A real estate attorney based in New York City has filed a lawsuit against Ryan Serhant, a well-known broker, over an alleged unpaid referral commission connected to the sale of a Fisher Island home. Natalia Sishodia is seeking $455,000 and has requested a jury trial, according to court documents.
Sishodia claims she signed a referral agreement with Serhant in April 2024. Her complaint states that she was owed 25 percent of the $840,000 gross commission from the deal—amounting to $210,000—but only received $105,000. She alleges Serhant cited an amended agreement as justification for the reduced payment. The lawsuit was filed in July in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in New York County and names Serhant along with seven related companies as defendants.
The total amount Sishodia seeks includes an additional $105,000 she claims is still owed from the commission and $350,000 in damages.
Attorneys representing Sishodia declined to comment on the case. Andrew Lieb, counsel for Serhant, confirmed by email that his client is seeking dismissal of the lawsuit and stated: “will let the papers speak for themselves.”
The dispute centers on Yuri Shefler’s sale of his home at 6915 Valencia Drive on Fisher Island in Miami Beach last December. The property sold for $21 million to Guilherme Federico. Mariana Niro, an agent with Serhant’s firm, represented both parties in this transaction involving one of only a few single-family homes on Fisher Island.
Legal filings revealed Shefler’s connection to the property; this detail had not been previously reported. Shefler leads SPI Group and its Luxembourg-based subsidiary Stoli Group—the producer behind Stoli Vodka—and has a net worth estimated at $1.1 billion by Forbes.
Shefler has made headlines before: he sold his superyacht “Serene” to Prince Mohammed bin Salman for $550 million in 2015 and purchased Angelina Jolie’s share of Château Miraval vineyard for $28.4 million in 2022—a transaction now part of ongoing litigation between Jolie and her ex-husband Brad Pitt.
Serhant expanded into South Florida in 2023 but has faced legal challenges during this period. That year saw Palm Beach Gardens brokerage Sutter & Nugent sue Serhant Florida over alleged trade secret theft; however, that case was dismissed earlier this year. Since then, Serhant has recruited top Palm Beach agent Gary Pohrer and opened an office on Fisher Island. He is also involved with efforts related to assembling oceanfront properties valued at more than $350 million linked to Microsoft billionaire Charles Simonyi.
An earlier version of this story misidentified the buyer of the home.
