Albers v. Roberts

155 S.W. 1001, 1913 Tex. App. LEXIS 906
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided April 3, 1913·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

HARPER, C. J.

This is an action by J. B. Roberts, appellee, as assignee of Mark Miller, to recover of appellant compensation, in the nature of broker’s commission, for securing a purchaser for certain real estate belonging to appellant, and which appellee Mark Miller claimed to have been authorized by appellee to sell. The suit was instituted by an original petition filed on the 27th day of January, 1912. On the 16th day of March, 1912, plaintiff filed his first amended original petition, in lieu of his original petition, alleging that “on the 4th day of September, 1911, the defendant Mark Miller was a land agent and real estate broker doing business in the city of El Paso, El Paso county, Tex.; that the defendant A. K. Albers, on said date, to wit, the 4th day of September, 1911, owned lots Nos. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23, in block No. 2, Sunset Heights addition to El Paso, Tex.; that the defendant A. K. Al-bers desired to place said lots upon the market and to make sale of the same; that he did on said date make and enter into a verbal contract with the said Mark Miller, as land agent and broker, to sell for him, the said A. K. Albers, said lands; that the said Albers authorized and employed the said Miller to sell the said lots on the following terms, to wit, $5,000 to be paid in cash, and as much more as said Miller could get over and above $11,000; that- said Miller was authorized to sell said land for any sum in excess of $16,000; that any excess over $16,000 was to be his commission for selling said land; and that the said Albers would require the purchaser to pay as much as $5,000-down and the remainder to be paid in equal payments in 1, 2, and 3 years, together with 8 per cent, interest from date. And it was specifically agreed and understood that if the said Miller should sell the said land for a greater sum than $16,000 that the said Al-bers would pay the said Miller as commission all in excess of $16,000 out of the $5,000 payment then and there to be made. Plaintiff would further represent to the court that said Miller did on said 4th day of September, 1911, sell said land to one F. R. Tobin, and. that said sale and contract was in writing, whereby said F. R. Tobin agreed and bound himself to pay to said Albers the sum of1 $17,000 for said lots of land, and that he-agreed to pay $5,000 in cash, and three notes, for equal payments, payable in 1, 2, and 3 years, and that said contract was reduced to-writing, and that the said Tobin did deposit in the Rio Grande Valley Bank & Trust Company a certified check for the sum of $500 to guarantee his good faith in the premises.”

March 21, 1912, plaintiff filed a trial amendment wherein he alleged that if he was “mistaken in alleging in his petition that the commission or amount to be received by said Miller, over and above the aforesaid sum of $16,000, was to be paid out of said $5,000 cash payment, which was to be made by the said Tobin, and that if he is mistaken in alleging that there was an express contract to that effect, the said plaintiff alleges in the alternative that at the time of making of the aforesaid contract, as set forth in the first amended original petition of plaintiff, there was a well-known and existing general custom among the real estate agents and landowners to the effect that, upon a sale being made by real estate brokers or agents, the commission would be paid out of any cash payment to be made under the terms of said sale, and which custom and usage existed in the city and county of EJ Paso, Tex., and was well known to the owners and real estate brokers of El Paso, Tex., and was well known to all of the parties to the aforesaid contracts, and set forth in the aforesaid amended petition, and that, in any event, the said custom being general in its character, the said defendant A. K. Albers, and other persons connected with transactions, are chargeable with notice of said cus *1002 tom nnd the terms and provisions thereof.”

Defendant answered by general and special exceptions and general denial, and other special answers and pleas which it will not he necessary to recite, inasmuch as the general denial put in issue the allegations of plaintiff’s pleading upon which he sought to recover.

The case was tried in the county court of El Paso county, beginning on the 21st day of. May, and ending on the 23d day of May, 1912, before a jury, which returned a verdict in favor of plaintiff and against appellant for $1,000. Judgment was rendered in accordance with the verdict, and on the 3d day of June, 1912, appellant’s motion for a new trial was overruled and appellant gave notice of appeal.

There being no statement of facts which can' be considered by the court under its rules, our consideration of the case must be confined to such fundamental errors of law as are apparent upon the record. The statement of facts was heretofore stricken out by this court because not in conformity with the statutes and rules of this court. We therefore consider the assignments of error in appellant’s brief only with a view to find if there is fundamental error in the record, for otherwise the motion of appellees to strike out the brief should prevail. .

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Albers v. Roberts, 155 S.W. 1001, 1913 Tex. App. LEXIS 906 (Tex. Ct. App. 1913).

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