Court: APPEALS COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS
Citation: 14 Mass. App. Ct. 1031
Parties: CONSOLIDATED PETROLEUM CORPORATION vs. ROBERT E. GOLOSOV.
(Rescript Opinions.)
Decision Date: November 29, 1982
Consolidated Petroleum Corporation (Consolidated) hired Golosov to act as a
broker to secure financing for an oil drilling rig. Golosov subsequently
contacted International Paper Credit Corporation (IPCC). IPCC proposed a loan
in the form of a lease agreement. Contemporaneously with the letter of proposal
from IPCC, Consolidated and Golosov entered into an agreement under which
Consolidated paid a commission of $13,500 to Golosov which was to be returned,
"[i]f, for any reason, [IPCC] does not grant a loan or loans to us. . .
." There was also a provision in the agreement which caused the commission
to be earned should Consolidated "refuse to complete the proposed loan
after accepting the commitment of [IPCC]. . . ." IPCC, in its letter of
proposal, expressly reserved the right to "decline[] the
transaction." It did so decline when the president of IPCC refused to
approve the loan. It follows that the provisions requiring the return of the
commission apply and that the judgment in the amount of the broker's commission
to Consolidated, with statutory costs and interest, was correct. The defendant
Golosov raised the issues of fraud and bad faith with respect to Consolidated's
nondisclosure of certain information, which had not been requested. The trial
judge found that the nondisclosure by Consolidated's president of his prior
personal bankruptcy and of a divorce was not fraudulent and concluded that it
did not provide the defendant with a defense to the plaintiff's action. The
record does not provide a basis upon which to reverse that finding or to
substitute a finding of bad faith on the part of the plaintiff's president
acting on behalf of the plaintiff corporation. See Creed v. Apog, 6 Mass. App.
Ct. 365, 374-375 (1978).
Judgment affirmed.
END OF DECISION