Paoli v. Casentini
Paoli v. Casentini
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal by plaintiff from a judgment in favor of defendants and cross-complainants in an action brought by plaintiff to quiet title to Lot 14 of Block B in Loch Lomond Subdivision Number 1 in Lake County.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Prather were the owners of land near Clear Lake. They filed a subdivision map of the area. They conveyed the entire subdivision to the Lake County Title Company, the plan apparently being that Mr. Prather would sell the lots in the subdivision and upon his order the title company would act as transfer agent to convey the lots as ordered. There was a bank of lots in Block B of the subdiviison, numbered in series 12 to 15, inclusive, of which Lot 15 had been sold to one Stefani. Albert Casentini, dealing with Prather, was shown the lot next to Stefani’s lot, which was Lot Number 14, and he undertook to buy it for $250. At that time there were no visible signs on the ground indicating the number of any of these lots but there is no doubt that the lot he was shown, and the lot he then undertook to buy was Lot Number 14. A short while later he was shown a lot in the same bank of lots about 100 feet from the one he had engaged to buy, and he undertook to buy that lot also. However, his wife objected to the purchase of more than one lot and he attempted to turn over his contract to various relatives. None of them would buy, so he approached a long-time friend, Mr. Charles Paoli, plaintiff and appellant herein, telling him that he was buying one lot and had engaged to buy a second; that he did not want to go forward with the second purchase; that the lot was an attractive one in an attractive residential subdivision and would be a good investment at the price. Without going to see the property, Paoli agreed with Casentini that he would take the lot off his hands and it was understood between them that Casentini would inform Prather of the new situation with respect to the second lot. Casentini told Prather to proceed with the sale of that lot to Paoli. Accordingly, Prather ordered the title company to close the Paoli sale. Prather made a mistake as to both lots in that he ordered the title company to convey Lot 14 to Paoli when he should have ordered the conveyance of Lot 12 to him. He also ordered the title company to convey Lot 12 to Casentini. Thus Paoli received a deed to the lot Casentini had agreed to buy and Casentini received a deed to the lot Paoli had agreed to buy. Neither Paoli nor Casentini had any knowledge of the numbering of the lots according to the subdivision map and it appears that neither of the two men learned of the number
The trial court, deeming the situation was the result of mutual mistake between the two men, ordered Paoli to convey Lot 14 to Casentini, and ordered Casentini to convey Lot 12 to Paoli.
We think the court was justified in finding that the transfers were the result of mutual mistake of the parties and that it was proper for equity to decree that appropriate transfers in accordance with the intentions of the parties be made between them. There is no doubt from the evidence that the first lot which Casentini engaged to purchase from Prather was Lot 14 which was next to the lot of his friend Stefani; that it was the lot which he and Prather stood upon as they bargained for the first purchase, and that, not knowing the number, Casentini depended upon Prather to order out the proper deed from the title company. There is no doubt that when Paoli dealt with Casentini he knew that Casentini had engaged to purchase two lots and was in the process of taking
During the course of the trial Casentini was asked to relate to the court the facts and circumstances we have herein-before recited in proof of the allegations of the cross-complaint that a mutual mistake of the parties had been made. It was objected that since many of these conversations were between Casentini and Prather without the presence of Paoli they were objectionable as not being binding on Paoli. The objection was overruled and the testimony was received. In view of the dealings between Casentini and Paoli concerning the purchase of the second lot, it was proper to show that Paoli, agreeing to purchase the second lot, had left it to Casentini to deal with Prather in accomplishing the substitution of Paoli for Casentini in the purchase of that lot. The dealings thereafter between Casentini and Prather were properly admissible against Paoli since Paoli had authorized Casentini to conduct those negotiations. There was therefore no error in receiving evidence of the transactions between Casentini and Prather out of the presence of Paoli.
The judgment appealed from is affirmed.
Peek, J., and Schottky, J., concurred.
A petition for a rehearing was denied April 11, 1961, and appellant’s petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied May 10, 1961.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.