Cases - Griffin & Son v Cheesewright

Record details

Name

Griffin & Son v Cheesewright

Date

[1885]

Citation

2 TLR 99

Keywords

Estate agency

Summary

The defendant had a long lease of a house. He instructed Griffin senior of the plaintiff agents to sublet it for 3 years at a rent of £75 pa. The plaintiffs introduced a prospective tenant to view the house. Her father went to see the house and found a card showing that the defendant was the owner. He then bought the 75-year residue of the house from the defendant for £1,100. The defendant only paid the commission to which the plaintiffs were entitled if they had found a tenant to take a 3-year lease. The plaintiffs claimed commission on sale but were found not entitled to it. The plaintiffs had based their claim on express authority, given to Griffin junior, to sell the long lease, but on the facts no such authority was found. The possibility of implied authority was, unfortunately, not pleaded. In any case, it appears that the contract of sale had not been proved to have been brought about by the plaintiffs.