Court Opinion

ID: 9705209
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 00:59:53.436567+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:08.905981
License: Public Domain

V. J. Brennan, J.
(dissenting). I must disagree with the majority’s disposition of this case. The regulation under consideration in this case states in part:
"Rule 34.(1) * * * .
"(2) A listing agreement shall set forth a definite expiration date and shall not contain a provision requiring the party signing the listing to notify the broker of the party’s intention to cancel the listing upon or after the expiration date.” 1973 AACS, R 338.2734(2).
Upon consulting the contract involved in this case, I find the following provision for notice of cancellation by the parties:
"In consideration of your services in offering the following described property for sale, I hereby grant you the exclusive right * * * for an unlimited period of time, to find a purchaser therefor; however, either party *677may cancel this contract by giving 30 days’ prior notice.”
In my opinion, the contract clearly satisfies the requirements of the regulation. A date certain for notification of cancellation is provided "by giving 30 days prior notice”; and, by stipulating that "either party may cancel this contract”, certainly plaintiff has not cast the burden of notification exclusively upon defendant-seller. I must also disagree with the majority and their assessment of an analogous situation faced by the Wisconsin courts. See Brown v Marty, 172 Wis 411; 179 NW 602 (1920). The majority’s attempt to distinguish Brown by the semantic difference between a "definable” expiration date and a "definite” expiration date is not persuasive. The principle and legal reasoning employed in Brown is equally applicable to the situation we face in this case. In short, Brown can be compared with the present question and, when compared, leads to the conclusion that plaintiff-broker no more violated the Michigan Department of Licensing regulation than did the broker in Brown. I find no error in the trial court’s grant of summary judgment based on his acceptance of plaintiff’s interpretation and argued compliance with the regulation.
As to whether any material issue of fact remained to take to trial, again I do not believe the trial court erred in granting summary judgment to plaintiff. GCR 1963, 117.2(3). I find the language and dates in the listing agreement and cancellation notice is and are clear. Therefore, I would affirm the court’s holding that plaintiff complied with his part of the agreement.
Further, having found that plaintiff’s contract negotiated with defendant-seller was not legally improper, the facts clearly sustain plaintiff’s right *678to obtain his commission, given that buyer Sugar-man did view the property before the expiration date of the 3-month post-listing period and knew it was for sale (advertisements and sign on property) through plaintiffs efforts-. These facts being definite, nothing existed but for the trial court to find as a matter of law that plaintiff-broker was entitled by the terms of the contract to a commission for his listing.
Consequently, given the legal propriety of the contractual agreement between plaintiff-broker and defendant-seller and the factual certainty of the events as they occurred pursuant to the legal agreement, the trial court had no choice but to grant plaintiff summary judgment. Our course of action on appeal is equally determined. Defendant was afforded an adequate opportunity to present its case to the trial court. The trial court should be affirmed.