12 Misc. 2d 568 | City of New York Municipal Court | 1958
This is an action by a real estate broker for commissions. Plaintiff claims that the defendant at first asked $26,000 as the purchase price of his home of which
The court is of the opinion that, upon all the evidence, the plaintiff has failed to sustain her burden of proof. The relative rights and duties of a real estate broker as the basis of his claim for compensation have been set forth in the learned opinion of Mr. Justice Finch in the case of Sibbald v. Bethlehem Iron Co. (83 N. Y. 378). As Mr. Justice Finch said in the Sibbald case: “ The duty he undertakes, the obligation he assumes as a condition of his right to demand commissions, is to bring the buyer and seller to an agreement. In that all the authorities substantially concur, although expressing the idea with many differences of phrase and illustration. The description and definition of a broker involves this view of his duty. Story says, ‘ The true definition of a broker seems to be that he is an agent employed to make bargains and contracts between other persons in matters of trade, commerce or navigation for a com
There is no sufficient proof in the case at bar to warrant the court in finding that the defendant terminated the plaintiff’s authority in bad faith and as a mere device to escape the payment of the broker’s commissions, in which case Judge Finch pointed out the vendor may not escape liability (Sibbald v. Bethlehem Iron Co., 83 N. Y. 378, 384, 385, supra). However, as Judge Finch further pointed out, “ But if the latter (the seller) acts in good faith; not seeking to escape the payment of commissions, but moved fairly by a view of his own interest; he has the absolute right before a bargain is made while negotiations remain unsuccessful, before commissions are earned, to revoke the broker’s authority ”. (P. 384.)
Accordingly, complaint is dismissed.