On October 6, 1976 the North Carolina Court of Appeals reversed on order entered in Superior Court and in doing so held as unconstitutional the lost sentence contained in G. S. 93A-2 (a). The matter reached the Court of Appeals after the Real Estate Licensing Board filed suit against Rentex in the Superior Court

Forsyth County alleging that the unlicensed rental locator service was acting in violation of a recent amendment to the licensing low. The amendment to G. S. 93A-2 (a) had extended the definition of real estate broker to include "a person, partnership, association, or corporation who for a fee sells or offers to sell the name or names of persons, partnerships, associations, or corporations who have real estate for rental, lease, or sale". The Superior Court granted, the Board's request for a preliminary injunction and Rentex appealed.

In its opinion the Court of Appeals stated that the activities of Rentex were clearly within the definition of real estate broker as recently changed by the General Assembly. The Court, however, found that the business of Rentex was significantly different from that of a real estate broker and concluded ~hat the activities of Rentex "do not fall within those which the legislature may constitutionally regulate as constituting the practice of real estate brokering".