Chadwick v. Collins
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Error to the Common Pleas of Philadelphia. This suit was an action brought before a justice of the peace by Thomas Collins against Thomas Chadwick, to recover the sum of twenty-five dollars, for selling defendant’s house and lot. The claim was resisted on the ground that the plaintiff was not a licensed real estate broker, and could not invoke the aid of the law to enforce a contract in violation of an Act of Assembly.
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Error to the Common Pleas of Philadelphia. This suit was an action brought before a justice of the peace by Thomas Collins against Thomas Chadwick, to recover the sum of twenty-five dollars, for selling defendant’s house and lot. The claim was resisted on the ground that the plaintiff was not a licensed real estate broker, and could not invoke the aid of the law to enforce a contract in violation of an Act of Assembly. The judge below overruled this defence, and the jury found for the plaintiff the sum of $>25. The defendant took this writ, and raised the same point in this court on his…
1Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
Knox, J.
The rule appears to be well settled in this state that where the subject-matter of an agreement is prohibited and made unlawful by statute, the agreement cannot be enforced, though the statute merely inflicts a penalty upon the offender, and does not in terms make void the contract: Smith v. Mitchell, 1 Binn. 110; Columbia Bank and Bridge Company v. Haldeman, 7 W. & Ser. 233. To determine whether this rule will avoid the contract in the case under consideration, it is necessary to ascertain what the contract was, and whether or not it was an…
2Cases cited1 opinion
- Mitchell v. SmithSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1804
3Cited by12 opinions
- Reichardt v. HillCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · 1916
- Meyer v. WiestSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1915
- Vanderwerff v. Consumers Gas Co.Superior Court of Pennsylvania · 1950
- Downing v. MarksSupreme Court of Pennsylvania · 1935
- Raeder v. ButlerSuperior Court of Pennsylvania · 1902
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