Warren v. Harrison
Warren v. Harrison
Opinion of the Court
On July 12, 1924, Percy J. Harrison as party of the first part, and George Warren and James Shannon as parties of the second part, executed a written contract wherein the party of the first part agreed to sell, “upon certain conditions precedent and stipulations herein named,” to the parties of the second part, described realty in the City of Atlanta. The consideration expressed in the paper was “the sum of...........dollars, payable $50.00 cash, receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, and the balance as follows: assume one thousand dollars straight loan for five (5) years at 8% interest, payable semi-annually, and 59 monthly notes for twenty-six ($26.00) dollars each; give 83 monthly notes for eighteen ($18.00) dollars each, and 1 note for six ($6.00) dollars. The 83 notes at eighteen ($18.00) dollars, and the one for six ($6.00) dollars shall bear interest from date at 7%.” The paper also contained the following: “The conditions precedent and stipulations are as follows: The cash payment being small, and the installments little more than a fair rental for said property, it is a condition precedent to the sale that one third the pur
Prior to the foregoing agreement Percy J. Harrison had executed two loan deeds to the Merchants and Mechanics Banking and Loan Company, one to secure a loan of $1,000, due in five years, and the other to secure $1533, payable in fifty-nine notes at $26 each, except the first note which was for $25. Subsequently, when the bank was about to foreclose its securities, Warren and Shannon, who up to that time had kept up their payments under the bond-for-title contract above set out, offered to pay the bank the then current note, which being refused, they failed to make any further payments under the bond-for-title contract. The bank proceeded to sell the property under the power of sale contained in the loan deeds to that institution, and the property was bid in by F. A. Jones, to whom a deed was made and duly recorded. Subsequently Harrison, through his agent, Kaiford, negotiated a sale of the property to Sudie M. Howard, who deposited $100 as earnest money,- and the Atlanta Title and Trust Company was employed to examine the title, and if found satisfactory the sale would be consummated through their office. Warren and Shannon instituted suit against all of the several persons above named, except the Merchants and Mechanics Banking and Loan Company, for reformation of the contract, for injunction to prevent a change in the status of the property, and for an accounting against Har
It was alleged in an amendment to the petition: “Petitioner avers that said agreement for bond for title should be reformed so as to eliminate the 83 notes for $18.00 each and the one $6.00 note and the amount represented thereby, and further avers that the remainder of the notes held by said Harrison of said series should be surrendered by him, and, if in any other holder’s hands, that he should be required to produce or account for the same.” The amendment also contained a prayer for the relief indicated. It has been decided by this court that “Parol negotiations .eventuating in an unambiguous written contract are merged in the writing, and are ineffectual to vary or contradict the writing. . . Fraud, to be the basis of . . reformation of a contract, must be fraud in the execution thereof; and when it is attempted to annex to the writing a parol conditional stipulation, it must appear that such stipulation was omitted from the writing, at the time of execution, through fraud, accident, or mistake.” Capps v. Edwards, 130 Ga. 146 (3, 4) (60 S. E. 455). The agreement for bond for title, referred to in the petition, is unambiguous; and under application of the principles ruled in the above-quoted decision, all parol negotiations eventuating in the contract were merged in the writing, and fraud to be the basis of reformation of the contract must be fraud in the execution thereof; and it being attempted to reform the contract by eliminating therefrom 83 notes for $18 each, and one note for $6, as indicated above, it must appear that the provision relating to said notes was inserted in the writing, at the time of its execution, through fraud, accident, or mistake. There was no such allegation in the petition as amended, and consequently the petition did not state cause for reformation of the instrument.
The grant of injunctive relief and accounting as prayed depended upon performance by plaintiffs of the contract as written. The petition shows upon its face that the plaintiffs were
The court erred in overruling the general demurrer interposed by Harrison to the petition as amended.
The court did not err in sustaining the general demurrer interposed by Jones to the petition as amended, or in refusing to grant injunctive relief against the other defendant.
Judgment affirmed in Case No. 5799. Judgment reversed in Case No. 5800.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.