Real Estate Agent Suit: Estate agent is suing me because I broke the contract

I had a short sale pending on my house with my mortgage company and an investor. I was able to work a payment plan with my mortgage company and they declined the short sale. Now, my real estate agent is suing me because he states I broke the contract. Is there anything I can do?

What part does he say you broke; what damages does he want?

He states that he had earned his Broker's fee because we had signed a short sale contract and were waiting on the mortgage company's approval. The mortgage company's short sale policy clearly states that they will not approve a short sale unless there are multiple offers pending. Another reason they didn't approve it was becasue we could pay a portion of the money back owed to the mortgage company and pay the rest over a period of time with a payment plan.

He wants us to pay him his portion of the comission plus interests and court costs, close to $4000.

Normally he would not get paid under those circumstances. Contact the mortg broker licensing board for clarification or to help resolve the dispute if need be.