38 Cal. 550 | Cal. | 1869
The plaintiffs are brokers, and sue upon a contract with the defendant, by which he agreed to pay them the sum of 1750, if they would" find, within one month from the date of the contract, a purchaser for a certain parcel of real estate belonging to him, willing and able to buy, at the price of $65,000, and allege performance, which they proved at the trial. The defendant admits the contract, as alleged, but avers that he revoked the agency of the plaintiffs before they had found a purchaser, and proved it at the trial. The Court instructed the jury to the effect that, in view of the fact that the plaintiffs were allowed by the terms of the contract a specific time within which to find a purchaser, the defendant" could not revoke without the consent of the plaintiffs. Under this instruction the jury found for the plaintiffs, and the defendant has brought the case here.
It is a general rule that any agency, whether to sell land, or to do any other act, unless coupled with an interest, or given for a valuable consideration, is revocable at any time. This general principle is not disputed by counsel for the plaintiffs, but it is insisted that this case is taken without its operation by the peculiar terms of the contract, by which, as is claimed, the defendant has impliedly, if not expressly, restricted his power of revocation, and made the contract continuous for a month. This seems to have been the construction put upon the contract by the Court below, but we do not so understand it. ' Its terms, as stated in the complaint, are, that the defendant employed the plaintiffs to find a purchaser for the real estate described in the complaint, ‘1 and promised and agreed to and with the plaintiffs, in consideration that the plaintiffs would undertake to seek, and
The rule that in this class of contracts the principal may revoke at any time before complete performance by the broker, unless he has expressly otherwise agreed, may be a harsh rale, as suggested by counsel; but if it is, it would seem to be a very easy matter for the broker to protect himself against it. At all events, if he does not insert a covenant to that effect in his contract, the Courts cannot do it for him.
Judgment and order reversed, and a new trial granted.