Shomar Shabbas realtor dings Jerry Seinfeld

By Stone Martindale Jan 19, 2007, 15:25 GMT

Not so observant... EPA/JASON SZENES

Some real estate brokers, like "Big Lebowski's" Walter Sobchak, just don't roll on Shomar Shabbas, and that little problem cost comic Jerry Seinfeld a tidy bit of gelt.

Agent Tamara Cohen allegedly helped him find a townhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side nearly two years ago. Seinfeld had refused to pay up because the broker, an observant Jew, was not able to show the property on the Sabbath.

TMZ reported Cohen was the broker who first took Seinfeld's wife, Jessica, to see the $3.95 million townhouse in January 2005.

A month later, on a Saturday, the Seinfelds wished to see the home once more and tried to contact Cohen. However, it was a Saturday; Cohen's cell phone was off and she was unreachable.

Apparently the impatient Seinfeld ended up negotiating the seven-figure price tag directly with the owner.  Seinfeld refused to pay her commission.

Cohen was notified of the sale by phone and informed that her absence would cost her the commission, and subsequently filed suit against the couple, claiming she had previously informed them of her religious devotion.

The Seinfelds denied that they knew her observances.

New York State Supreme Court Judge Rolando Acosta ruled that Cohen's signed contract kept her dog in the commission fight.

"The only real issue here, as far as the court is concerned, is whether the broker's fee was 5 or 6 percent," Acosta said, reported E! Online.  Acosta ordered a trial to determine which percentage Cohen would receive.  A pisher's pittance for the uber wealthy Seinfeld.