Roquemore v. Ford Motor Co.

290 F. Supp. 130, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8866
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedMay 30, 1967
DocketCiv. A. No. 4-460
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 290 F. Supp. 130 (Roquemore v. Ford Motor Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roquemore v. Ford Motor Co., 290 F. Supp. 130, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8866 (N.D. Tex. 1967).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BREWSTER, District Judge.

This diversity action arose out of a transaction wherein the plaintiff, W. H. Roquemore, was engaged by the defendant, Ford Motor Company, to negotiate for the purchase by it of a suitable site for a truck sales and service center in Fort Worth, Texas.

The respective theories of the parties are set out in detail in the pre-trial order, and they will be only briefly summarized here. The quotations in such summaries will be from the pre-trial order.

Roquemore’s theory is that Ford “hired him to act as its dummy or front man in acquiring a suitable site for its truck sales center, without public disclosure of Ford’s interest, at a price [132]*132which would be satisfactory to Ford, and he would be compensated by the spread if he could buy the property for a price below what Ford approved”; that he did find and tie up a piece of property acceptable to Ford within its price limit of fifty cents a square foot; that after he procured the zoning adjustments . necessary to legalize Ford’s intended use, Ford refused to purchase the property, thereby causing him to lose the profit of $120,000.00 that he would have made out of the transaction. He credits the $120,000.00 with a $17,-500.00 profit he made by negotiating a sale of the property to another purchaser after Ford declined to buy it, making his demand for damages the sum of $102,500.00.

Roquemore makes no claim that the alleged agreement between him and Ford whereby “he would be compensated by the spread if he could buy the property at a price below what Ford approved” was in writing, or that Ford ever signed any written contract obligating it to purchase the property. It is undisputed that the only written agreements signed by Ford involving the property were the two option contracts hereinafter discussed.

Ford denies that there was ever any agreement by it to purchase the property or to compensate Roquemore by allowing him “the spread if he could buy the property for a price below what Ford approved”. It says that even if there had been such oral agreements, as alleged by Roquemore, each of such agreements would have been unenforceable — the one for the purchase of land, under the Statute of Frauds, Article 3995, subd. 4, Texas Civil Statutes, and the one for payment of compensation for Roquemore’s services as a real estate agent, under the Real Estate License Act, Article 6573a, subd. 28, of such statutes. Further defenses asserted by Ford were that Roquemore was acting as its agent in the negotiations for the purchase of the property and that his conduct during the transaction amounted to a breach of his fiduciary duties; that the only contracts Ford ever entered into in connection with the property were the two written ones, each of which gave it only an option to buy; that such written contracts control over any claimed oral agreements; and that Ford terminated such contracts when it declined to exercise the options provided therein. By its cross-action, Ford claims that Roquemore’s breach of his fiduciary relationship entitled it to recover the $5,000.00 it advanced to him to use as earnest money in the transaction.

The Court is of the opinion that the facts and the law support the above stated positions of the defendant, and that judgment should be rendered in its favor denying the plaintiff’s claim and giving it judgment against the plaintiff for $5,000.00.

About May 1, 1964, Ford became interested in acquiring suitable land in Fort Worth, Texas, for the location of a truck sales and service center. It felt that the negotiations for the purchase should be conducted by a real estate broker without disclosure of its identity, so that landowners approached would not be tempted to ask exorbitant prices for their property. It contacted Roquemore of Dallas, Texas, a real estate broker duly licensed under the Texas Real Estate License Act, Article 6573a, and he agreed to act for Ford in negotiating for the purchase of a suitable tract without divulging that Ford was involved. Ford made it clear to Roquemore that while it would not be interested in any property costing more than fifty cents a square foot, it wanted to buy the property at the lowest possible figure. That was of particular importance to Ford because it was planning to have its dealer develop any site purchased by it, with the dealer financing to be guaranteed by Ford. It also informed him that the proposal for the purchase of any property would have to go through established channels of the Ford organization, and that Ford would not be bound to buy until the deal had been finally approved at the home office.

[133]*133During the course of these early discussions, one of Ford’s representatives told Roquemore of a likely site he had seen in Fort Worth with a “For Sale” sign on it. Roquemore investigated and found it was a vacant tract of 12.373 acres owned by W. T. Priddy. One Greenwood, a real estate broker in Fort Worth, was a close friend of Roquemore’s because of the fact that Roquemore had allowed him to broker land deals throught Roquemore’s office and name during a period when Greenwood could not operate openly on account of trouble he was having with the State over his real estate broker’s license. Roquemore had Greenwood contact Priddy for a listing, and Greenwood was successful in getting the property turned over to him for sale. The landowner knew nothing about the set-up between Roquemore and Greenwood. With Greenwood purporting to act as agent for the landowner, while he was in fact working for Roquemore’s interest, he negotiated the price of the property down to $127,660.00, although Roquemore was willing to pay more.1 Roquemore then discussed the matter further with Ford, and learned that its men in the lower echelon of the real estate division were inclined to favor the property if the zoning restrictions and the purchase price were satisfactory. Roquemore thereupon submitted to Ford a leather bound brochure dated May 12, 1964, analyzing the property’s location in the Fort Worth business community, praising its potential as a truck sales and service center, and concluding that:

“1 — The primary objective is to locate a suitable Truck Sales and Service Site for FORD Division.
“2 — If the site as submitted meets specifications it is then essential that said site be placed under control via the option route. Since it is desirable not to reveal FORD MOTOR COMPANY as the ultimate principal or sponsor, I am prepared to be the optionee solely for the benefit of your Company.
“3 — To execute an option with the owner requires that a deposit of approximately $2,500.00 be made with the granting by owner to optionee of 60 to 90 days to accomplish certain zoning and permit approvals and close the transaction.
******
“5 — You will observe that my reference to land cost was ‘on a basis not to exceed .50(5 per square foot’. My efforts as negotiator will be to effect a land cost at the lowest possible figure but not to exceed the above figure.”

The italics in the above quotation appear in the brochure itself. The Court considers that at least equal emphasis ought to be given to the immediately preceding words, “My efforts as negotiator will be to effect a land cost at the lowest possible figure * * * ”, as well as to the language in the concluding sentence of paragraph 2 reading, “I am prepared to be optionee solely for the benefit of your Company.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
290 F. Supp. 130, 1967 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8866, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roquemore-v-ford-motor-co-txnd-1967.