Davis v. Roseberry

Citations

• 95 Kan. 411
• 148 P. 629
• 3 A.L.R. 564
• 1915 Kan. LEXIS 228

Syllabus

<p>SYLLABUS BY THE COURT.</p> <p>Real-estate Agent — Contract Made tvith Purchaser — Right of Forfeiture — Liquidated Damages — Commissions. Plaintiffs employed defendants, who are real-estate brokers, to find a purchaser for a farm. They procured a customer who entered into a written contract with plaintiffs by which plaintiffs agreed to sell and he agreed to purchase the farm for $12,000, a warranty deed to be executed by plaintiffs and deposited in escrow and delivered to the purchaser on payment of the balance. When the contract was executed he paid $500 on the purchase price, which was placed in the hands of the defendants as agents for the plaintiffs. There was a provision in the contract that if the purchaser,-failed to make the subsequent payment he should forfeit the $500, which should be retained by the plaintiffs as liquidated damages, and the parties were to be relieved from the further performance of the contract. Held: (1) The contract is not an option but an agreement for a sale and purchase of lands. (2) Plaintiffs, having agreed to accept $500 in lieu of performance, can not as against the defendants deny that the payment of that sum was equivalent to performance. (3) The defendants were entitled to their commission on the $12,000.</p>