109 Wash. 404 | Wash. | 1920
This action is based on a written contract for a commission claimed to have been earned-in producing a purchaser who was ready, able and willing to buy a certain half-section of land in Grant county upon terms which had been assented to by the defendant. The cause was tried to the court and a jury, and resulted in a verdict in favor of the plaintiff. From this judgment, the defendant appeals.
The respondent resides in Grant county, and the action was instituted in that county. The appellant is a corporation organized under the laws of the state
Some time during the month of April, 1917, the respondent had a telephone conversation with the president of the appellant company with reference to- the sale of certain lands in Grant county, among others, the half-section for the producing a purchaser of which it is claimed the respondent earned the commission
“An action against a corporation may be brought in any county where the corporation transacts business or transacted business at the time the cause of action arose; or in any county where the corporation has an office for the transaction of business or any person resides -upon whom process may be served*407 against such corporation, unless otherwise provided in this code. ’ ’
The motion for change of venue was heard upon affidavits. From these it appears that the appellant’s principal place of business was Spokane county, that it had no office for the transaction of business in Grant county, and that there did not reside in that county any officer or agent of the corporation. If the venue was properly laid, under the statute quoted, in Grant county, it must be by reason of the fact that the corporation was transacting business in that county. It reasonably appears that the appellant was buying and selling land in that county, leasing land, receiving as rental therefor at times a share of the crop, and disposing of the same, and that the contract upon which the action is based was there drafted, executed and delivered. These facts show that the appellant was transacting business in Grant county, and therefore, under the statute, might be sued therein. Hayworth v. McDonald, 67 Wash. 496, 121 Pac. 984; Strandall v. Alaska Lumber Co., 73 Wash. 67, 131 Pac. 211.
Upon the merits, the only question is whether the evidence was sufficient to justify the submission of the cause to the jury. This question has been preserved throughout the record. It may be conceded that the respondent would be charged with knowledge, at the time the lease was executed, of its terms, and if there were no other fact in the record, that there would be no evidence to carry the case to the jury. He testifies, however, that, in the telephone conversation above referred to, he inquired of the president of the appellant whether immediate possession of the land could be given in the event that the sale was accomplished, and received the assurance that it could. The officer of the appellant with whom the conversation occurred
The judgment will be affirmed.
Holcomb, O. J., Mitchell, Mackintosh, and Parker, JJ., concur.