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Waterman v. Boltinghouse

JAMES A. WATERMAN v. F. M. BOLTINGHOUSE

Waterman v. Boltinghouse, 23 P. 195 (Cal. 1890)
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Court
California Supreme Court · State Highest Courts
Decided
January 31, 1890
Docket
No. 13377
Judges
Thornton
Citations
23 P. 19582 Cal. 6591890 Cal. LEXIS 626
Headnotes
PRINCIPAL AND AGENT — BROKERAGE — EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO SELL REALTY — Sale by Principal —-Commissions. —An agent or broker to whom is given the exclusive right, for a certain period, to sell a tract of land belonging to another, cannot recover his commissions when the owner sells the land during this period, unless he has produced a purchaser ready and willing to buy on the terms specified in his contract of employment.
Summary
Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Fresno County. The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.

Syllabus and headnotes are prepared by the reporter or publisher, not the court, and are not part of the opinion.

Opinion of the Court — Thornton

Text extracted by OCR from a scanned original; check the original for exact wording.

Thornton, J.

This is an action by plaintiff to recover commissions for an alleged sale of land. He never produced a purchaser ready and willing to buy on the terms of his employer, the defendant. He cannot, therefore, recover. (Dolan v. Scanlan, 57 Cal. 261 ; Moses v. Bierling, 31 N. Y. 462 ; Sibbald v. Bethlehem Iron Co., 83 N. Y. 378 ; 22 Am. Rep. 441 .)

Here the plaintiff had the exclusive right to sell for a term ending January 1, 1889, and the defendant, during this period, himself effected a sale. Though the plaintiff had the right to sell, to the exclusion of his employer, still he cannot recover his commissions unless he has produced a purchaser ready and willing to buy as above stated. This is expressly held, and correctly held, in Moses v. Bierling, supra, which is a case similar to this.

The plaintiff argues this case as if it was a suit to recover damages for defendant’s breach of contract. The complaint does not set forth any such action, but one to recover the compensation agreed to be paid on a sale.

There is no error.

Judgment affirmed.

McFarland, J., and Sharpstein, J., concurred.

How later courts describe this case

No later court has written an explanatory parenthetical about this case yet.

Cited by 16 cases

View all citing references →
1890: 11893: 11896: 11906: 11908: 11910: 11913: 11914: 11915: 11919: 11920: 11921: 11923: 11929: 11950: 11952: 118902026peak 1890 · 1

Relies on it most ⓘ

  1. Swartz v. Park159 S.W. 338 (Tex. App. 1913)
  2. Wiggins v. Wilson55 Fla. 346 (1908)
  3. Merkeley v. Fisk178 P. 945 (Cal. 1919)
  4. Snook v. Page155 P. 107 (Cal. Ct. App. 1915)
  5. E. A. Strout Western Realty Agency v. Gregoire225 P.2d 585 (Cal. Ct. App. 1950)
  6. Nicholson v. Alderson107 N.E.2d 39 (Ill. App. Ct. 1952)

Most recent

  1. Nicholson v. Alderson107 N.E.2d 39 (Ill. App. Ct. 1952)
  2. E. A. Strout Western Realty Agency v. Gregoire225 P.2d 585 (Cal. Ct. App. 1950)
  3. Hall v. King279 P. 814 (Cal. Ct. App. 1929)
  4. Powers v. Security Savings & Trust Co.222 P. 779 (Idaho 1923)
  5. Wright & Kimbrough v. Dewees197 P. 957 (Cal. Ct. App. 1921)
  6. Brownell v. Hanson186 P. 873 (Wash. 1920)

Citing references are not a citator: they show that a later opinion cites this case, not whether it followed, distinguished, or overruled it. Check negative history before relying on this case.

Authorities cited 3

DepthCaseCited by
Moses v. Bierling, 31 N.Y. 462 (1865) 67
Sibbald v. the Bethlehem Iron Co., 83 N.Y. 378 (1881) 430
Dolan v. Scanlan, 57 Cal. 261 (1881) 19

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