Corder v. O'Neill

106 S.W. 10, 207 Mo. 632, 1907 Mo. LEXIS 232
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedDecember 10, 1907
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 106 S.W. 10 (Corder v. O'Neill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Corder v. O'Neill, 106 S.W. 10, 207 Mo. 632, 1907 Mo. LEXIS 232 (Mo. 1907).

Opinion

FOX, P. J.

— This cause reaches this court by appeal on the part of the plaintiff from a judgment of the Jasper County Circuit Court in favor of the defendant. This action results from a transaction between the plaintiff and the defendant concerning the sale of a certain mining lease placed in the hands of plaintiff for sale by the defendant and an agreement and contract entered into by which the sum of $5,000 was to be paid plaintiff as commission for the consummation of such sale. This is the second appeal of this cause to this court. The first appeal was upon the part of the defendant and the cause was reversed and remanded. This appeal, as before stated, is on the part of the plaintiff.

The nature and character of this proceeding is fully set forth in the case of Corder v. O’Neill, 176 Mo. 401; it is therefore not essential to reproduce in detail the entire pleadings, but it will be sufficient to a full understanding of the issues presented in the .last trial of this cause to briefly refer to some of the allegations in the petition and answer. The petition alleged that the plaintiff “was at all times hereinafter mentioned engaged in the business of selling real estate, mines. [636]*636mining property and leases on mining property in Jasper county, Missouri, as agent for such persons or concerns as might employ him therefor, and on March 22, 1899, the defendant, James O’Neill, was the owner of a certain lease known and described as the ‘Get There Lease’ in or near the city of Carterville in said county and State and on said day he was desirous of selling the same. That at the same time the plaintiff had as customer for a piece of mining property one C. C. Playter, who desired for himself and others and especially for one R. Tibbets, of Boston, Massachusetts, to purchase a mining lease in Jasper county, Missouri, and on said date the defendant entered into a contract with the plaintiff, whereby he agreed that if said Playter or his assigns should take the lease of the defendant, known as the Get There Lease, and should comply with the conditions of a contract made with the said Playter, or his assigns, for said lease and should pay to the defendant the sum of ninety thousand dollars in cash for said lease, on or before the first day of May, 1899, then the defendant will pay the plaintiff the sum of five thousand dollars in full for all commissions and compensation for services rendered by the plaintiff in and about the sale of the said Get There Lease. . . . That during the existence of said contract the said Tibbets, through his said agent, requested of the defendant that he would extend the time for the payment of the balance of the purchase money for said lease until the first day of June, 1899. Said contracts are herewith filed, marked ‘Exhibits A and B. ’

“Plantiff further states that at the time of procuring said property for sale defendant only asked the sum of eighty-five thousand dollars therefor and by agreement with defendant offered and contracted said property for the sum of ninety thousand dollars, it being agreed that the excess over eighty-five thousand [637]*637dollars, to-wit, five thousand dollars, should be paid by defendant to plaintiff for making said sale.
“That within the time limited plaintiff sold said property for ninety thousand dollars to one Frederick R. Tibbets on March 22, 1890, and five thousand dollars of the purchase price was thereupon paid by said Tibbets to plaintiff, and the balance was to be paid by said Tibbets on or before May 1, 1899. ’ ’

The foregoing averments were followed by allegations asserting that there was a verbal agreement entered into between Tibbets, the purchaser procured by the plaintiff, and the defendant, to extend the contract for thirty days, giving said Tibbets that much more time to purchase said property. Then follows the averment alleging a breach of such oral agreement and the prayer for relief that by reason of the breach of such verbal agreement and promise to extend said original contract by the defendant and by reason of the fraud thereby practiced upon the plaintiff, plaintiff is damaged in the sum of five thousand dollars, for which sum he prays judgment.

After this cause was remanded to the circuit court of Jasper county for a new trial the defendant filed an amended answer on January 4,1904. The first paragraph of said amended answer was a general derfial. The new matter set up in the amended answer was as follows:

“Second. Further answering defendant states that without his knowledge or consent the plaintiff agreed to and did receive money as commission or compensation for services in and about the alleged sale, from the purchaser of the property described in the petition, and thereby forfeited all his claim against defendant and is not entitled to recover herein.
‘ ‘ Third. Further answering defendant states that without the knowledge or consent of defendant the plaintiff entered into an agreement with the represen[638]*638tatives of the purchasers of the property described in the petition to ‘pool’ or divide the commissions received and to be received from the defendant and the purchaser of said property in the petition described. That said agreement was made before the consummation of the sale of said property. That in pursuance of said agreement the agent of the said purchaser did receive money from the latter as commission or recompense for services in and about said purchase and did carry out said agreement and pay a portion thereof to defendant. By reason whereof, plaintiff forfeited all his claims against defendant and is not entitled to recover herein. ’ ’

To this amended answer the plaintiff filed a reply, which embraced a general denial of the new matter, and “further replying, plaintiff avers that plaintiff procured and introduced the purchaser to defendant and that plaintiff had no hand in the negotiations between them; that said purchaser and defendant made their own bargain without plaintiff having anything to do with fixing of the price or terms of said sale and without plaintiff’s interference in anywise. Wherefore, plaintiff prays judgment as in his petition prayed. ”

Upon the issues thus presented the trial of this cause proceeded. It is practically conceded that the facts developed at the trial of this cause are substantially the same as in the trial of the cause upon the former appeal, except as to the evidence introduced upon the issue presented by the new matter in the amended answer of defendant; hence we deem it unnecessary to undertake to again repeat the facts developed' which-fully appear in the case of Corder v. O'Neill, supra, and shall confine our reference to the testimony to the issue presented by the new matter in the amended answer of the- defendant. The- testimony as disclosed by the record upon this issue is quite voluminous, but' doubtless the trial court sustained a demurrer to the evi[639]*639deuce upon certain statements testified to by the plaintiff and witness Mr. Geddes, who was also interested in the transaction; therefore, we deem it sufficient to refer briefly to the testimony of the plaintiff and Mr. Geddes upon the issue presented in the answer of the defendant and upon which the court’s action in sustaining the demurrer to the evidence was predicated.

The plaintiff was introduced as a witness and upon' the subject of his employment by the defendant to make this sale, said:

“Q. Who named the price at which this property would be sold — who fixed the price? A.

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Bluebook (online)
106 S.W. 10, 207 Mo. 632, 1907 Mo. LEXIS 232, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/corder-v-oneill-mo-1907.