Evans v. Shipp

327 S.W.2d 679, 1959 Tex. App. LEXIS 2088
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedAugust 4, 1959
DocketNo. 7148
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 327 S.W.2d 679 (Evans v. Shipp) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Evans v. Shipp, 327 S.W.2d 679, 1959 Tex. App. LEXIS 2088 (Tex. Ct. App. 1959).

Opinion

CHADICK, Chief Justice.

Appellant has filed an earnest and able motion for rehearing which must be overruled, but in response thereto the original opinion in this case dated July 7, 1959, is withdrawn and the following substituted therefor in an effort to express with more clarity the holding of the court.

This is a suit to collect a real estate agent’s commission. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

Appellant, R. F. Evans, the plaintiff below, seeks reversal upon five points of error. The cumulative effect of his points is to present as error the action of the trial judge in directing a verdict for appellees, C. R. Shipp and wife, Zula B. Shipp, defendants ■below, when there was evidence raising the fact issues of waiver and estoppel.

The written agency contract involved in this suit was treated as being ambiguous by the parties and the trial court but no question is presented respecting the introduction of parol evidence to explain its terms. The case is briefed by the parties on the theory that the agency was for 45 days unless waiver or estoppel had the effect of extending its duration. It is the position of appellant, R. F. Evans, that the contract was extended by waiver on the part of appellees, C. R. Shipp and wife, Zula B. Shipp, and that Mr. Shipp’s verbal statements and Mr. Evans’ acts in reliance thereon were such under the law of either waiver or estoppel as to nullify a defense that the contract had expired at the time of the sale giving rise to the controversy.

Since this is an instructed verdict judgment, in reviewing the propriety of the trial judge’s action, all conflicts in the evidence are disregarded and the evidence considered in the aspect most favorable to R. F. Evans, the party against whom the verdict was directed. Harvey v. Elder, Tex.Civ.App., 191 S.W.2d 686, wr. ref.; McVeigh v. International Travelers Assur. Co., Tex.Civ.App., 101 S.W.2d 644, writ of error dismissed.

The evidence relied upon to raise a fact issue under appellant’s theory is that of Mr. Evans when being interrogated by his own counsel, as follows:

“Q. Did you ever take the Rhodens out there and show them this property at any time after August? In September, October, November, December, or January, did you ever talk to him about the sale of this property? A. Yes.
“Q. Did you ever call Mr. Shipp after any of these trips? A. Yes.
“Q. What did you tell Mr. Shipp? A. I told Mr. Shipp I was out there with them and they were going to buy the place. Mr. Shipp said, T am not going to sell for Eighty-five Thousand ($85,000.00) Dollars,’ and I said, 'You can possibly get One Hundred Thousand ($100,000.00) Dollars.’ They wanted it.
[681]*681“Q. Did you tell him what they said ? A. Y es, I did tell him they were going to buy that place; that they had found exactly what they wanted.
“Q. What would Mr. Shipp say when you would tell him that? A. ‘Just keep working on with them.’
“Q. Can you place any particular date that you told him that ? A. I can’t place the exact dates because I can’t remember them, but I can say I called him two or three or more times.
“Q. Was that before or after the 45 days had expired ? A. That was after the 45 days expired. I don’t know when the 45 days expired. He never did tell me.
“Q. He had your copy of the contract? A. Yes, and I didn’t know.
“Q. You just kept working? A. Yes, the first time I knew it was when I got that contract through the mail.”

All parties concede that using the most favorable construction, the duration of the agency contract ceased September 15, 1956. The evidence reproduced shows a report'by the agent and an instruction from the principal in September to “just keep working on with them,” but if this or any similar report and instruction was before September 15th, it is not shown by direct testimony nor by any reasonable inference from all of the evidence. This court, in considering the favorable evidence, is not warranted in supplying omissions or drawing unfounded inferences; it is limited to the record made by the parties and the evidence and reasonable inferences which may be drawn therefrom as it appears in the record.

The time of the instruction by Mr. Shipp to Mr. Evans, if it raises a fact issue of waiver or of estoppel, controls disposition of this case because the law is well settled that words or conduct creating either issue must occur before the expiration of the agency contract. That is to say, words or conduct provable by parol extending the time of performance of a condition of a contract subject to Sec. 28, Article 6573a, Real Estate Dealers Act, must occur while the contract is executory and not after its expiration.

The estoppel rule is stated in Sec. 224 of Restatement of the Law of Contracts:

“The performance of a condition qualifying a promise in a contract within the statute may be excused by an oral agreement or permission of the prom-isor that the condition need not be performed, if the agreement or permission is given while performance of the condition is possible, and in reliance on the agreement or permission, while it is unrevoked, the promisee materially changes his position.” (Emphasis added.)

This rule was expressly approved in Gulf Production Co. v. Continental Oil Co., 139 Tex. 183, 164 S.W.2d 488.

In Watson v. Rochmill, 137 Tex. 565, 155 S.W.2d 783, 785, 137 A.L.R. 1032, it is said:

“This court held in the case of Mitchell v. Simms, Tex.Com.App., 63 S.W.2d 371, that the acceptance of the late payments of rentals estopped the lessors to plead the lapsation of the lease. It will be noted, however, that in that case the Court was dealing with an estoppel that occurred during the primary term of the lease.” (Emphasis added.)

Parenthetically, it is to be noted that there are no decided cases upon this point with reference to Sec. 28, Article 6573a, but it has been authoritatively held that cases construing the statute of frauds, Article 3995, Vernon’s Ann.Civ.St., are applicable in construing the similar language of the Real Estate Act, see Hancock v. Sosbee, Tex.Civ.App., 183 S.W.2d 284, wr. ref.; Volkmann v. Wortham, Tex.Civ.App., 189 S.W.2d 776, wr. dis.; Lyon v. Harmon, Tex.Civ.App., 212 S.W.2d 491, n. w. h.; and [682]*682statute of fraud cases are cited and relied upon as being decisive in this appeal.

With equal logic what has been said of estoppel may be applied to waiver. “A waiver is the intentional relinquishment of a known right or such conduct as warrants an inference of the relinquishment of such right.” Missouri, K. & T. Ry. Co. v. Hendricks, 49 Tex.Civ.App.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Dickey v. Bird
366 S.W.2d 859 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1963)
Davis v. Freeman
347 S.W.2d 650 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1961)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
327 S.W.2d 679, 1959 Tex. App. LEXIS 2088, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/evans-v-shipp-texapp-1959.