Cases - Papé v Westacott

Record details

Name

Papé v Westacott

Date

[1894]

Citation

1 QB 272

Keywords

Estate agency

Summary

A landlord instructed his agent not to part with a licence to assign the lease before he had received the arrears of rent from the tenant. The agent accepted a cheque from the tenant, payable to the agent, which covered the arrears and the agent's fee. The cheque was dishonoured. There was no evidence that it was customary in the business to accept a cheque in the context of the transfer of an interest in land. In any case, the agent had not obtained a cheque payable to his principal. For these reasons it was held that the agent had not 'pursued his authority' and was liable to the principal for the unpaid arrears.