July 18, 2017

Samantha Harris hired Sally Ladd, a New Jersey-based entrepreneur, to manager her short-term vacation rental in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. But Pennsylvania law is forcing Ladd to obtain a real-estate broker’s license—which requires that she spend three years working for an established broker, pass two exams, and set up her own brick-and-mortar office in Pennsylvania—just to keep working there. Unwilling to subject herself to such a regime, but fearful about the possibility of enforcement, Sally felt forced to shut down her business.

Samantha and Sally partnered with the Institute for Justice to file a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission arguing the law requiring that Ladd obtain a real estate broker’s license in order to manage vacation rental property—two entirely distinct occupations—violates her constitutional right to earn an honest living.

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