Cone v. Pedersen

40 A.2d 274, 131 Conn. 374, 1944 Conn. LEXIS 288
Supreme Court of Connecticut·Decided November 30, 1944·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

Brown, J.

This is an action by the plaintiff to recover of the defendant a commission as agreed for the sale of farm property of the defendant in Middletown. The trial court rendered judgment for the defendant and the plaintiff has appealed. The finding as corrected contains these material facts: The plaintiff is a real estate broker. The defendant is the owner of a farm in Middletown. On April 7, 1943, the parties, after verbal agreement, entered into a written memorandum which is exhibit A and reads as follows:

*376 “April 7, 1943

“To Aage Cone

“In consideration of your listing for sale and undertaking to find a purchaser for the real estate described below, I hereby grant and give to you the sole and exclusive right to sell the same, for the period of 60 days from this date, and thereafter until notified by me in writing.

“Price $48000.00 including Stock and Tools.

“In the event said real estate is sold by you, or by myself, or by any other person or agent during said time, for said price, and upon said terms or for a price and upon terms acceptable to me, then and in either of said events, in consideration of your services in this connection, I promise and agree to pay you the regular fixed commission of 7% per cent as prevailing in the. locality in which the property is located at the date of sale thereof, or in the event said real estate is traded or exchanged by me for other property, during said time, whether by and through your efforts, or through my own efforts, or by the efforts of some other person or agent, I promise and agree to pay you such commission of the list price fixed in said memorandum.

“All inquiries concerning said premises will be referred to you.

“It is understood that there are to be no advertising charges against me.

“Chris Pedersen

“Owner

“Received by Aage Cone”

Immediately upon the signing of this memorandum, the plaintiff entered upon performance of his obligations under the agreement by advertising extensively in a newspaper, by interviewing prospective purchasers, by bringing them to the defendant’s farm, by in *377 troducing many of them personally to the defendant and by placing the property in the hands of other agents with whom the plaintiff was affiliated, so that they might assist in selling the premises. These efforts on the part of the plaintiff were continued up to July 28, 1943. On July 19, 1943, the defendant signed an agreement with Francesco Gionfriddo and wife, upon the consideration of a deposit of $300 paid by the latter, to sell forty acres of the premises, with buildings thereon, for a price of $6500. This sale was consummated on July 26, 1943, by a warranty deed from defendant to the purchasers. At no time was the plaintiff aware of this transaction or was he notified, and the purchasers were never referred to him. A letter purporting to revoke the parties’ agreement .which was mailed by the defendant July 22 and received by the plaintiff July 28, 1943, made no mention of this sale. The plaintiff demanded a commission of 7i/z per cent of the sale price which the defendant refused to pay. One of the court’s conclusions was that on July 22 the defendant terminated his obligation under the agreement by mailing the letter of revocation to the plaintiff. The gist of the plaintiff’s claims is that upon the foregoing facts he is entitled to his commission of 7% per cent of the $6500 paid for the forty-acre tract.

As the above indicates, neither the finding nor the plaintiff’s draft-finding sets forth with clarity what the property was which the parties’ agreement, evidenced in part by exhibit A, referred to. The defend- . ant urges that the lack of any description of the property in exhibit A rendered the agreement so incomplete as to be unenforceable. In some states the Statute of Frauds has been extended by specific statutory enactment to include contracts employing a broker to purchase or sell real estate. See 12 C. J. S. 141 et seq. *378 This is not true of Connecticut. In this state, the Statute of Erauds has no application to such an agreement. Rathbun v. McLay, 76 Conn. 308, 310, 56 Atl. 511. So in this case, as the contract shown by exhibit A was manifestly incomplete, oral evidence was admissible to supply the missing description. Asbestos Products Corporation v. Matson, 97 Conn. 381, 384, 116 Atl. 680; Hydro-Centrifugals, Inc. v. Crawford Laundry Co., 110 Conn. 49, 52, 147 Atl. 31. The testimony, received without objection and uncontroverted, leaves no doubt that the property to which the agreement related, notwithstanding the lack of any description in exhibit A, was the one hundred and eighty-two acre farm in Middletown where the defendant resided. The reference in the corrected finding to “the defendant’s farm, which was the property placed in the plaintiff’s hands for sale,” construed in the light of the other facts found, sufficiently shows that this was the subject matter of the contract.

Alternative causes of action are alleged by the plaintiff’s complaint. The first count charges the defendant with liability for preventing performance by the plaintiff, through selling the forty-acre tract to the Gionfriddos, and seeks recovery for the loss of the commission provided in the contract for the farm’s sale. The second count alleges the sale of the forty-acre tract for $6500 and claims a commission upon this amount at the 7y2 per cent rate stated in the contract.

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Cone v. Pedersen, 40 A.2d 274, 131 Conn. 374, 1944 Conn. LEXIS 288 (Colo. 1944).

40 A.2d 274 (Cone v. Pedersen) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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