233 S.W. 563 | Tex. App. | 1921
This suit was brought by appellant, Otto Sonnenberg, against appellee, Joe Hajek, to recover the sum of $800, and for cause of action he substantially alleged that on the 26th day of June, 1920, he and one A. C. Ernst made and entered into a. contract by which the said Ernst contracted and agreed to convey to him on the 1st day of November, 1920, a certain 23 acres of land in Austin county, Tex., for a consideration of $1,450; that on the day said contract was made plaintiff paid the said Ernst the sum of $200, and thereafter, on the 16th day of August, 1920, he paid him $250, both of said sums being paid and accepted as parts of the purchase money for the land; that the defendant, Joe Hajek, became informed of the contract so made and entered into between plaintiff and the said Ernst, and thereafter, but prior to the day upon which the deed was to be executed by Ernst, came to plaintiff and offered to pay him a profit of $300 for his trade with Ernst, which offer plaintiff refused; that upon such refusal, and before the time set for the final consummation of the contract between plaintiff and Ernst, when and at which time the plaintiff was ready, willing, able, and proposing to consummate said contract, the defendant, Joe Hajek, willfully, and with a total disregard for the rights of plaintiff, induced and caused the said Ernst to breach his said contract, to repudiate the same, and to sell the land to him, the said Hajek, and that by reason of such acts and conduct of Hajek, plaintiff suffered damages in the sum of $800, in that he lost the purchase of said land for the sum of $1,450, as had been *564 agreed upon between him and said Ernst, while such land was worth fully the sum of $2,250.
A general demurrer of the defendant, Hajek, addressed to the plaintiff's petition was by the trial court sustained, and, upon the plaintiff's declining to amend his petition, judgment was rendered dismissing the cause. From such judgment Otto Sonnenberg has appealed. Whether the petition of the plaintiff presents a cause of action is the sole question presented for our decision.
In answering the question thus presented, we must assume from the averments of the plaintiff's petition that the contract between plaintiff and A. C. Ernst was one for the sale of real estate, and that it was evidenced by a written memoranda signed by A. C. Ernst, the proposed vendor (Graham v. Kesseler,
We have reached the conclusion that there was no such intervening cause alleged in the petition which would have rendered the contract unenforceable, but to the contrary it is averred therein that the defendant knew when he purchased the land from Ernst that Ernst had contracted to sell the same to the plaintiff. If that were true, his purchase would in no way affect the right of the plaintiff to enforce specific performance. We have therefore reached the further conclusion that the petition shows no cause of action against the defendant Hajek by reason of his purchase from Ernst.
It was held in Davidson v. Oakes,
In the cases of Davidson v. Oakes and Roberts v. Clark, supra, it was held, however, that the doctrine of liability for inducing a breach of contract has no application to the breach of a contract unenforceable at law; and that the breach of such a contract, even if actuated by malicious motives, does not render a third person liable to the injured party. For a collation of authorities on the subject here discussed, see Swain v. Johnson,
"The case of Ashley v. Dixon, supra, is in every respect similar to the one under consideration. In that case the New York court holds: `If A. has agreed to sell property to B., C. may, at any time before the title has passed, induce A. to sell to him instead; and if not guilty of fraud or misrepresentation, he does not incur any liability; and this is so although C. may have contracted to purchase the property of B. B. cannot maintain an action upon the latter contract, as he cannot perform, and can only look to A. for a breach of the former.' This doctrine is supported by abundant authority."
We deem it unnecessary to add further discussion.
We have reached the conclusion that the weight of authority demands that the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed, and it is so ordered.
Affirmed.