Case Title: First Corporate Finance, Inc. v. Rogers

Citation: 237 Neb. 727, 467 N.W.2d 853

Docket Number: 

State: nebraska

Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

Date: 1991-04-05T00:00:00Z

Document:
467 N.W.2d 853 (1991) 237 Neb. 727 FIRST CORPORATE FINANCE, INC., a Nebraska Corporation, Appellant, Stanley Morrell & Company, a Nebraska Corporation, Appellee, v. Thompson H. ROGERS, an Individual, et al., Appellees. No. 89-003. Supreme Court of Nebraska. April 5, 1991. *854 H. Daniel Smith, of Sherrets & Smith, Omaha, for appellant. Gerald P. Laughlin and Steven D. Davidson, of Baird, Holm, McEachen, Pedersen, Hamann & Strasheim, Omaha, for appellees Rogers and Rogdale. HASTINGS, C.J., WHITE, SHANAHAN, GRANT, and FAHRNBRUCH, JJ., and COLWELL, District Judge, Retired. WHITE, Justice. This is an appeal from an order of the district court for Douglas County which sustained defendants' motion for summary judgment and dismissed plaintiffs' petition. We affirm. Mason State Bank v. Sekutera, 236 Neb. 361, 370, 461 N.W.2d 517, 523 (1990). The plaintiffs alleged in their petition that the defendants, Thompson H. Rogers and Rogdale, Inc., a Nebraska corporation, engaged their services for the sale and purchase of an ongoing wholesale distribution business. Plaintiffs further alleged that through their effort, defendants acquired part of Truesdell Distributing, a wholesale distributor of "white goods and brown goods," presumably appliances and hardware items. These allegations are disputed by defendants. The basis for defendants' motion for summary judgment is the Nebraska Real Estate License Act, Neb.Rev.Stat. §§ 81-885.01 et seq. (Reissue 1987). Sections 81-885.01 to 81-885.06 generally define real estate brokers, associate brokers, and salespersons. Section 81-885.02 provides as follows: Section 81-885.06 provides that "[n]o action or suit shall be instituted, nor recovery be had, in any court of this state by any person for compensation for any act done or service rendered, the doing or rendering of which is prohibited ... to other than licensed brokers, licensed associate brokers, or licensed salespersons." It is established in the record that among the assets to be transferred from Truesdell to a prospective buyer was a leasehold interest in certain warehouse property, which asset's sale was actively negotiated by plaintiffs. *855 Section 81-885.01 provides that "[r]eal estate shall mean and include ... leaseholds." It is also conceded that no principal or employee of plaintiffs who engaged in the negotiations was a person licensed under the act or a person exempt from the requirement of licensure. This case is governed by Ford v. American Medical International, 228 Neb. 226, 422 N.W.2d 67 (1988). Therefore, the trial court was correct in sustaining the motion for summary judgment and in dismissing the petition. AFFIRMED. CAPORALE, J., not participating.