Quinn v. Quinn
Quinn v. Quinn
Opinion of the Court
The appellee, Paul Quinn, as plaintiff below, filed this suit in the district court of Jefferson county against appellant, B. E. Quinn, to recover $2,049.76, with interest on that amount at the rate of 6 per cent, per annum from January 14, 1920, and upon trial before the court without a jury, appellee recovered judgment for the full amount sued for, and from that judgment B. E. Quinn appealed to this court.
Appellee claimed that the amount sued for by him was due him by appellant for services rendered to appellant as a real estate agent and dealer under a parol contract between them. In the year 1919, and for several years prior thereto, appellant was engaged in the real estate business in the city of Beaumont, and had a well-established business of that character, which consisted of buying and selling lands and listing lands of others for sale on commission. Appellee alleged, substantially, that about May 1, 1919, he entered into a parol contract with appellant to assist him in his real estate business, and that under such contract appellant had become liable to him for services rendered for the amount for which he sued, and which appellant had refused to pay him. Appellee alleged the nature and terms of the contract to be as follows;
“That heretofore, to wit, on or about the 1st day of May, 1919, the defendant employed the plaintiff, Paul Quinn, to assist him with his said real estate business in Jefferson county, Tex., and on or about said date entered into a binding and legal agreement and contract with this plaintiff, to assist him with his real estate business, which said contract and agreement was oral and, in substance, as follows, to wit: Defendant agreed to furnish an office and to pay all expenses incident to the conducting of said real estate business, and to furnish an automobile and defray the expenses of said automobile in its operation and repair, etc.; that the plaintiff should not be required to pay any rent or expenses whatever in connection with the operation of said real estate business, or any expense in connection with the maintenance or operation of said automobile.
“That under said agreement it was the duty of plaintiff to seek for purchasers of real estate, and to work to the end that property listed with the defendant’s real estate business should be sold; and by the terms of said agreement it was agreed by and between plaintiff and defendant that where property was listed with the defendant for sale, and the plaintiff should be the first to get in touch or call the attention of a purchaser to any property listed with the defendant for sale and belonging to others than himself and one R. E. Smith, and a sale should be consummated with such person to whom plaintiff had presented such property first, then plaintiff was to receive as compensation on such sale one-half of the gross commission received as the result of such sale.”
This is a sufficient statement of appellee’s pleading to show what he claimed the parol contract between him and appellant to be. Appellant’s answer consisted of a general demurrer, general denial, and a special averment as to the terms of the contract that was made between him and appellee. Appellant’s version of the contract, as contained in his answer, was as follows:
“Defendant did employ plaintiff to assist him in his real estate business, and by the terms of such agreement plaintiff was to distribute literature, put up signs on property listed for *443 sale, and list new property and new clients, and, on the condition that plaintiff would distribute literature, post signs, and list new business, defendant agreed to giye plaintiff one-half of the commission on the sales of property that he (plaintiff) should make and carry through to conclusion without the assistance of defendant; that plaintiff did not carry out the terms of his said employment and did not distribute literature as he agreed to do, and he did not post signs as he agreed to do, and he did not try to list neytf business as he agreed to do, and, instead of being diligent in his work and complying with the contract, plaintiff would lie around the office, and on several occasions he was found asleep in the office during business hours when clients would come to the office on business, and, though plaintiff breached his contract, yet defendant advanced him certain sums of money hereinafter more specifically alleged, and gave him credit for certain commissions which he had not earned and was not entitled to.”
The real controversy between the parties was whether the appellee was entitled to one-half of the commission which was received by appellant for the sale of a certain farm in Jefferson county known as the Richardson-Walker farm, which commission amounted to $5,444.81. It was the contention of appellee that after this farm had been listed for sale with appellant as a real estate dealer, he (appellee) about the 1st of December, 1919, made known to Albert and Herman Dommert the fact that said farm was listed with appellant for sale by its owners, and that he pointed out to said Dommerts on a map in appellant’s office the location of this farm, and informed said Dommerts of facts which he considered -made the farm a very valuable one, and that at the time he so mentioned this farm to the Dommerts, and after his statement as to its being a very desirable farm, etc., the Dommerts seemed quite interested in the proposition, and that after-wards a sale of the farm to the Dommerts resulted. He further alleged that he was the first to call attention of the Dommerts to the fact that the Richardson-Walker farm was listed with appellant for sale, and that he was the first to present and point out this property to the Dommerts, and that he worked diligently with the view to consummating' a sale of said farm to said Dommerts, and that largely through his efforts the purchase of the farm by the Dommerts was brought about.
