Silberberg v. Chipman
Silberberg v. Chipman
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court:
•Defendant Silberberg employed plaintiff Chip-man to obtain for him a loan .of $11,000, and for procuring it agreed to pay, as commission, $220. The proposed lender of the money was the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, and the printed form of application for the loan was one which that company used. The blanks were filled by Chipman at Silberberg’s dictation, and' the statements therein made were for the purpose of procuring the loan. Among other promises was one that “searches for liens of all kinds * * * if necessary, and such other papers as are desired by said company are to be furnished by me” (Silberberg). The security which the borrower offered was real estate in the city of Pueblo. The application stated that Silberberg held the undisputed title thereto in fee, and that the proposed mortgage for the loan was to be the first lien thereon, and that Silverberg did not owe any money to mechanics, builders or others for work done, or materials furnished, upon the property.
When the application was received at its eastern office, the company, through its western agent, notified the broker that the loan was accepted, and the broker a.t once notified Silberberg thereof, and the borrower handed the title papers to the property to the broker, who in turn delivered them to the-local attorney of the lender for examination.
A short time thereafter the western agent of the lender, as the result of a personal examination of the
On these facts, which are undisputed, the sole question is whether, the broker earned his commission. Defendant’s contention is that the commission was not earned because the loan was not made owing to the wrongful insistence by the lender upon a bond of indemnity. His counsel argues that, under the written application, defendant was not obliged to 'furnish, and the lender could not require, a bond of indemnity against liens of mechanics or material men, and that when he offered to leave on deposit with the lender $1,000 as a security against possible anticipated liens, or to furnish proof that none would be filed, and the lender refused such offer, this ab
The law applicable to this case is the same as that which governs the rights of a broker who is employed to sell real estate. When the broker obtains a purchaser ready, willing and able to buy at the price and upon the terms agreed upon, or a lender who is ready, willing and able to lend the amount desired and upon the terms agreed upon, the broker has earned his commission if he has been the efficient and procuring cause of the sale or loan, even though the same is not completed because of the wrongful conduct of the principal. — Squires v. King, 15 Colo. 416; Millett v. Barth, 18 Colo. 112; Lawrence v. Weir, 3 Colo. App. 401; Ross v. Smiley, 18 Colo. App. 204; Bundle v. Staats, 19 Colo. App. 164.
Defendant says he rightfully refused to furnish a bond because his duties are such only as are imposed by the language above quoted from the application, “such other papers as are desired by said company”; “such other papers,” he says, must be documents of the same kind as the ones specifically mentioned in the same clause — that is, similar to‘ abstracts of title, mortgages, and certificates of absence of tax liens, etc. — and indemnity bonds are not of tills description.
The question here involved does not require that the meaning of “such other papers” be determined, for the rights of the parties may be ascertained from other parts of this application. In the application defendant stated that he held the undisputed title in fee simple to the property which he was offering as security for the loan, and that the mortgage which he proposed to give thereon was to be a first lien. By implication, if not by express agreement, defendant thereby represented that he had, for mortgage purposes, a perfect or marketable title to the property
For another reason the lender might have- rightfully declined to lend the money. Defendant, after his application, conveyed to his sister an interest in the property, and thereafter he could not give a marketable title as security, as she refused to join in the bond.
The following authorities are in point, and sustain the conclusions reached: Crasto v. White, 3 N. Y. Supp. 682; Folinsvee v. Sawyer, 36 N. Y. Supp. 405; Van Orden v. Morris, 42 N. Y. Supp. 473; Bruce v. Wolfe, 102 Mo. App. 384; Ross v. Smiley, 18 Colo. App. 204; Middleton v. Thompson et al., 163 Pa. St. 112; Gauthier v. West, 45 Minn. 192; Fitzpatrick v. Gilson, 176 Mass. 477.
The judgment should be affirmed, and it is so ordered. .Affirmed.
Chief Justice Steele and Mr. Justice G-abbert • concur.
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