T-A-L-L, Inc. v. Moore & Co.

765 P.2d 1039, 12 Brief Times Rptr. 1399, 1988 Colo. App. LEXIS 353, 1988 WL 106093
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 13, 1988
Docket85CA1147
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 765 P.2d 1039 (T-A-L-L, Inc. v. Moore & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
T-A-L-L, Inc. v. Moore & Co., 765 P.2d 1039, 12 Brief Times Rptr. 1399, 1988 Colo. App. LEXIS 353, 1988 WL 106093 (Colo. Ct. App. 1988).

Opinions

STERNBERG, Judge.

The plaintiff, T-A-L-L, Inc. (seller), sued defendants, Moore and Company (broker) and its salesman, H.L. Richison (salesman), for damages resulting from their handling of a real estate transaction. The trial court held defendants had breached their fiduciary duty and entered judgment against them ordering repayment of the portion of the commission they received upon the sale of seller’s property, but declined to award damages for specific monetary loss in the nature of lost profits. Seller appeals, claiming it was entitled to be reimbursed the full amount of the commission. Asserting the court erred in ruling they breached their fiduciary duty, defendants cross-appeal. We agree with seller’s contention, disagree with the defendants’ assertion, and therefore, we affirm in part and reverse in part.

Facts found by the trial court and supported by the evidence include the following. Seller had listed an 80-acre property for sale with the broker. Under the listing agreement, seller agreed to pay broker a commission of 10% of the sale price. Because of the efforts of the salesman, a contract was entered into on March 1,1982, for sale of the property by seller to New-comb-Weidner Co. (purchaser) or its assigns for approximately $1,400,000. As part of this transaction, one-half of the broker’s commission was to be paid to the purchaser, which was itself a registered real estate company, the principals of which were licensed salesmen.

On March 5, the salesman was contacted by another real estate agent who informed him that he had a third party, DG Shelter Products (DG), interested in purchasing the property for $1,600,000. The salesman told DG’s agent about the March 1 contract. That agent then requested that the salesman contact purchaser to see if it would be interested in dealing with DG. A brochure describing DG and a xerox copy of the DG offer were, left with the salesman.

That day, the salesman attempted, without success, to contact the seller’s representative. Two days later he told a principal of purchaser about the DG proposal and set up a meeting between purchaser and DG. At the commencement of the meeting, the salesman called seller’s representative and told him about the $1,600,000 DG offer, read the contingencies which he said were not good for seller, and reminded him that seller was bound on its March 1 contract with purchaser. Seller did not authorize the salesman to disclose to DG anything about the March 1 contract or to disclose to purchaser anything about the DG proposal.

As a result of the meeting, purchaser assigned its contract rights to DG for $300,000. Later, the salesman tried, without success, to renegotiate the 50-50 commission split to increase the broker’s share because of the profit made by purchaser on its assignment to DG.

Thereafter, on advice of counsel, seller recognized the assignment, deeded the property to DG, and the approximate $140,-000 commission was paid out of the sale proceeds, one-half to the broker and one-half to purchaser. Purchaser, in turn, paid $20,000 to DG’s agent.

Seller then commenced this action, seeking damages and a return of the commission based on its claim that the broker and salesman breached their fiduciary duty to seller by withholding material facts from it and by disclosing confidential information to DG and purchaser without authorization from seller. The trial court awarded seller the half of the commission broker received. Both sides appeal the trial court’s judgment.

I.

The broker and salesman contend the trial court erred in ruling, as a matter of law, that they breached their fiduciary duty to seller. We disagree.

“Unless otherwise agreed, in all dealings affecting the subject matter of his [1041]*1041agency, a real estate broker or salesman has a fiduciary duty to act with the utmost faith and loyalty in behalf of, and to act solely for, the benefit of his principal.” Lestoque v. M.R. Mansfield Realty, Inc., 36 Colo.App. 32, 536 P.2d 1146 (1975). In order to perform this duty, he is obligated, until the time of closing, to disclose to his principal all facts which he has or has acquired during their relationship which might reasonably affect the decisions of his principal, and conversely, he must not disclose confidential matters to third parties. Wheeler v. Rabe, Inc., 198 Colo. 311, 599 P.2d 902 (1979).

Based upon the evidence, the trial court found eight separate acts, each of which it held constituted a breach by the broker and salesman of their fiduciary duty to seller. These are:

(1) Disclosing to purchaser on March 7 that the agent for DG had submitted an offer on the property with the price of $1,600,000;

(2) Arranging a meéting about the DG offer with purchaser for March 8 without first disclosing the DG offer to seller and without getting its permission to meet with purchaser concerning the offer;

(3) Failing to ask for seller’s permission to reveal the DG offer to purchaser;

(4) During the March 8 phone call from the salesman to seller’s representative at the commencement of the meeting, failing to reveal the March 7 disclosure to purchaser and not telling him that purchaser’s principal was at that very moment in the salesman’s office to discuss the DG offer;

(5) Failing to offer any advice regarding ways to prepare or pursue the DG offer (a full cash price offer) as a backup offer or some other way to deal with DG;

(6) Discussing the details of the DG offer with purchaser on March 8 without the express permission of seller;

(7) Holding and arranging a meeting on March 10 with DG’s real estate agent and purchaser without the express and informed permission of seller;

(8) Seeking a larger percentage (60-40) of the commission from purchaser because of the assignment, which was arranged without seller’s permission and which did not result in a monetary gain for seller.

In light of these findings, the totality of the salesman’s conduct evidences a violation of his duty to act with loyalty on behalf of the seller; thus, the trial court’s conclusion that salesman had breached his fiduciary duty finds support in the record. See Lestoque v. M.R. Mansfield Realty, Inc., supra.

II.

The broker and salesman contend that, in any event, the seller is not entitled to recover from them because it failed to prove that it incurred any injury, damages, or losses, or that they profited as a result of the breach of fiduciary duty. Conversely, seller contends that it should have been awarded the entire amount rather than half of the commission paid. We agree with the . seller.

It has long been the law in Colorado that a broker who breaches his fiduciary duty forfeits his right to a commission. In Collins v. McClurg, 1 Colo.App. 348, 29 P. 299 (1892), the court held:

“The intentional concealment of important and material facts from the knowledge of his principal by a broker employed to sell real estate will deprive him of the right to commission for procuring a buyer.”

This rule has been followed in more recent cases: Elijah v. Fender, 674 P.2d 946 (Colo.1984); White v. Brock,

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

Related

Dubbs v. Stribling & Associates
274 A.D.2d 32 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2000)
Zick v. Krob
872 P.2d 1290 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1993)
Moore & Co. v. T-A-L-L, Inc.
792 P.2d 794 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 1990)
T-A-L-L, Inc. v. Moore & Co.
765 P.2d 1039 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 1988)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
765 P.2d 1039, 12 Brief Times Rptr. 1399, 1988 Colo. App. LEXIS 353, 1988 WL 106093, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/t-a-l-l-inc-v-moore-co-coloctapp-1988.