Abrams v. Guston

McCOMB, J.

Prom a judgment in favor of plaintiff in an action to recover a commission for services rendered in connection with the sale of a mining mill and equipment and lease of the realty upon which the mill was located, defendant appeals.

Fads:

Defendant owned a large mining mill together with a 20-year lease on the realty upon which the mill was situated near Barstow, California. He desired to dispose of these and talked with plaintiff, who was his friend, relative to the

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disposition of the property. The mill consisted of a very large building in which was installed machinery suitable for grinding ore at the rate of approximately 1,500 tons a month of rotary mud alone.

Plaintiff consulted with defendant and negotiated on defendant’s behalf with numerous people for the sale of the mill. At various times defendant promised to pay plaintiff a commission in the event of-the sale of the property. Finally it was disposed of to Mr. Carder for the sum of $35,000.

Plaintiff participated in the drawing of an option on the property which was given to Mr. Carder. The transaction thereafter was ultimately consummated between defendant and Mr. Carder without plaintiff’s assistance. It was stipulated that plaintiff did not have a license as a real estate broker.

The trial court gave judgment in favor of plaintiff in the sum of $2,340, predicated upon the services which he had rendered to defendant in connection with the sale of the property.

Question: Was plaintiff barred from recovery for his services for the reason that he did not have a real estate broker’s license in the State of California?

Yes.

Section 10136 of the Business and Professions Code reads: “No person engaged in the business or acting in the capacity of a real estate broker or a real estate salesman within this State shall bring or maintain any action in the courts of this State for the collection of compensation for the performance of any of the acts mentioned in this article without alleging and proving that he was a duly licensed real estate broker or real estate salesman at the time the alleged cause of action arose.”