RC Royal Development and Realty Corp. v. Standard Pacific Corp.
Opinion
Opinion
Aldrich, J.
INTRODUCTION
A broker contracted with a buyer to locate real property for the buyer to purchase. The buyer entered into a buy-sell contract with the seller, but escrow never closed. The broker sued the buyer to recover its commission. The trial court granted the buyer’s motion for summary adjudication of the first cause of action for breach of the broker’s agency agreement and the second for breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing implied in that agreement, and dismissed the case. The broker appeals. In the published portion of this opinion, we construe the agency agreement and hold that the broker earned its commission at the time the buyer entered into the buy-sell contract and the close of escrow was not a condition precedent to the right to a commission. Thus, the trial court erred in granting summary adjudication of the breach of contract cause of action. In the unpublished portion of this opinion, we hold that triable issues of fact about whether the buyer had cause or acted in bad faith in failing to close escrow precluded summary adjudication of the second cause of action. Accordingly, the judgment is reversed.