Torres v. Arbona

72 P.R. 719
CourtSupreme Court of Puerto Rico
DecidedJuly 19, 1951
DocketNo. 10392
StatusPublished

This text of 72 P.R. 719 (Torres v. Arbona) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Torres v. Arbona, 72 P.R. 719 (prsupreme 1951).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Marrero

delivered the opinion of the Court.

Carlos Manuel Torres brought an action against Guillermo Arbona, Jr., and Guillermo Arbona, Senior, to recover compensation for services rendered and other relief. He alleged that he is a broker and that on or about March 1949, the defendants engaged him to procure the sale of a farm of their own which they use for the raising of cattle and for a dairy; that for four weeks the plaintiff engaged himself exclusively in procuring the sale of said farm and was finally able to find a purchaser therefor for the price and under the conditions stipulated by the defendants, which sale was effected, the corresponding deed being partially executed, and rescinded twenty-four hours later; that the defendants bound them[721]*721selves with the plaintiff to pay to the latter $1,650 for his negotiations, but in the act of the sale they requested him to reduce the amount to $1,100, to which he agreed, the defendants binding themselves to deliver said sum to him in a few hours; that after the sale was perfected and consummated, the purchaser found hidden defects in the property, since upon coming into possession thereof he learned that the same was under quarantine by orders of the Insular Government because the cattle in question had tuberculosis, wherefore the purchaser informed the defendants that he could not accept the farm nor the cattle included in the sale in that condition and that he rescinded the sale; that since the defendants at no time apprised the plaintiff nor the purchaser of such defect in the property, the plaintiff acted in good faith, completed his negotiations and procured the sale; that the services he rendered are reasonably worth $1,650, which sum had been expressly agreed to; that in the event that the plaintiff were not entitled to be paid his fees, because of rescission of the sale, he has suffered damages amounting to $1,650 in the.rendering of his services, due to the negligence, omissionr fault, and bad faith of the defendants in hiding from him the defects of the property in question.

The defendants answered denying all the essential aver-ments of the complaint and setting up as a special defense that the complaint does not state facts constituting a cause of action and that had the plaintiff intervened in the business: to which he refers in his complaint, his right to compensation did not arise until the property involved in the deal had been sold to the person whom-the plaintiff had contacted; that the deal was never carried out and that plaintiff’s intervention, far from procuring the deal, hindered and prevented it.

After several questions of law, which need not be reviewed, were raised and disposed of, the case was tried and the parties introduced abundant oral and documentary evidence. The court a quo entered judgment granting the complaint and [722]*722adjudging the defendant, Guillermo Arbona, Jr., to pay to the plaintiff the sum of $1,100, plus costs.1 Plaintiff moved for reconsideration in order to be granted attorney’s fees, but his motion was overruled. Both parties appealed.

In support of his appeal the defendant Arbona, Jr., maintains that the lower court erred (1) in rendering judgment based on plaintiff Carlos M. Torres’ testimony, despite the fact that the latter had said and acknowledged that his right to recover his commission arose when the purchaser he had furnished, purchased, received title to the properties, paid to the seller the part of the agreed price and legally bound himself to fulfill the remaining conditions imposed by the seller; (2) in considering that the contract of sale was consummated; (3) in deciding that the herd of cattle existing in the “Mon-serrate” farm was suffering from bovine tuberculosis prior to March 1949, and that the defendants acted in bad faith in not informing said fact to the plaintiff and to the purchaser ; (4) in ordering the defendant Arbona, Jr., to pay to the plaintiff the sum of $1,100 for his alleged professional services, inasmuch as regardless of the grounds which the purchaser Carlos Santiago had, the latter was never ready, willing and able to purchase the “Monserrate” farm and the herd of cattle under consideration; and that (5) the judgment is contrary to the law and to the facts.

. As the errors assigned by the defendant-appellant challenge mainly the findings of fact of the lower court, we shall briefly set them forth as follows:

“1. That the plaintiff, Carlos Manuel Torres, is and has been, for over 15 years, a real estate broker in this jurisdiction of Ponce, Puerto Rico.
“2. That on or about March 1949, the defendants requested plaintiff’s services in order to sell for them the ‘Monserrate’ farm, located in the Maragüez ward of Ponce, and the herd of cattle existing thereon.
[723]*723“3. That the conditions of this sale were the following:
‘Selling price, $55,000 of which the purchaser was to pay in cash, upon the execution of the deed, the sum of $10,000; he would pay $15,000 by signing and delivering 15 promissory notes for $1,000 apiece, each one to mature on successive years, secured by a mortgage on that same ‘Monserrate’ farm; and the purchaser would bind himself to pay the remaining $30,000 to the mortgagee, Herminio Flores, in whose favor is a mortgage over that property, limited to the aforesaid sum of $30,000.’
“4. That the defendants agreed with the plaintiff to give him the amount of $1,100, equivalent to 2 per cent of the selling price, if he managed to sell . . . the aforesaid farm ‘La Monserrate’ in the above-mentioned sum of $55,000. Originally there were other agreements between the defendants and the plaintiff, but they were modified by the f oregoing agreement.2
“5. That when engaging plaintiff’s services, the defendants did not let him or any other person know that the cattle existing in the farm ‘La Monserrate,’ which were included in the deal, were in quarantine of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce of Puerto Rico, because some of them were affected by bovine tuberculosis.
“6. That the farm ‘La Monserrate’ and the cattle in question have been in quarantine, suffering from bovine tuberculosis, since before March 1949, until the date of this action.
“7, That the plaintiff took multiple steps to sell the aforesaid farm and herd of cattle, using his own automobile, incurring the consequent expenses thereby, and finally found a purchaser for the farm in the person of Mr. Carlos Santiago, who has for many years been the owner of a rural estate located in the Canas Ward, in La Cotorra, of Ponce, and is engaged, also, in the dairy business.
“8. That the plaintiff succeeded in making Mr. Carlos Santiago enter into a contract of sale of the ‘La Monserrate’ farm with Guillermo Arbona, Jr., including the cattle existing in the property, for the sum of $55,000. This contract was perfected with the consent of the parties, but it could not be ratified by public deed before a notary due to the following situation: The defendant sellers went on a Good Thursday3 to Mr. Hernández [724]*724Mato’s office to execute the deed of sale and mortgage. The purchaser, Carlos Santiago, also appeared, as well as the mortgagee, Herminio Flores, in order to cancel in part in favor of the sellers, Messrs.

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Bluebook (online)
72 P.R. 719, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/torres-v-arbona-prsupreme-1951.