Appellant, in his answer, specially denied that appellee was the first to call attention of the Dommerts to the fact that the Richardson-Walker farm was listed with him for sale, but, on the contrary, alleged that he (appellant) first informed the Dommerts that said farm was listed with him for sale, and that it was through his own efforts and diligence that the Dommerts became the purchasers of said farm. Appellant further alleged, substantially, that under the parol contract between him and appellee the latter was entitled to no part of the commission received for the sale of said farm, for the reason that according to the terms of the parol contract appellee was only to share in commissions received on new business that had come in to appellant’s office after the making of such parol contract — in other words, new business —and that he was only entitled, under the terms of the contract, to share in commissions paid by new clients, and that the Dom-merts were not new clients, but that, on the contrary, they were old clients of appellant, before, the making of the contract between him and appellee. He further alleged, substantially, that the Dommerts did not agree to purchase said farm, and would not have purchased said farm but for the fact that he (appellant) bound himself to sell for the Dommerts $15,000 worth of certain vendor’s lien notes for their full face value, principal and interest, and also but for the fact that appellant agreed and bound himself to sell for the Dommerts or buy from them a tract of land owned by them in Jefferson county of some 539 abres at a net profit of $10 per acre, and he alleged that he did sell said vendor’s lien notes and said land for the Dommerts, as he agreed and bound himself to do, and thereby enabled said Dommerts to purchase said farm, which otherwise they were not willing, ready, or able to do, and that therefore ap-pellee was not entitled to any part of the commission received for the sale of said farm.
Upon the trial below the appellee testified that on the 1st of December, 1919, the said Albert and Herman Dommert, who were brothers and who were residents of the state of Louisiana, came to Beaumont, and early in the morning on that day came into appellant’s real estate office, and that he (appellee) was alone in the office when they came in, appellant not having come to the office at that time, but came in some hour or so later. He testified, substantially, that while the Dommert brothers were in the office, and before appellant came to the office on the morning in question, he called attention of the Dommerts to the fact that the Quinn Realty Company, which was the business name under which appellant conducted his real estate business, had listed with it for sale the Richardson-Walker farm, and that he pointed out this farm on a map then in- the office, and told the Dommerts how the farm was located, etc., about the advantage of good roads, etc., and that at that time the Dommerts seemed interested in what he stated to them about this farm, and that up to that time the Dommerts had not been at all interested in the farm, and never knew that the same was for sale, and especially that they never knew that the same was listed with the Quinn *444 Realty Company for sale. On that trip to Beaumont the Dommerts did not remain more than a day or two, but returned to their home in Louisiana, and about the 14th of December following they again came to Beaumont, and the sale and purchase of this farm was again discussed with them, both by ap-pellee and by appellant, and they became interested in this farm. The testimony shows that appellant and appellee, on this second trip to Beaumont, accompanied the Dom-merts to this farm, which was some five miles west of Beaumont, and it was carefully looted over by the Dommerts, in company with appellant, and after the return to the city of Beaumont negotiations were commenced which resulted in a consummation of a sale of this farm to the Dommerts for the total consideration of $110,000, $40,000 of which was paid in cash. The testimony shows that appellant sold for the Dommerts $15,000 worth of vendor’s lien notes for their full face value, and that appellant and another purchased from the Dommerts the tract of 539 acres of land hereinbefore mentioned, at a profit to the Dommerts of $10 per acre. It was testified by the Dommerts that their purchase of the farm in question depended upon their being able to sell said vendor’s lien notes and said tract of land at a profit of $10 per acre to them, and that they could not have purchased the farm had they not been able to sell the notes and farm as they did, and in that connection both the Dommerts testified that the sale of these notes and the tract of land before mentioned was consummated entirely by the appellant. Appellee, testified, however, _ on the trial that on the trip back from the farm to Beaumont on the day that the Dommerts had inspected the farm, they stated, unconditionally, that they were going to buy the farm for the consideration agreed upon, and that they did not claim that they would be unable to do so unless they could sell said vendor’s lien notes and said tract of land, and in that connection ap-pellee further testified that appellant voluntarily stated to the Dommerts that he would sell for them said vendor’s lien notes and said tract of land at the profit to them of $10 per acre.
What we have said, in effect, disposes of all assignments of error, and it would serve no useful purpose to discuss them separately.
The judgment of the trial court will be affirmed.
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Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.