33 N.J.L. 247 | N.J. | 1869
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The insistment on the part of
This position would be tenable, if the sale had been the product simply of the acts of the plaintiff and the owner of the property. It is certainly true, as a rule of law, that, under ordinary circumstances, where a broker, employed to sell property, brings about an introduction of a buyer, and when a negotiation, resulting in a purchase, ensues on that foundation, the owner and the buyer cannot, by any arrangement, disappoint the claim of the agent for remuneration. If this could be done, it is obvious the agent would, in all cases, be in the power of his employer, who, by taking matters into his own hands, could, at will, defeat the just expectations and equitable rights of the broker or middleman. In this class of cases, the question then always is, whether, under the peculiar conditions of the given ease, the agent was the efficient cause of the sale; and, when there is real doubt upon that point, such doubt must be solved by the jury. To this extent there seems to be entire uniformity in the decisions. Wilkinson v. Martin, 8 Carr. & P. 1 ; Chilton v. Butler, 1 E. D. Smith 150; Shepherd v. Hedden, 5 Dutcher 334.
But if appears to be equally obvious that another principle must be applied to oases in which several agents are avowedly employed by the owner. Under such circumstances, it would be impracticable to resort to the same rule as when a' monopoly to sell is given to one. In the latter case, the implied understanding is, that the seller will not take advantage of the endeavors of the agent, and that no other person is authorized to do so. But in the instance of a number of agents, the agreement of non-interference is not so wide, for it extends to the act of the seller only. Where the property is openly put in the hands of more than one broker, each of such agents is aware that he is subject to the arts and chances of competition. If he finds a person who is likely to buy, and 'quits him without having effected
Let the Circuit Court be advised that the non-suit is right.
Elmer and Depue, Justices, concurred.