Eismann v. Cooperman

1989 Mass. App. Div. 99
CourtMassachusetts District Court, Appellate Division
DecidedApril 27, 1989
StatusPublished

This text of 1989 Mass. App. Div. 99 (Eismann v. Cooperman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Massachusetts District Court, Appellate Division primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Eismann v. Cooperman, 1989 Mass. App. Div. 99 (Mass. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

McGuane, J.

This is a contract in which the plaintiff/appellee (hereinafter referred to as “Eismann”), sought to recover a $15,480.00 brokerage commission on the sale of defendant’s real estate based upon the annexed “Exclusive Right To Sell Contract”, marked Exhibit “A”. The plaintiffs Complaint alleges as a basis for the commission, the fact that the defendant sold the property within ninety (90) days after the expiration of the Contract to Steven Schoenfeld, a person to whom the Buttondown Lane property had been presented or shown during the term of the Contract.

The defendant’s Answer denied that the plaintiff was entitled to a commission based upon the sale during the ninety (90) day extension because the Contract contained a Rider #1 dated May 24, 1986, a copy of which was not attached to the Complaint. The Rider is significant because it specifically altered the condition upon which plaintiff was to receive a commission if a sale occurred within ninety (90) days after the expiration of the Contract. The Rider, annexed hereto as Exhibit “B”, stated in pertinent part:

Upon the expiration of this Exclusive Right To Sell Contract, broker shall submit to seller, via certified mail and within five business days, a written list of all persons or entities to whom said property had been presented or shown during the term of this contract.
A brokerage commission shall be due if said property is sold within 90 days by the undersigned to only those persons or entities contained within the above mentioned list.

The plaintiff alleges that the terms of the original contract are binding, whereas the defendant contends that the terms of the Rider #1 superseded the pertinent provisions in the original Contract, and that since the plaintiff failed to comply with the terms of the Rider, she is not entitled to a broker’s commission.

The Court found for the plaintiff in the sum of $16,200.00 plus interest in the amount of $2,386.92 and costs of $30.00. At the trial, held in Great Barrington, Massachusetts on December 16, 1987, there was evidence tending to show:

1. The exclusive right to sell contract, including Rider # 1 is a valid contract.

2. The parties specifically altered the terms of the exclusive right to sell contract by adding Rider #1.

[100]*1003. Rider #1 altered the terms upon which the plaintiff was to receive a broker’s commission.

4. The plaintiff did not show the subject property to the eventual purchaser or her agent/husband, hereafter Schoenfeld, during the term of the contract, although she did show several other properties in the area to Schoenfeld.

5. Schoenfeld was looking for a house in Southern Berkshire in the ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND ($100,000.00) DOLLARS price range.

6. The subject property was listed for TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-FIVE THOUSAND ($286,000.00) DOLLARS.

7. Schoenfeld made a phone call to Cooperman during the term of the party’s exclusive right to sell contract, to inquire about acreage and the purchase price of the subject property. When Cooperman replied TWO HUNDRED EIGHTY-FIVE THOUSAND ($285,000.00) DOLLARS, Schoenfeld, in his words, replied “Thanks, but no thanks” and hung up.

8. Cooperman did not relay this conversation to the plaintiff/appellee because he did not regard the call as an “inquiry.”

9. After the expiration of the party’s contract, Schoenfeld was able to obtain additional financing, thereby placing the subject property in their price range.

10. After the experation of the party’s contract, Cooperman and Schoenfeld entered into negotiations which resulted in a sale to Phillippa G. Schoenfeld by deed recorded on January 16, 1987 in the Southern Berkshire Registry of Deeds in Book 627, Page 224.

11. Cooperman did not pay the plaintiff/appellee a broker’s commission because she failed to comply with the terms of Rider #1 governing the payment of a commission.

At the close of the trial and before the final arguments, the defendant made the following requests for ruling:

1. Based on the evidence, Steven Schoenfeld’s communication to Stephen M. Cooperman in September, 1986 did not constitute an inqury regarding the sale of the defendant’s real estate. The Court denied defendant’s request for ruling number 1 in its judgment dated March 7, 1988.

2. The Exclusive Right to Sell Contract expired by its own terms on September 30,1986. The Court denied defendant’s request for ruling number 2 in its judgment dated March 7,1988.

3. As all meaningful negotiations between Stephen M. Cooperman and Steven Schoenfeld occurred after the expiration of the Exclusive Right to Sell Contract, no brokerage commission is due the plaintiff from the defendant or any related party. The Court denied defendant’s request for ruling number 3 in its judgment dated March 7,1988.

The Court made the following rulings entitled Findings of Fact, rulings of Law & Order for Judgment:

This is an action in two counts to recover a brokerage commission on the sale of real property. One count is based on an exclusive brokerage contract; the other on alleged violation of G.L. C.93A (the consumer protection statute). I find these facts:

1. The plaintiff, hereafter Eismann, is a licensed real estate broker with an office in Egremont in this County.

2. The defendant, hereafter Cooperman, is a resident of Rockville Centre in New York. She and her son and agent Stephen Cooperman are the sole stockholders of Alton Construction Co., a New York corporation. He is president and treasurer of the company.

3. Alton Construction is engaged in the business of building single family [101]*101homes. It owned a lot on Buttondown Lane off Long Pond Road in Great Barrington in this county and built a house on it for sale in 1986.

4. On March 24, 1986, the parties entered into an agreement entitled “Exclusive Right To Sell Contract.” The contract, including Rider #1 attached to it, provides in pertinent part:

. .. I/we, Alton Construction, owners in fee of the property located at lot number 4, Buttondown Lane, Great Barrington, Massachusetts hereby give and grant to Suzanne Eismann Real Estate, a member of Multiple Listing Service of Berkshire County Board of Realtors, Inc., the exclusive right to list and sell said property for the period of three (3) months from the date hereof, unless extended in writing by all parties involved, to sell the same at the price of $276,000.00, or at such other price, terms and conditions which I/we may consent.
If there be any sale whatsoever of said property or any part thereof by anyone including myself/ourselves before the expiration date of this contract, I/we hereby promise and agree to pay said listing broker for professional services rendered a fee of six (6%) percent of the sale price. If said property is sold by owner/owners after ninety (90) days after the expiration of this Contract to any person or entity to whom said contract had been presented or shown during the terms of this Contract, by any person or entity whatsoever, I/we agree to pay to said broker the same commission as if such sale had been during the term of the contract.
I/we agree to direct all inquiries to the listing broker....

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1989 Mass. App. Div. 99, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/eismann-v-cooperman-massdistctapp-1989.