchase and sales agreements — even though 79 of those deals never closed.

The appeal generated an amicus brief from the Florida Association of Realtors and resulted in a ruling for the brokerage arguing it did its job and should be reimbursed about $1.5 million on the failed project.

“Our position would be that's not our problem, that's their problem,” plaintiffs lawyer Michael Piscitelli of Vezina Lawrence & Piscitelli in Fort Lauderdale said. “We got the money in the account. That was the broker's job. … There were a lot of things that weren't done that had nothing to do with the broker.”