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“The Lala Wang
StoryŠ is available on CD
914 422 1990
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, December 16, 2003
Contact Skip Oliva, CVT President
(202) 223-0071; smoliva@voluntarytrade.org
New York Businesswoman Appeals to Supreme Court; Claims New
York Secretary of State Violated Her Constitutional Right to
Engage in Lawful Trade
Arlington, VA -- Last week, Manhattan businesswoman LaLa Wang
and a guest on the investigative radio program
Scams-n-Scandals, filed a pro se petition with the U.S.
Supreme Court seeking review of New York State’s decision to
suspend her real estate broker’s license. Wang’s license was
suspended because New York Secretary of State Randy Daniels
found Wang operated an unlicensed “apartment information
vendor”. New York law bans anyone from selling lists of
apartments-for-rent without a license. Wang, however, never
sold such lists, but rather she operated MLX.com, a real-time
database that allows customers to access listings and other
brokerage services. MLX.com’s database is essentially the same
type of “multiple listing service” that brokers have been able
to access for years. But when Wang tried to sell this
information directly to the public at a lower cost, the state
moved in to shut her down.
Wang’s Supreme Court petition raises three constitutional
issues. First, New York violated Wang’s due process rights by
suspending her broker’s license for conduct unrelated to her
work as a broker—namely, running an allegedly unlicensed AIV.
Secretary Daniels found Wang guilty of violating the AIV law
despite lacking any statutory authority to make that
determination. Only New York’s attorney general can prosecute
AIV violations.
Second, Wang said the AIV law itself violates her First
Amendment rights, because it prevents her from making
truthful, non-misleading statements to the public about
apartment rentals. Under Supreme Court precedents, the state
may not restrict “commercial speech” unless it is narrowly
tailored to meet a compelling state interest, which was not
the case here. Wang was never charged with defrauding or
injuring any consumer.
Third, Wang said that the New York courts improperly dismissed
her constitutional concerns for lack of standing. The
Secretary argued that Wang couldn’t challenge the AIV law
because she wasn’t a licensed AIV. But this merely exposes the
Secretary’s shell game: Wang’s alleged flaunting of the AIV
law was the sole reason given for suspending her broker’s
license, yet the courts below held she couldn’t challenge that
reason for lack of standing. This is a nonsensical argument
that shouldn’t fool most first-year law students, let alone
two New York appellate courts.
Wang now awaits New York’s reply to her Supreme Court
petition. That reply is due January 12, 2004. Other interested
parties and organizations may file amicus briefs in support of
Wang’s petition. Such briefs are also due with the Court by
January 12, 2004. A PDF version of Wang’s petition can be
downloaded at
CVT has prepared a report summarizing the issues in Wang’s
appeal. That report can be downloaded
here .
For additional information about this case, please contact CVT
President Skip Oliva at (202) 223-0071 or smoliva@voluntarytrade.org.
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Citizens for Voluntary Trade
Post Office Box 66
Arlington, VA 22210
Tel: (571) 242-1766
Fax: (760) 418-9010
E-mail: info@voluntarytrade.org
Web: http://www.voluntarytrade.org
Donate:https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=info%40voluntarytrade.org&no_note=1
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