Capezzuto v. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co.

In Tristram’s Landing, Inc. v. Wait, 367 Mass. 622, 629 (1975), we set forth the prerequisites to a real estate broker’s recovery of its commission in a case where a sale of real property was defeated by reason of the buyer’s withdrawal. In this case we are asked to apply Tristram’s Landing to a situation where the sale to the broker’s client falls through because of the seller’s decision to convey the property to a third party. We conclude, in the circumstances presented here, that the prerequisites to the recovery of a commission were not satisfied, and thus that the judge correctly granted…