DAVID SEID AND LEON A. RAPEE, A/K/A LEON ANDRE RAPEE, APPELLANTS,
v.
ERNEST R. GRAHAM, APPELLEE

Fla. 3d DCA | 1961-06-22
No. 60-369
Before HORTON, C. J. and PEARSON, TILLMAN, and CARROLL, CHAS. JJ.
131 So. 2d 507 Florida District Court of Appeal, Third District (1961) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

Seid, a real estate salesman, sought a declaratory decree to recover his share of a brokerage commission from Graham. The court affirmed summary judgment dismissing the suit, holding that Seid lacked legal capacity to sue for the commission as a non-broker and that Rapee, the broker, was barred by res judicata and the statute of limitations from relitigating a claim already decided against him.


Holding

The court affirmed the summary judgment, holding that Seid lacked legal capacity to sue for a real estate commission under Florida law because he was a salesman rather than a broker, and that Rapee was barred by res judicata from relitigating a claim already adjudicated against him in his separately filed action.


Key Quotes

“The defendant or plaintiff, whichever, Leon A. Rapee, also known as Leon Andre Rapee, is precluded from maintaining this suit (a) because of the summary judgment heretofore entered by the said Honorable Irving Cypen on November 30, 1959, and (b) by the statute of limitations which has been plead in this case by the defendant Ernest R. Graham”

Establishes that Rapee is barred by res judicata and statute of limitations from relitigating the commission claim

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

Seid, a real estate salesman, and Rapee, a broker, sought to recover a brokerage commission allegedly owed by Graham for a real estate sale. Seid had …

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
CARROLL, CHAS., Judge.

CARROLL, CHAS., Judge.

Appellant David Seid filed a suit in equity for declaratory decree, seeking to recover his share, as a real estate salesman, of a brokerage commission allegedly due a broker from appellee Ernest R. Graham. The broker, Leon Andre Rapee, who was joined as a defendant, answered and asked to be substituted as the plaintiff. Graham answered and moved for summary judgment, which was granted because, as to Seid, he had sued Graham unsuccessfully for the commission in 1958, and as to Rapee, a suit filed by him against Graham for the commission had resulted in a summary judgment for Graham on sustaining his defense of statute of limitations.

This second suit by Seid was filed July 6, 1959. Apparently the statute of limitations had not run as to Rapee by that date, hut it had run when Rapee filed his own suit to recover the commission on October 16, 1959, and the judgment rendered against Rapee in that suit so held.

The justification claimed by Seid and Rapee for the instant suit is their contention that although Rapee did not move to be substituted as plaintiff in Seid’s suit until after the statute of limitations had run, he should have the benefit of the earlier filing date of the Seid suit. The chancellor correctly rejected that contention saying:

“3. The defendant Ernest R. Graham has in this suit, which suit also was brought to collect the same brokerage fee from said Graham for the sale of the same real estate by said Graham to said Maulé Industries, Inc., filed his answer in which he sets up not only the statute of limitations against the said Leon A. Rapee, also known as Leon Andre Rapee, but also the defense of res judicata against both David Seid and the said Rapee.
“4. The plaintiff, David Seid, is precluded from proceeding with this suit because he is barred by reason of the final judgment entered against him in the said action, Common Law Case No. 58L 1166B, by the said Honorable Marshall C. Wiseheart.
“5. The defendant or plaintiff, whichever, Leon A. Rapee, also known as Leon Andre Rapee, is precluded from maintaining this suit (a) because of the summary judgment heretofore entered by the said Honorable Irving Cypen on November 30, 1959, and (b) by the statute of limitations which has. been plead in this case by the defendant Ernest R. Graham; it being apparent that said Leon A. Rapee, also known as Leon Andre Rapee, never asserted any claim to the said commission until the motion to have him substituted as plaintiff, if in fact that was sufficient to show an assertion of a claim by him, and that was more than three months after he filed the action in which Judge Cypen entered the judgment against him on the ground that he was then barred by the statute of limitations.”

In Seid’s first suit it was held that under § 475.42(1) (d), Fla.Stat., F.S.A., he lacked capacity to sue for the real estate commission because he was a salesman and not a broker. His lack of capacity to maintain such an action continues. As to the broker Rapee, prior to the time he asserted a claim to the commission in the instant suit brought by Seid, Rapee had filed his *509separate action against Graham for recovery of the commission, and that case was prosecuted to completion. The adverse judgment received in the action brought by Rapee was binding on him, and the chancellor was eminently correct in so holding.

Affirmed.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Sherman v. Lynch, 242 So. 2d 799 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970)
    …51, 99 F.Supp. 195; Walker v. Meyer, 167 La. 218, 119 So. 26; Miller v. Ziedrich, 199 Or. 505, 263 P. 2d 611; § 475.42(1) (b) (d), Fla. Stat.,2 F.S.A. Harris could not maintain an action directly against Shuey or Lynch. Seid v. Graham, Fla.App.1961, 131 So. 2d 507; Campbell v. Romfh Bros., Inc., Fla.App.1961, 132 So. 2d 466; § 475.42(1) (b) (d), Fla.Stat., F.S.A. It is also apparent that even if there had been a valid cooperating agreement between the brokers, there was no consideration for the alleged right…

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw