St. John v. Fulton Market Realty Corp. — 248 N.Y. 636

Majority

p. 636

Charles St. John, Respondent, v. Fulton Market Realty Corporation, Appellant, Impleaded with Others.

Headnote

Contract — brokers — commissions — corporations — action to recover on alleged contract of employment to obtain purchaser for real property — authority of president of corporation to employ broker to sell property not dependent upon existence of authority on his part to enter into contract of sale.

St. John v. Fulton Market Realty Corp., 222 App. Div. 826 , affirmed.

(Argued June 14, 1928;

decided July 19, 1928.)

Appeal from a judgment of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in the second judicial department, entered January 24, 1928, affirming a judgment in favor of plaintiff entered upon a verdict. The action was to recover upon an alleged contract whereby defendant, through its president, employed plaintiff as a broker to obtain a purchaser for certain real property. Plaintiff claimed that he produced a purchaser ready, able and willing to enter into a contract upon the terms given him by defendant’s president. The defendant contended that its president had no authority to make the contract.

John J. Crawford and Almon C. Kellogg for appellant.

Milton Hertz and I. Maurice Wormser for respondent.

Judgment affirmed, with costs. Held, that the apparent authority of the president of the corporation to employ a broker to sell real property is not dependent upon the

p. 637

existence of authority on his part to enter into a binding contract for the sale thereof.

Concur: Cardozo, Ch. J., Pound, Crane, Andrews, Lehman, Kellogg and O’Brien, JJ.