Cavanagh v. Schaefer

545 P.2d 416, 112 Ariz. 600, 1976 Ariz. LEXIS 209
CourtArizona Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 22, 1976
Docket12002
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 545 P.2d 416 (Cavanagh v. Schaefer) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Arizona Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cavanagh v. Schaefer, 545 P.2d 416, 112 Ariz. 600, 1976 Ariz. LEXIS 209 (Ark. 1976).

Opinion

HAYS, Justice.

Ernest J. Schaefer, appellee, brought an action for real estate commissions against Renee S. Cushman. Appellants, Harry J. Cavanagh and Allerton Cushman, executors of the will and codicils of Renee S. Cushman, deceased, were later substituted as defendants by order dated December 23, 1969. The trial court granted judgment on appellee’s second claim for relief and dismissed the first and third claims for relief. Appellants’ appeal from the judgment granting appellee’s second claim for relief, and appellee brings a cross-appeal from the dismissal of his first and third claims for relief. This court has jurisdiction pursuant to Rule 47(e)(5), Rules of the Supreme Court.

Appellee was employed by Renee S. Cushman to sell a piece of property located in Graham County, known as the Eureka Ranch. A purchase agreement was entered into on March 17, 1964, between Renee S. Cushman, as seller, and Maurice and Mary Belew, as purchasers. The said purchasers were procured by appellee. The transaction was not consummated, and thereafter appellee procured John H. and Pauline V. Trigg as prospective purchasers. A purchase agreement was originally entered into between Renee S. Cushman, as seller, and John H. and Pauline V. Trigg, as purchasers, on March 25, 1965. A commission agreement was subsequently entered into on November 18, 1965, between Renee S. Cushman and appellee, the material portions of which provided as follows:

1. Cushman agrees to pay Schaefer a real estate commission of $65,000.00. Said sum shall be payable from the proceeds of the sale in the following manner and from the following proceeds:
$21,666.66 upon execution hereof.
$10,834.00 from the first annual payment due on December 1, 1965 on the promissory note executed by said John H. Trigg, with interest from November 1, 1965 at 6% interest per annum. $32,500.00 from the proceeds due on the second payment due by John H. Trigg to Cushman on December 1, 1966, with interest from November 1, 1965 at 6% per annum.
2. It is mutually agreed that Cushman does not owe Schaefer any money by reason of the sale to Maurice Belew, et ux, which sale was cancelled and rescinded.
3. In the event Trigg fails to make the payments as provided for in the *602 promissory note of April 1, 1965, by and between Cushman and John H. Trigg, Cushman shall not be responsible for any commission to Schaefer unless Cushman actually receives the money as herein contemplated.

On April 7, 1966, John H. Trigg and Renee S. Cushman entered into an agreement as a result of Trigg’s delinquency in the payment of interest and principal on certain promissory notes. Thereafter, Renee S. Cushman brought an action to foreclose the mortgage she held on the Eureka Ranch. The property was conveyed by John H. Trigg and Pauline V. Trigg, as grantors, to Renee S. Cushman by deed dated December 30, 1966, and the action was thereafter dismissed.

By agreement dated December 27, 1967, Renee S. Cushman agreed to convey land referred to as the “Arizona Ranch” to J. H. Trigg and Pauline V. Trigg.

Appellant raises two questions on appeal:

(1) Was there a failure of substantial compliance or performance of a condition precedent to appellee’s earning of the commission under the agreement of November 18, 1965?
(2) Did the trial court err in finding that plaintiff was entitled to a corrected judgment after denial of a motion for new trial and after a notice of appeal and cost bond on appeal had been filed?

In order to deal with appellant’s first issue on appeal, it is necessary to briefly review several of the findings of fact made by the trial court. This court is bound by the findings of fact of the trial court “unless clearly contrary to the evidence.” Vogel v. Hohenstein, 112 Ariz. 164, 540 P.2d 130 (1975). The trial court, in its findings, concluded that the total payments made by John Trigg to the deceased amounted to $283,297.34. The court then determined that $153,297.34 of that total was paid by John Trigg to decedent subsequent to the $130,000.00 paid on November I, 1965. Of that $153,297.34, the court found that $47,321.18 was paid on or about November 13, 1966, on the $47,266.03 note dated April 1, 1966. Finally, the trial court found that the first annual installment due on the $625,000.00 note amounted to $133,333.33. These findings of fact are clearly supported by the evidence.

There is no dispute concerning John Trigg’s failure to pay the total principal and interest due on the first annual installment due on the $625,000.00 note dated April 1, 1965. The question that we are asked to decide is whether, pursuant to the commission agreement dated November 18, 1965, appellee was entitled to the portion of the commission due upon the payment of the first annual installment if the installment payment was not made in full. Appellant takes the position that the payment of the first annual installment with interest was a condition precedent to the payment of the $10,834.00 commission. A condition precedent is a “fact which ‘must exist or occur before a duty of immediate performance of a promise arises . . . ’” Yeazell v. Copins, 98 Ariz. 109, 402 P.2d 541 (1965). Appellee was to receive $10,834.00 of his commission “from the 1st annual payment due on December 1, 1965, on the promissory note executed by said John H. Trigg, with interest from November 1, 1965 at 6% interest per annum.”

A condition incorporated within the provisions of a contract must be interpreted in light of the intention of the parties. “[T]he court must ascertain and give effect to the intention of the parties as of the time the contract was made if at all possible.” Employer’s Liability Assurance Corp. v. Lunt, 82 Ariz. 320, 313 P.2d 393 (1957). It is essential “[w]here the intention can be determined from the entire instrument” to construe the contract as a whole. Employer’s Liability Assurance Corp. v. Lunt, supra. The commission agreement dated November 18, 1965, contains a provision in paragraph 3 which, when read in conjunction with the aforementioned condition contained in paragraph 1 of the agreement, clearly states *603 the intention of the parties to condition payment of the commission installments on the payment by Trigg “as provided for in the promissory note of April 1, 1965.” The promissory note dated April 1, 1965, in the amount of $625,000.00 provided in pertinent part:

“The principal and interest of this note shall be payable in six (6) equal annual installments, commencing December 1, 1965, and each December 1 thereafter until the full sum of $625,000 plus interest on the remaining balances from time to time has been paid.”

When John Trigg failed to pay the annual installment due on December 1, 1965, the appellee lost his right to the commission due under the commission agreement.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
545 P.2d 416, 112 Ariz. 600, 1976 Ariz. LEXIS 209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cavanagh-v-schaefer-ariz-1976.