Virginia Real Estate Commission v. Dorsey Bias, Broker, T/A Cavalier Realty Company

Summary

The Supreme Court of Virginia reversed a circuit court's vacation of a Virginia Real Estate Commission order suspending broker Dorsey Bias' license. The court held that under the Administrative Process Act's substantial-evidence standard, the circuit court could not substitute its judgment for the commission's fact findings, which were supported by ample evidence that Bias failed to promptly tender a written offer to his seller-principal. The court also held that a broker's duty to tender offers is absolute and not dependent on whether the offer benefits the seller, and that the commission committed no reversible error in receiving evidence of later transactions given the relaxed evidentiary rules in administrative proceedings.