Cases - Keen v Mear

Record details

Name

Keen v Mear

Date

[1920]

Citation

2 Ch 574

Keywords

Estate agency

Summary

Two brothers, Samuel and Walter Mear, owned a cottage. Samuel Mear instructed Thomas Cox, a land agent, to sell the cottage for £500 clear of commission. Acting on those instructions, Cox signed a contract for sale to the plaintiff, Keen. The contract contained conditions as to title.

The judge stated that the mere employment of an estate agent to dispose of a house confers no authority to make a contract, but if the agent is definitely instructed to sell at a defined price, those instructions involve authority to make a binding contract and to sign an agreement. However, that authority is limited to an open contract and did not authorise the agent to sign the particular contract in question containing a special condition as to title.