Taylor v. Cobb

1950 OK 21, 214 P.2d 233, 202 Okla. 371, 1950 Okla. LEXIS 356
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedJanuary 24, 1950
DocketNo. 33594
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1950 OK 21 (Taylor v. Cobb) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. Cobb, 1950 OK 21, 214 P.2d 233, 202 Okla. 371, 1950 Okla. LEXIS 356 (Okla. 1950).

Opinion

O’NEAL, J.

This is an appeal from a judgment in favor of defendant in error, V. C. Cobb, against plaintiff in error, Joe Taylor, in an action to recover a broker’s commission on the sale of real property. The parties will be referred to as plaintiff and defendant, as in the trial court.

Plaintiff is a broker engaged in the business of buying and selling real estate on commission.

On and prior to February, 1947, defendant was the owner of a section of land in Cimarron county, Okla., being section 28, township 1 north, range 7, E.C.M., and had advertised the same for sale in a local newspaper.

Plaintiff, having learned that the defendant desired to sell said land, met defendant and entered into negotiations with him, out of which this action arose.

Plaintiff asserts that he entered into an oral agreement with defendant, whereby it was agreed that defendant was to list the land with plaintiff and plaintiff was to endeavor to sell same for defendant, and if he did sell the same, plaintiff was to receive as his commission all that plaintiff could get for said land over and above the sum of $22 per acre, and that for any sale plaintiff should make, defendant was to receive net to him $22 per acre; that thereafter, on or about March 15th, plaintiff procured a purchaser for said land in the person of one Clarence Weeks who agreed to buy said land and was ready, willing and able to, and did agree to buy said land at and for the sum of $23.50 per acre; that thereupon plaintiff informed defendant that he had a purchaser who was ready to sign a contract for the sum of $23.50 per acre; that defendant informed plaintiff that he would come to Guy-mon, Okla., in a few days and complete the deal; that defendant failed to do so, and a few days later, when called upon by the purchaser, Clarence Weeks, defendant declined to complete the transaction and stated that he would not sell the land for less than $25 per acre net to him; that thereby plaintiff earned his commission in the sum of $960, payment of which he demanded from defendant, and defendant refused to pay. Thereupon this action was commenced by plaintiff, alleging, in substance, the above facts. Defendant answered by general denial.

The issues were tried to a jury, resulting in a judgment and verdict for plaintiff in the sum of $640, and defendant appeals.

Assignment of error No. 1 is that the court erred in overruling defendant’s motion for new trial.

Assignments Nos. 2, 3 and 4 go to the sufficiency of the evidence.

Assignment No. 5 is that the court erred in giving instructions Nos. 1 and 2.

Assignment No. 6 is that the court erred in refusing to give defendant’s requested instruction No. 3.

All the assignments of error are presented under four propositions. Prop[373]*373ositions Nos. 1 and 2 are presented together and are: (1) The court erred in overruling defendant’s demurrer to plaintiffs evidence presented at the close of plaintiffs case in chief, and again presented at the close of all evidence; and (2) the verdict and judgment are contrary to the evidence and the law.

It is first contended that the court erred in overruling defendant’s demurrer to plaintiffs evidence upon five different grounds.

The first reason, defendant contends, there was no valid contract of employment in that the minds of the parties did not meet on terms of the sale, and that the listing contract claimed by plaintiff was indefinite and uncertain in its terms, and left matters for further negotiation. These matters go to the validity of the alleged contract of employment between plaintiff and defendant and require examination of the evidence on that question. There is conflict in the evidence as to what was said between the plaintiffs and defendants at the time the alleged contract was entered into. It is agreed that they met sometime about February 6 to February 15, 1947, at a service station in the small town of Kerrick, Tex., where negotiations were entered into.

If the evidence of plaintiff is to be taken as true, there was an apparently valid agreement between plaintiff as a broker and defendant as an owner.

If the evidence of defendant is to be taken as true, there were no definite and final terms under which plaintiff was authorized to sell the land.

Plaintiff testified, in substance, that sometime about February 15, 1947, he had learned that defendant Taylor had a section of land for sale, and that on or about February 15, 1947, plaintiff was in the town of Kerrick, Tex., and learned that Taylor was at a service station in said town. Plaintiff went to the filling station and inquired for Mr. Taylor and defendant answered and stated that his name was Taylor; that plaintiff introduced himself and told Taylor his name, his business, and that he lived at Guymon Okla.; that he inquired of defendant whether he had some land for sale and defendant told him that he did and that plaintiff told defendant that he would like to see the land; that they went together in a car and looked at the land, and after they got back to the service station the following conversation took place:

“ ‘Well’, I said, ‘Mr. Taylor, what do you want for your land?’ T want $22 an acre’, he said. ‘Well’, I said, ‘will you pay the regular five per cent commission?’ ‘No, I won’t. I want that net to me’. ‘How do you want to sell this land’ ‘Well’, he said, T don’t want all of this money. I would like to have half of it now and half of it next year, and that there was a loan already against it’, I believe he said . . .”

Plaintiff testified further that defendant told him that there was a mortgage against the land in favor of the State School Land Commission upon which there was unpaid the sum of approximately $5,000; that the purchaser would be required to assume the mortgage and that the purchaser would be required to pay interest on the deferred payment at the rate of 6 per cent per annum; that defendant wanted $22 per acre net to him and that plaintiff would have to get his commission above that; that defendant wanted half cash over and above the mortgage and the other half to be paid the next year, and that there was nothing said at the time about taking a second mortgage back on the land to secure the deferred payment. In all this plaintiff was corroborated by his son, Lee Cobb, who was with plaintiff and defendant when they went to look at the land, except that the son did not remember about what was said as to the rate of interest on the deferred payment.

Plaintiff further testified that he showed the land to three propspective purchasers, the last of which was Clarence Weeks; that on or about March 15, 1947, he showed Weeks the land [374]

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Bluebook (online)
1950 OK 21, 214 P.2d 233, 202 Okla. 371, 1950 Okla. LEXIS 356, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-cobb-okla-1950.