Brenner Associates, Inc. v. Rousseau

537 A.2d 120, 1988 R.I. LEXIS 17, 1988 WL 7750
CourtSupreme Court of Rhode Island
DecidedFebruary 9, 1988
Docket86-11-Appeal
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 537 A.2d 120 (Brenner Associates, Inc. v. Rousseau) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Rhode Island primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brenner Associates, Inc. v. Rousseau, 537 A.2d 120, 1988 R.I. LEXIS 17, 1988 WL 7750 (R.I. 1988).

Opinion

OPINION

SHEA, Justice.

This matter is before the Supreme Court on the plaintiff’s appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court entered after the defendants’ motion for a directed verdict had been granted. The trial justice had reserved decision on the motion and submitted the case to the jury, which returned a verdict for the plaintiff. We affirm the judgment for the defendant.

The plaintiff, Brenner Associates, Inc., a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is qualified to do business in the State of Rhode Island. The business operates as a licensed real estate broker. George H. Brenner of Westport, Massachusetts, is president of the corporation.

Laurent L. Rousseau of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, is an attorney who appears as a defendant both personally and in his capacity as receiver of and for Le Rocham *121 beau, Inc., a Rhode Island corporation, which is also a named defendant.

Other individual defendants — Russell F. Gomes, Joseph P. Daquay, Lawrence A. Aubin, George Karousos, Anna Karousos, and James Nelson — are persons whose involvement in this matter will be discussed below where necessary. The remaining defendants are Monterey Corporation and Sea Fare, Inc., Rhode Island corporations. (Hereafter individual parties will be referred to by their last names.)

As the duly appointed receiver, Rousseau was in charge of the affairs of Le Rochambeau, Inc., from 1976 until after the commencement of this action. Brenner testified that he had contacted his brother-in-law Gomes, and Daquay, who were the principal stockholders in Le Rochambeau, Inc., seeking to market the corporation’s real estate in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. After the three conferred, Brenner prepared an agreement providing for multiple listing of the property, which agreement also granted an exclusive right to sell to Brenner Associates, Inc. The partners advised Brenner that he would have to submit the agreement to “their attorney” for final approval. Brenner sent a copy to Rousseau, who represented Gomes. 1 After several telephone conversations, he received from Rousseau a “red marked” agreement that contained several deletions made and initialed by Rousseau. The agreement, signed by Rousseau as receiver of Le Rochambeau, Inc., and by Brenner as president of Brenner Associates, Inc., was introduced into evidence as plaintiff’s exhibit. It was the only agreement executed by Brenner and Rousseau.

The agreement described the premises to be sold and the multiplelisting services to be employed. It gave Brenner Associates, Inc., an exclusive right to sell the property which expired on March 23, 1981. It provided for a sale price of $225,000 and a 10 percent brokerage fee to plaintiff if a buyer was found ready, willing, and able to purchase the property within the terms of the agreement or if the property were sold within six months of the expiration of the agreement to a buyer who was referred to or shown the property by the realtor. The agreement further provided for a brokerage rental fee to the realtor if the property was rented or leased to a party during the period of the agreement or, within six months of the expiration of the agreement, to persons shown the property by the realtor. The agreement signed and returned by Rousseau as receiver had six deletions, each initialed by Rousseau. One of the provisions so deleted that is of particular interest to this case reads as follows: “Should the property subsequently be purchased by the tenant herein described, then the SELLER agrees to pay to the REALTOR a fee for professional services of ten percent (10%) of the selling price.” Although this version, according to Brenner, was not what he had agreed to, he signed the agreement as president of Brenner Associates, Inc., “in order that [the property] could be put into the multiple listing service [and he] sent back a cleaned-up version” of the agreement for Rousseau’s signature. The “cleaned-up” version was never signed by Rousseau.

In October 1980 Brenner began showing the property. On December 20, 1980, defendants George and Anna Karousos made an offer to buy the property for $175,000 and gave Brenner a $1,000 binder. Gomes and Daquay told Brenner that the offer was unacceptable, and the binder check was returned. In mid-January 1981 Gomes told Brenner that he could no longer show the property.

Sometime in 1981 Brenner learned that the Karousoses were operating a restaurant at the site of the LeRochambeau property. Assuming them to be the owners of the property, he asked defendant Gomes for his commission. This exchange oc *122 curred sometime during 1981-82. Gomes refused to pay a commission, saying that the Karousoses were not his buyers. Brenner later learned that the property had been purchased by the Monterey Corporation, but he did not know then whether the Karousoses were involved in the corporation.

Brenner never had shown the property to the Karousoses, and he admitted that he was not responsible for introducing them to Gomes and Daquay. He also acknowledged that the only agreement he and Rousseau signed was the signed agreement entered into evidence as plaintiffs exhibit.

George Karousos testified that he and his wife had been interested in the property since the end of July 1980. He had previously offered Gomes a $3,000 deposit on an offer to buy or lease the property. The offer was declined. Just before Christmas 1980 Brenner called him to try to arrange a sale of the property. Karousos told Brenner he did not want to buy the property but instead wanted to lease it for a year with an option to buy if the restaurant was successful. After that offer to lease was rejected by Brenner, Karousos said that he, Gomes, and Daquay agreed on an arrangement to lease the property. The terms of the lease, signed February 1, 1981, by Rousseau as receiver of Le Rochambeau, Inc., and George and Anna Karousos was a rental of $1,000 a month and an option to purchase. One of the conditions of the agreement was that the Karousoses would have to pay off a first mortgage.

In December of 1981 the Karousoses wanted to purchase the property but did not have the money required to pay off the first mortgage. However, a friend who was president of the Monterey Corporation offered to have her corporation buy the property and lease it back to the Karousos-es for ten years with an option to purchase and a right of first refusal. That offer was accepted by the Karousoses. Karousos testified that initially he had wanted to lease the property only because of the uncertainties of the restaurant business, particularly the Le Rochambeau site. At the time he did not have the ability to buy the property because he had already lost $33,-000 in a restaurant that he had previously operated in Bristol, Rhode Island.

Rousseau, the receiver, testified that the agreement introduced into evidence signed by himself as receiver and Brenner for the realty corporation is the only agreement the parties entered into. The other agreement forwarded to him by Brenner was not signed by any of the parties and “it doesn’t reflect the agreement that was reached.” He said that the Karousoses told him they wanted to buy the property in January or February of 1982. The Monterey Corporation took title to the property in March of 1982.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
537 A.2d 120, 1988 R.I. LEXIS 17, 1988 WL 7750, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brenner-associates-inc-v-rousseau-ri-1988.