Ely v. Hanford

Citations

• 65 Ill. 267

Syllabus

<p>1. Agency—agent—when liable to principal—money frmdulently obtained. Where an agent purchases land for his principal, the purchase being that of the latter, he is entitled to the full benefit of the contract; and if the agent, by representing that he paid a larger sum for the property than he actually did, obtains from the principal more than the actual price, the latter may recover of the agent the difference between the sum received by him and that actually paid.</p> <p>2. Same—-fraudulent sale by. Where an agent sells to his principal his own property as the property of another, without disclosing the fact of his interest, this will be such a fraud, in law, as will give the principal the right to avoid the sale in toto.</p> <p>3. But where A and B had contracted for the purchase of a lot at $2500, and A, in a few days after, undertook to purchase the same lot as the agent of 0, without disclosing his interest, or the fact that he and B had purchased it, but representing that it was wholly owned by another, and it could by obtained for $4050, which sum O paid him, and he caused the original vendor to convey the title to O: Reid, that O, upon discovering the facts, had the right to avoid the contract, by tendering a re-conveyance, and recover back the consideration paid by him, but that he could hot retain the title and recover from A the difference between what he paid and the price paid by A and B.</p> <p>4. But if A was the agent of O to purchase the lot before or at the time he purchased the same in the name of A and B, and paid only §2500 therefor, and, by representing that the lot cost §4050, obtained the latter sum from his principal, then he would have been liable, in assumpsit, to the principal, for the difference.</p> <p>5. Estoppel in pais—to deny agency. Where A had contracted for the purchase of a lot, taking the contract to himself and B, and when employed by O to purchase the same for him, concealed this fact, and represented that the property was