Dodge

Plaintiffs sued for damages for fraud in relation to a real estate transaction. Defendant Surety Company was joined as the surety on the bond of Lloyd and McElmeel, who were real estate brokers. Defendant Hughes was an employee and salesman for the brokers. Plaintiffs had judgment against the Surety Company on its bond for $2,000 and that defendant appeals on a typewritten clerk’s transcript.

The appeal being on the judgment-roll, no question of fact is involved. The trial court found that Hughes, while acting in the scope of his employment by the brokers, induced the plaintiffs to purchase real property in the state of Nebraska through fraudulent misrepresentations, resulting in damage to plaintiffs in the sum of $2,000.

The first attack on the judgment is that the complaint fails to state a cause of action because it does not allege that Hughes was acting for a compensation. This, it is argued, is necessary because a.real estate broker is defined in the statute (Stats. 1919, p. 1252, sec. 2), as one “who, for a compensation, sells, or offers for sale, buys, or offers to buy, or negotiates the purchase or sale or exchange of real estate”. The complaint alleges that Lloyd and…