172 Wis. 411 | Wis. | 1920
This appeal requires a construction of sec. 2305m, Stats.:
“Section 2305m. Every contract to pay a commission to a real-estate agent or broker or to any other person for selling or buying real estate shall be void unless such contract or some note or memorandum thereof describing such real estate, expressing the price for which the same may be sold or purchased, the commission to be paid and the period during which the agent or broker shall procure a buyer or seller, be in writing and be subscribed by the person agreeing to pay such commission.”
The question raised is whether or not the contract between the parties expresses “the period during which the
A very persuasive argument can be made, taking the language of the statute''literally, that the contract in question did not express any period of time. When the contract was made and delivered no person then in existence could tell during what time the contract might operate. The owner might give notice within a week, within a year, or within any period which might, under the circumstances, constitute a reasonable time, and the contract would terminate three months after the giving of such notice in writing, so that in that sense no definite period of time was stated. *
A like argument can be made with reference to the construction and interpretation to be placed upon the statute of frauds. Sec. 2304 requires that every contract for the sale of lands shall “express the consideration.” It has been held under this provision that the words “value received” constitute a sufficient compliance with the statute, although, of course, resort rfiust be had to oral testimony to show what the consideration in fact was.
There is nothing in the history of the litigation respecting controversies between real-estate brokers and their clients or in the evils arising out of such relationships that leads us to suppose that the legislature intended to prohibit the making of a large class of contracts which were there
By the Court. — Order reversed, and cause remanded for further proceedings according to law.