Wise

This is an action to recover a sum which plaintiff claims is due him as his share of a commission jointly earned by himself and defendant in negotiating the sale of certain real property on behalf of the owner. The commission was paid to the defendant by the owner of the property. The complaint, which is cast in the form of a common count for money had and received, alleges that defendant is indebted to plaintiff in the sum of $875 for money received by the former to and for plaintiff's use. From a judgment for plaintiff in the sum sued for the defendant appeals.

It is the theory of plaintiff that he and defendant were partners in the real estate transaction in which was earned the commission that was paid to defendant, and that, therefore, he is entitled to recover from defendant one-half of the commission so received by the latter. Briefly, the facts are these: During the year 1921 each of the parties to the action was a real estate broker engaged in business as such in the city of Los Angeles. Bach maintained an office at his own residence and each had obtained a real estate broker’s license for the year 1921, issued to him individually. In the early part of that year they…

I concur, but am not prepared to say that where two brokers engage in a partnership for the sale of a single unit of property and each at the time holds a broker’s license which he retains throughout the transaction, the law requires these brokers to secure a license in the name of a firm to be organized for that particular transaction. This point is in no way involved in the instant case, and I therefore expressly reserve judgment upon it.