Blodgett v. Sioux City & St. Paul R'Y Co.

• Decision Date: 05 June 1884
• Citation: 19 N.W. 799,63 Iowa 606
• Parties: BLODGETT ET AL. v. THE SIOUX CITY & ST. PAUL R'Y Co
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

19 N.W. 799

63 Iowa 606

BLODGETT ET AL. v. THE SIOUX CITY & ST. PAUL R'Y Co

Supreme Court of Iowa, Des Moines

June 5, 1884

Appeal from Woodbury Circuit Court.

THIS is an action for the recovery of commissions on the sale of certain lands belonging to defendant There was a verdict and judgment for plaintiffs, and defendant appeals.

REVERSED.

J. H Swan and R. J. Chase, for appellant.

I. S Struble and Joy, Wright & Hudson, for appellees.

OPINION

REED, J.

The plaintiffs are real estate agents, doing business at LeMars. They allege in their petition that in April, 1880, defendant appointed them its agent to sell a large amount of land, which it then owned in Sioux and Plymouth counties; that the appointment was made by letter; and that, upon receiving said letter, they immediately informed defendant that they accepted the appointment, and at once advertised said lands for sale, and sought by personal solicitations to bring the same to the notice of persons who desired to purchase lands, and labored particularly to bring them to the attention of the firm of Close Bros. & Co., who were large purchasers of lands; that they caused the lands to be shown to said parties, and informed them of the price at which they could be bought, and pointed out to them the advantages and profits that would result from the purchase of them; that, immediately after this was done, said Close Bros. & Co. entered into a negotiation directly with defendant's land commissioner, which resulted in the purchase by them of seven thousand acres of said lands; and that it was by their exertions that said parties were induced to enter into said negotiations and make said purchase.

The defendant admits that it placed a list of its lands in said counties in plaintiffs' hands, and authorized them to make sales at the prices and on the terms specified in said list; but alleges that the lands which were afterwards sold to Close Bros. & Co. were subsequently withdrawn from market and plaintiffs were advised of that fact, and that, at the time of that transaction, plaintiffs had no authority whatever to sell said lands. It denies that Close Bros. & Co. were induced by plaintiffs' efforts and solicitations to enter into the negotiations or to make the purchase, and alleges that it had no knowledge or information, when it entered into the contract with that firm, that plaintiffs had negotiated with them, and also alleges that the contract made with Close Bros. & Co. was one which plaintiffs never had any authority to negotiate. By the contract between the parties, plaintiffs were to receive as commission twenty-five cents per acre on all sales for cash, and ten cents per acre on sales on time; and the prices and terms on which they were authorized to make sales were specified in the lists of lands which were placed in their hands. The negotiation which resulted in the contract between Close Bros. & Co. and defendant began about the twelfth of May, 1880, and the contract was entered into on the first of June following. The evidence given on the trial tended to show that, before this negotiation was begun, plaintiffs called the attention of members of the firm of Close Bros. & Co. to the lands which were afterwards included in the contract between defendant and that firm, and gave them information as to the prices at which said lands could be bought, and pointed out to them their advantages and desirableness, and, on one occasion, sent an employe of theirs with a member of the firm, and some of his friends, to show them a portion of said lands. But it does not appear that there was ever any actual negotiations between the parties for the purchase and sale of any portion of the lands; nor does it appear that Close Bros. & Co. were willing to buy any portion of them at the prices or on the terms on which plaintiffs were authorized to sell them. Defendant's land commissioner had no knowledge, when he made the contract with Close Bros. & Co., that plaintiffs had solicited them to make the purchase, or that they had shown them the lands, or that they had been instrumental in any way in bringing about the negotiation. When the negotiation began, the land commissioner wrote plaintiffs, informing them that he had entered into negotiations with Close Bros & Co. for the sale of all of the lands; also withdrawing the lands from the market until it should be determined whether the parties would buy them; also informing them that, owing to the amount of the land involved in the transaction, he would make some concessions to the parties if they made the purchase; and,...