Kay v. Gitomer

251 A.2d 853 (1969)

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Kay v. Gitomer

Maryland Court of Appeals
251 A.2d 853 (1969)

  • Written by Robert Cane, JD
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Facts

Albert Kay and Benjamin Eckles (defendants) were business partners without a formal agreement. Kay and Eckles jointly purchased an unimproved lot (lot five) and four adjacent lots. Later, Kay and Eckles established an office for the partnership (Kay and Eckles, Building Contractors) on the four lots adjacent to lot five. Eventually, Kay and Eckles engaged a real estate agent to sell lot five. Once the real estate agent found an interested buyer, Norman Gitomer (plaintiff), negotiations commenced and Eckles and Kay set a target price and terms that they would accept. When the time came to close the sale, Eckles was out of town. Kay signed both his name and Eckles’s name on the contract for sale of lot five to Gitomer. Issues arose surrounding Gitomer’s expectation that Kay’s and Eckles’s spouses would sign the deed. Although Kay’s and Eckles’s spouses joined in the mortgage of the four adjacent lots, not lot five. After failing to settle the sale of the property, Gitomer filed suit for specific performance (i.e., conveyance of lot five). The lower court found in favor of Gitomer and ordered specific performance. Kay and Eckles appealed to the Maryland Court of Appeals.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Singley, J.)

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