McPherson v. Garbutt
McPherson v. Garbutt
Opinion of the Court
This is an action by which the plaintiff in part prayed that the nature of the interest of the defendants in certain land be declared; that she be decreed the equitable owner of an undivided one-sixth interest therein upon certain payments being made by her at a time to be fixed by the court; that the property be sold, and one-sixth of the proceeds, less the amount due from her to Garbutt, be paid to her. The case was tried by the court sitting without a jury, and in accordance with the prayer of the answer it was adjudged that the plaintiff had no interest whatever in the land described in the complaint; that title to it was in
The facts of the case are somewhat involved. Briefly, they are as follows: Prior to April 16, 1900, the appellant’s intestate, Mrs. Walker, and the defendant Sorey, owned a majority of the stock in the Golden Gate Oil and Development Company (hereinafter called the G. G. Co.), which company had a lease for ten years on two hundred acres of land in Santa Clara county owned by D. B. Moody. After some negotiations by Mrs. Walker, Sorey, and Garbutt, on April 16, 1900, they made an agreement which, id substance, was as follows: (1) It provided for the organization of a corporation known as the “Moody Gulch Oil Company,” in which each was to subscribe for one-third of the capital stock. In payment for the stock, Mrs. Walker and Sorey were to transfer sixteen thousand six hundred and twenty-five shares of stock in the G. G. Co. fully paid, and Garbutt was to pay into the treasury of the new company $4,000 in cash. (2) Mrs. Walker and Sorey represented that the outstanding indebtedness of the G. G. Co. did not exceed $1,000. (3) Mrs. Walker was to obtain an option from Moody to purchase the Moody land at a price not to' exceed $7,300; the option and purchase to be in the name of Garbutt. (4) At the completion of the organization of the M. G. Co., and on payment for the subscribed stock therein, as above mentioned, Garbutt was to purchase from Mrs. Walker one-half of her stock (one-sixth of the subscribed stock) in the M. G. Co., and to pay therefor $2,000. (5) Mrs. Walker was to buy a one-sixth interest from Garbutt in the Moody land for the sum of $1,216.66, plus one-sixth of the expense of making the purchase. Five hundred dollars was to be paid June 16, 1900; the balance in two equal payments at ninety and one hundred and twenty days, with interest on deferred payments
Another agreement was made April 18, 1900, by Mrs. Walker and Garbutt, which, after stating that Garbutt had agreed to purchase the Moody land for $8,000, provided substantially: (1) That by reason of certain desires Mrs. Walker was to make such payments, and rebates in her commission for making the sale, as would make the price paid by Garbutt for the land not to exceed $7,300. (2) That she was to purchase a one-sixth interest therein from Garbutt, paying therefor the sum specified in the agreement of April 16th (to which reference has been made above) at the times therein set forth. These amounts were to be evidenced by three promissory notes, and as security for the payment of these notes she was to give Garbutt her stock in the M. G. Co. (3) In' case of default in the payment of any of her notes, Garbutt, at his option, might return her notes, to- ■ gether with the stock securing them, and terminate the interest of Mrs. Walker in the land. (4) If she carried out her contract, then, at the option of Garbutt, she was to join with him and others in transferring the land to the M. G. Co., , taking payment for the same at cost price, either in cash or stock at the par value thereof at the company’s option.
On April 16, 1900, Garbutt and Sorey made an agreement . by which, upon payment of $1,216.66 (one-sixth of the cost of the land), they and others would transfer the land to the M. G. Co., on payment to them by the company of the cost of said land either in money or stock, etc. It is unnecessary to summarize the contents of this contract. April 23, 1900, Mrs Walker executed her notes to Garbutt, and thereafter delivered seventy shares of the M. G. Co. stock as security for the payment thereof. In May, 1900, the sale of the land from Moody to Garbutt was consummated. Moody received from Garbutt $7,300 in cash, a note from Mrs. Walker for $300 and a waiver by her of $400, which Moody had agreed to pay her as commission for making the sale. November 30th an option to purchase for $28,000 the
Subsequently, a deed conveying to the M. G. Co. the Moody land, signed by Garbutt and his wife, was handed to Mrs. Walker, with a request that she also sign the deed, and at the same time she was tendered twelve and three hundredths shares of stock in the M. G. Co. She refused to sign the deed, claiming that others held interests in the land, and until their signatures were obtained to the deed she would not execute it; and she also insisted that the land had cost her one-sixth of the $7,300 paid by Garbutt, to wit, $1,216.66, $12.81 expense of purchase, $40 interest, $300 paid to Moody, and $400 commission, making a total of $1,970, and that she was therefore entitled to nineteen and seven hundredths shares of stock in the company. On January 1, 1901, Garbutt, for himself and for Mrs. Walker, acting under the power given him in the contract of April 18th, executed a deed of the land in question to the M. G. Co. The court, after trial, upon evidence sufficient, found in part: That plaintiff had failed to perform the conditions of the agreement of April 18, 1900, on her part to be performed; that prior to the commencement of this action she was indebted to Garbutt in the sum of $1,068.75; that the purpose of the agreements of April 16 and 18, 1900, was not that plaintiff should have an undivided one-sixth interest in said land for her separate use and benefit, but it was the purpose of those agreements that the land when purchased should be conveyed to the M. G. Co.; that defendants Garbutt and Sorey, January 1, 1901, conveyed to the M. G. Co. the Moody land; that Garbutt executed the deed in his own name, and for and in the name of plaintiff as her attorney in fact; that he was empowered to so act for her. by the contract of April 18th. The court further found that prior to that conveyance to the M. G. Co., and on or about December 4, 1900, the M. G. Co. demanded of plaintiff and Garbutt that they convey the land to it, and offered to pay to plaintiff one-sixth of the cost price of said land and one-sixth of the expenses incurred in obtaining it, in all amounting to $1,229.47, in fully paid-up stock of said company; that plaintiff refused
It would serve no useful purpose to take up and pass upon each of the points discussed in the briefs. Findings were made on all the material issues presented by the pleadings. Those just referred to meet nearly all of the contentions of appellant. Other points made are covered by other findings, and all the findings- are based on ample evidence, except that the evidence does not disclose that plaintiff was given credit for $133.41 paid Garbutt by the G. G. Co. at her request. There is no other point made by appellant that requires notice.
The judgment in favor of Garbutt against appellant is directed modified by deducting therefrom $133.41. In all other respects the judgment and order appealed from are affirmed.
We concur: Cooper, P. J.; Hall, J.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- McPHERSON v. GARBUTT
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Quieting Title—Evidence—Sufficiency to Support Finding.—In an action to determine the rights of the parties in certain land in which plaintiff prayed that she be declared the equitable owner of a one-sixth interest therein on certain payments being made by her, evidence examined, and held sufficient to support the finding of the court, except in regard to credit given plaintiff for a certain sum.