Ball v. Witham
Ball v. Witham
Opinion of the Court
J. H. Brush owned a farm, and
Bor the consideration of $7,200, I, John Brush, have this day sold my farm to B. A. Witham, described as the farm N. E. of Bairfield about five miles, it being the only farm that I now own, on the following terms and conditions. The said Witham has this day paid on said farm $500.00. The balance due to be paid in thirty days from this date, provided the said John Brush will allow the said Witham six percent on money paid to March 1, 1908. The taxes to be paid on said land by John Brush for the year 1907, all the lumber that is on the ground goes with the farm. No wood to be taken from the farm but about two cords now cut. The said John Brush is to furnish abstract, showing good and perfect title to said land. If' the building should burn before the said Witham gets possession, the insurance to go to the said Witham. It is further agreed the said John Brush will keep up the insurance until the said Witham gets possession.
' At the time the contract was made, Brush was in possession of the buildings on the farm and a part of the land. Ball had possession of the part that he had rented, and a tenant was in possession of the rest of the farm. On the 29th day of November, 1907, Brush held a public sale at the farm, and at that time sold to the plaintiff certain cornstalks then standing on a part of the ground that had been rented to the tenant. The defendant was present at the sale, and a controversy arose between him and Brush as to the latter’s right to sell said stalks; the defendant claiming that they belonged to him, and Brush asserting that the defendant was not then entitled to possession under his contract. On the same day Brush permitted the defendant to move some of his household -goods into one of the rooms in the house, and soon thereafter the defendant went there to live. The defendant did
The appellant presents three points upon which he asks a reversal of the judgment. He pleaded that he purchased the farm with the right of immediate possession, without notice of the plaintiff’s lease, and he complains of instructions which placed the burden of so proving on him. He further says that the mere presence on the farm of the plaintiff’s cattle at the time the contract was made was insufficient to impart notice to him of the plaintiff’s lease, and, finally, he says that the contract was ari executed one, and that the title to 'the land then passed to him and entitled him to immediate possession.
The contract itself shows, without much doubt, that
If it was the contract of the parties that the defendant was not to have possession of the farm until the full purchase price was paid or until the 1st of March,- a present transfer of title by the contract would not change the rights as to possession, for there may be an absolute sale with the right to possession postponed. Sheehy v. Scott, 128 Iowa, 551. It is therefore immaterial whether this contract was 'executed or executory. The parties contracted as to the time when possession should pass to the defendant, and by this they are bound.
The court instructed, in effect, that if the defendant was entitled to the possession of the farm on the 29th of November, 'the cornstalks would go with the farm and become the property of the defendant, and, conversely, that if such was not the case then the stalks belonged to the plaintiff and he had the right to feed them. It is apparent, then, that the jury must have found that the defendant was not entitled to possession at the time in controversy, and, that being true, the instruction as to the burden of proof of notice of plaintiff’s lease of the pasture was not prejudicial to the defendant, even if wrong.
We are satisfied that there should not be a reversal • of. this judgment, and it is therefore affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.