The Real Estate Licensing Board announces the first payment from the North Carolina Real Estate Recovery Fund. The Fund was created by the 1979 General Assembly to provide for compensation to persons victimized by dishonest real estate agents who misapply trust funds.

The Board paid $5,000 to Mr. and Mrs. T. Mitchell Langdon of Benson. The Langdons gave former broker Irvin A. Staton of Tarboro earnest money to purchase a farm listed with Staton. Staton put the funds in his escrow account, but later spent the money for personal needs. The Langdons obtained a judgment against Staton which was unsatisfied. Payment from the Recovery Fund was ordered by the Edgecombe County Superior Court.

The Recovery Fund consists of $100,000 transferred from the Board's reserve funds, and was thus created out of licensee fees. The North Carolina Association of REALTORS sponsored the legislation creating the Fund. The Licensing Board hopes that payments from the Fund will help to partially compensate for the tiny minority of licensees who abuse their license privileges.