Gelatt v. Ridge

23 S.W. 882, 117 Mo. 553, 1893 Mo. LEXIS 370
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedNovember 6, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 23 S.W. 882 (Gelatt v. Ridge) 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
Gelatt v. Ridge, 23 S.W. 882, 117 Mo. 553, 1893 Mo. LEXIS 370 (Mo. 1893).

Opinion

Maofarlane, J.

The action is to recover commission by plaintiff, a real estate agent, for the sale of land for defendant under authority contained in the following writing:

“Kansas City, Mo., March 14, 1889.
“I hereby authorize J. M. Grelatt to sell my property at 1116 Main — 24ft. 3in. — for the sum of seventy thousand dollars; thirty thousand of which is to be paid in cash within thirty days of this date, ten thousand of which cash is to be paid within three days from date, and the remainder of my equity, twenty-three thousand dollars, to be paid in six months, with interest at the rate of six per cent.. The purchaser of said premises is to pay an incumbrance of seventeen thousand dollars, bearing seven per cent, interest, which is now on said property and falls due in January, 1890. Should Mr. Grelatt'sell said property on the above terms I am to give him fourteen hundred dollars, and any excess obtained for said property above said price to be his.
“Thomas S. Ridge,
“J. M. Uelatt.”

On the next day, March 15, 1889, plaintiff agreed with J. F. Brady for the purchase of the property upon the terms set forth in the following receipt which was given at the time:

“Received of J. F. Brady, five hundred dollars as earnest money in the purchase of Thomas S. Ridge’s property, 1116 Main street, Kansas city, Missouri, at a price of seventy-three thousand dollars; ten thousand dollars of the same to be paid within two days from this date, of which five hundred has been paid, and twenty-five thousand dollars when deed is delivered, and twenty-one thousand six months from date of •deed at six per cent, and assume seventeen thousand [557]*557dollars due January, 1890, with, seven per cent, interest from date of deed to said Brady.
“J. M. Gelatt,
“Authorized agent for Thomas S. Ridge.,f

The evidence tended to prove — indeed there is but little conflict on this point — that immediately after agreeing upon the terms of sale, and the execution of this receipt the parties met defendant, the contract as made was submitted to and approved by him, and it was then arranged for a subsequent meeting at which a written contract- should be prepared and signed, and the balance of the cash payment made. At this first meeting it was disclosed that a tenant, occupied a portion of the premises, but the evidence tends to prove that defendant agreed to arrange with him. At the subsequent meeting, held a day or two afterwards, defendant refused to carry out the contract unless the purchaser would take the property subject to the lease, which he at the time declined to do. That Brady was able, ready and willing to carry out the contract is unquestioned.

After refusal of defendant to execute the contract as made, the purchaser, John F. Brady, in the name of his brother, M. J. Brady, for whom the purchase was really made, commenced a suit for a specific performance of the contract. Pending this suit, and on June 27, 1889, Brady agreed to assume the lease, and a contract was made in the name of M. J. Brady, according-to the terms of the original sale with this exception, as to the lease and with the exception that the contract recited a consideration of $72,500, the $500 cash payment having been retained by plaintiff as part of his, commission. The contract provided that,, defendant should allow Brady for the rents of the premises from April 14, 1889, and the note for the unpaid purchase-money should bear date from March 14, 1889, the day [558]*558of the original sale. The deed and deed of trust executed in pursuance of this contract were made to and by J. F. Brady, were dated June 28, 1889, and recited a consideration of $73,000.

The suit was commenced March 23, 1889, and an amended petition filed in October of the same year. The amended petition charged the authority to sell, and agreement as to the commission as contained in the written contract, a sale on the terms contained in the receipt, a ratification of the sale upon those terms and the final consummation of the sale by the execution of the deeds in June, 1889. The answer charged that defendant, before the alleged sale, informed plaintiff of the leasehold interest on the property held by another, and instructed him that any sale should be made subject to the lease, and that Brady, the purchaser, refused to take the property subject to the lease. The answer also charged collusion between plaintiff and the purchaser, by which the sale was to be made without reference to the lease, and for which plaintiff was to receive a commission from Brady. There was no evidence to sustain this charge. The answer admitted the execution of the writing giving plaintiff authority to sell, but denied each other allegation of the petition.

At the request of the plaintiff, the court gave the jury this instruction:

“If the jury find from the evidence the following facts: First. That the plaintiff was employed by defendant to sell the real estate, known as 1116 Main street, Kansas City, Missouri, under the written authority read in evidence, dated March 14, 1889; second; that plaintiff, acting under his said employment, and without the same being modified, made a contract to sell said property to one, Brady, on the terms specified on the written receipt and memorandum read in evidence, dated March 15, 1889, and signed [559]*559J. M. Q-elatt, agent for Thomas S. Ridge; third, that plaintiff, after making said contract, brought the parties together; that the terms of the sale were fully •explained to defendant and were agreed to, and •approved by him, and the action of Grelatt was accepted • as a complete performance of his obligation, and the purchaser was ready, willing and able to pay; fourth, that, afterwards, the defendant, for a time, declined to make the deed to Brady until a suit was brought to compel the enforcement of said contract; fifth, that, .afterwards, on or before June 28, 1889, the defendant and Brady settled the controversy by a consummation of the sale, at the price, and on the terms of the contract negotiated by plaintiff, with certain exceptions as to a certain lease in favor of a tenant then in posses- . sion; sixth, that the defendant then consummated the sale by the execution of the deed to Brady, which is in evidence, and by taking from him the mortgage or deed of trust which, also, is in evidence and plaintiff has received but $500 for his services; then, if you find 'these facts, the court instructs the jury that they must find' for the plaintiff on the' first count, and assess his damages at $3,900, with six per cent, interest from • June 28, 1889.”

At the close of all of the evidence, defendant asked an instruction in the nature of a demurrer to the evi•denee, which was refused.

At the request of the defendant, the court gave the .jury two instructions, as follows:

“The court instructs the jury that, if they believe •from the evidence, that after defendant executed to plaintiff the authority in writing, to sell defendant’s real estate referred to in plaintiff’s amended petition, hut, before plaintiff gave the receipt to J. E. Brady, referred to in plaintiff’s amended petition, defendant •orally informed plaintiff that there was a lease to one [560]

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Bluebook (online)
23 S.W. 882, 117 Mo. 553, 1893 Mo. LEXIS 370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gelatt-v-ridge-mo-1893.