Osler v. Landis
| Decision Date | 13 May 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 18-79,18-79 |
| Parties | Gerald B. OSLER, d/b/a Heritage Associates, v. Mitchell LANDIS. |
| Court | Vermont Supreme Court |
Kenneth V. Fisher, Jr., Brattleboro, for plaintiff.
Evans, O'Neil & Meachem, Ltd., Manchester Center, for defendant.
Before BARNEY, C. J., DALEY, BILLINGS and HILL, JJ., and CONNARN, D. J., Specially Assigned. HILL, Justice.
This is an appeal by defendant-seller from an order of the district court granting plaintiff-broker $3,300.00 plus interest as commission for plaintiff's efforts in procuring a ready, willing, and able buyer to purchase defendant's condominium. We affirm.
The convoluted negotiations that gave rise to the present action began with a letter dated January 16, 1978, from defendant-seller, acting as agent for his father, to plaintiff-broker. By that letter, the seller requested renewal of a nonexclusive listing agreement for Unit No. 19, Mount Snow Condominiums. The sale price was set at $35,000.00 furnished, $33,000.00 unfurnished, with an agreed sales commission of 10% of the sale price.
On or about January 23, 1978, plaintiff showed the property to one Mead Batchelder, Jr., at which time the prospective purchaser noticed a leak in the roof. Mr. Batchelder made an oral offer to purchase the property at $33,000.00 unfurnished, provided the roof was repaired. Plaintiff forwarded Batchelder's offer to the defendant, who instructed plaintiff to obtain an estimate for the cost of repairing the roof. Following defendant's instructions, plaintiff contacted the company that had installed the original roof. Based on its knowledge of the roof and plaintiff's description of the leak, but without making an independent examination, the roofer estimated that it would cost between $800.00 and $1,000.00 to replace the entire roof, if that extensive a repair was necessary. As found by the trial court, this estimate was forwarded to the defendant by the plaintiff.
Defendant advised plaintiff that $1,000.00 was more than he was willing to spend, and refused to agree to the repairs. Nevertheless, defendant instructed plaintiff to obtain a deposit of earnest money from Batchelder. On February 3, 1978, Batchelder, on vacation in Florida, wired $500.00 to plaintiff as a deposit, together with a confirmation of the offer to purchase the premises for $33,000.00, less the cost of the roof repairs. Upon receipt of the earnest money, plaintiff contacted defendant, who asked whether he would be entitled to retain any of the deposit if Batchelder did not go through with the deal. Plaintiff advised defendant that the prospective purchaser would forfeit his deposit. During the course of the conversations between plaintiff and defendant, a further agreement was reached, whereby the broker agreed to bear one-half the cost of the roof repair and the defendant agreed to pay for the other one-half up to $500.00. Defendant then instructed the plaintiff to contact a competing real estate broker who also had a listing on the condominium, and inform him that defendant had taken a deposit on the premises, that a purchase and sale agreement was being drawn by plaintiff, and that the other broker should take the condominium off the market. When plaintiff called the competing broker to so inform him, he was told that the other broker had a prospective buyer who also was interested in purchasing the condominium.
On or about February 12, 1978, plaintiff prepared a purchase and sale agreement, which was signed by Batchelder. The proposed contract incorporated a provision containing the oral agreement between plaintiff and defendant regarding the roof repairs, as well as a provision making the deal contingent on obtaining "acceptable" financing. The proposed agreement was then sent to defendant. The next day plaintiff telephoned the defendant to inform him that the contract was in the mail. It apparently was during this telephone conversation that defendant first indicated that he had received another offer on the premises the latter offer not being conditional on roof repair or financing. Shortly after this conversation, plaintiff again called defendant and told him that he was willing to absorb the cost of the roof repair, which based on subsequent examination was now estimated at...
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Masiello Real Estate, Inc. v. Matteo
...a purchaser ready, willing, and able to purchase at the price and upon the terms prescribed by the seller." Osler v. Landis, 138 Vt. 353, 356, 415 A.2d 1316, 1318 (1980). To shoulder this burden, the broker "must show more than incidental relationship to the resulting sale"—he must "show th......
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Masiello Real Estate, Inc. v. Matteo
... ... ready, willing, and able to purchase at the price and upon ... the terms prescribed by the seller." Osler v ... Landis , 138 Vt. 353, 356, 415 A.2d 1316, 1318 (1980). To ... shoulder this burden, the broker "must show more than ... incidental ... ...
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Gilmer v. Fauteux
...to a commission only if he was the procuring cause of the transaction. See id. at 33, 298 A.2d at 835; see also Osler v. Landis, 138 Vt. 353, 356, 415 A.2d 1316, 1318 (1980) ("Under Vermont law, to be entitled to a commission, a broker must show that he procured a purchaser ready, willing, ......