Coppage v. Howard

²³⁴ Constable, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. This is a suit for commissions claimed to have been earned in the performance of a contract authorizing the appellee to sell or procure a purchaser for real property, but .which the appellants’ decedent failed to consummate by executing a deed to the purchaser who had been procured, and which has been before this Court before, and is reported in 127 Md. 512 . On that occasion this Court reversed the judgment obtained by the appellee because of error in the plaintiff’s first prayer, which instructed the jury that their verdict should be for the plaintiff if they found that he had procured a purchaser who was ready, willing and able to pay for the property, and that he notified the defendant of that fact and the defendant refused to consummate the sale. After an extensive review of the authorities governing brokers’ commissions under contracts of sale we held that under the facts in evidence this prayer was calculated to mislead the jury, upon the ground that it should have been submitted to the jury to find as a fact, before the plaintiff was entitled to recover, that he had disclosed to the defendant the name of the purchaser.

The contract presented by the plaintiff to the defendant did not contain the name of the real purchaser, but there was substituted therefor E. McClure Rouzer, attorney, and the defendant testified that the name of the real purchaser had never been disclosed to him, although the plaintiff testified he had done so. The authority from the defendant to' the plaintiff authorized him to sell the property for either cash or part cash and part mortgage. The contract provided for the payment of the property in the latter manner, and we held that because of the fact that the defendant was going to take a mortgage from the purchaser that he was enough interested in the actual purchaser to entitle him to know his name so as to judge of his financial responsibility. We held, however, that the other rulings of the Court, below were correct, including the ruling on the prayers asking, the Court to' withdraw the case from the consideration of the jury, which prayers were renewed at the second trial. ²³⁵ The testimony taken at the first trial is very fully set out in the opinion of the Court delivered by Judge Thomas in 127 Maryland, and the present record shows but very little was taken in addition thereto, and of that the most important was that given by Albert Pilkerton, a witness produced on behalf of the appellee, who testified that he was with the appellee when he drove to the house of William S. Coppage to have him execute the contract; that the appellee showed him the Rouzer agreement while driving there; that on the arrival at Mr. Coppage’s house he greeted them, and he and Mr. Howard went into the house while he remained outside in charge of the team; “that they were inside of the house for about half an hour, and