GR 163720; (December, 2004) (Digest)
G.R. No. 163720 , December 16, 2004
GENEVIEVE LIM, petitioner, vs. FLORENCIO SABAN, respondent.
FACTS
Eduardo Ybañez, owner of a lot, entered into an Agency Agreement with Florencio Saban, authorizing him to find a buyer for P200,000.00, with Saban entitled to any amount above this as his commission and to cover sale-related expenses. Through Saban’s efforts, Ybañez sold the lot to Genevieve Lim and other vendees for P600,000.00. Lim remitted P113,257.00 to Saban for taxes and P50,000.00 as commission, and issued four postdated checks totaling P236,743.00 payable to Saban for the balance of his commission. Subsequently, Ybañez wrote to Lim, asking her to cancel the checks issued to Saban and to pay him directly instead. Lim complied, issuing stop-payment orders. After the checks were dishonored, Saban filed a collection case against Ybañez and Lim.
ISSUE
Whether petitioner Genevieve Lim is liable to respondent Florencio Saban for the value of the dishonored checks representing his agent’s commission.
RULING
Yes, Lim is liable. The Supreme Court affirmed the Court of Appeals, holding that Saban was a duly appointed agent whose agency was coupled with an interest—his right to the excess over the P200,000.00 price as commission. This made the agency irrevocable at the principal’s whim. Ybañez’s revocation, communicated to Lim, was thus invalid and in bad faith, as it was solely intended to deprive Saban of his earned commission after he had successfully procured a buyer.
Lim’s liability to Saban is direct and personal, arising from her own acts, not merely from being privy to the agency contract. By issuing the checks payable to Saban, she acknowledged her obligation to pay his specific share from the purchase price. Her subsequent cancellation of the checks upon Ybañez’s request, despite knowing they represented Saban’s commission, constituted a participation in the scheme to unjustly deprive Saban of his compensation. Lim cannot evade liability by claiming she later paid the balance to Ybañez, as that payment did not extinguish the separate and distinct obligation she created by issuing the checks to Saban for his commission. The Court found no merit in her claim of being an accommodation party, as she received value (the property) for her transaction.