Trylon Realty Corp. v. Di Martini
Cases that cite this one
21 later published cases cite this decision.
- India.Com, Inc. v. Dalal (2d Cir. 2005)
- India.com, Inc. v. Dalal (2d Cir. 2005)
- Heelan Realty and Development Corp. v. Skyview Meadows Development Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1994)
- Nuvest, S. A. v. Gulf & Western Industries, Inc., Natural Resources Group, a Division of Gulf& Western Industries, Inc. (2d Cir. 1981)
- Stevens v. RX Med. Dynamics, LLC (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2021)
- Saunders Ventures, Inc. v. Catcove Group, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2017)
- Saivest Empreendimentos Imobiliarios E. Participacoes, Ltda v. Elman Investors, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2014)
- Saivest Empreendimentos Imobiliarios E. Participacoes, Ltda v. Elman Investors, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2014)
- India.Com, Inc. v. Dalal (2d Cir. 2009)
- India.Com, Inc. v. Dalal (2d Cir. 2009)
- Prime City Real Estate Co. v. Hardy (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1998)
- Handford Properties, Inc. v. Richmond Hill Savings Bank (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1994)
- French v. Ahlstrom (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1994)
- Sholom & Zuckerbrot Realty Corp. v. 101 Fleet Place Associates (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1994)
- Parke-Hayden, Inc. v. Loews Theatre Management Corp. (District Court, S.D. New York 1992)
- Graff v. Billet (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1984)
- Collins Tuttle & Co. v. Ausnit (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1983)
- De Long v. Akley (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1981)
- Bass v. Sevits (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1980)
- Roberts v. Food Fair Stores, Inc. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1976)
- Kent v. Aurora Products Corp. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1975)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Opinion of the Court
Memorandum. The general rule is that no broker’s commission is earned until the buyer and seller have reached a meeting of the minds with respect to the essential terms of the sale (Kaelin v. Warner, 27 N Y 2d 352). The exception to this rule here applicable is that the seller may not avoid payment of the commission when the transaction is terminated by his failure to perform a condition, express or implied, necessary for completion (Lane-Real Estate Dept. Store v. Lawlet Corp., 28 N Y 2d 36, 43; Levy v. Lacey, 22 N Y 2d 271, 276). Contrary to the intimation in the majority’s statement below, the failure to perform need not necessarily be born of bad' faith. Here, where defendant lessor actually signed a lease with a commercial tenant procured by plaintiff, one of the purposes apparently being to further his variance application pending before the zoning board, and then committed the act which rendered completion of the deal impossible by withdrawing his variance application, it was a question of fact whether essential agreement had been reached and whether defendant wrongfully or arbitrarily prevented completion. We find no reason to disturb these findings against defendant and write only to point out that bad faith is not necessarily an essential ingredient to the finding of wrongful prevention.
Chief Judge Brbitel and Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler and Stevens concur; Judge Rabin taking no part.
Order affirmed, with costs, in a memorandum.
Case-law data current through September 30, 2026. Source: CourtListener bulk data.