McCue v. Hope
McCue v. Hope
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
Plaintiff and defendant, who were each the owners of one-half of the capital stock of The Garden City Land & Immigration Company, in November, 1910, entered into a written contract whereby defendant was to transfer to plaintiff his stock in the corporation, in consideration of which plaintiff was to causé the corporation to convey certain properties and securities to defendant and assume and pay all debts and obligations of the corporation and relieve
It is contended by defendant that the parts stricken out of plaintiff’s petition were immaterial for the reason that the petition showed upon its face that the action was one for relief upon the ground of fraud, and being brought more than two years from the time the fraud was alleged to have been discovered it did not state a cause of action. Defendant also complains that the court should have sustained his demurrer as to the second count of plaintiff’s petition.
The action is based on the account stated, which formed a part of the written agreement. This account purported to contain an itemized list of all the assets and liabilities of the company. The account is an acknowledgment of the statements made therein as well as of liability, but it is only prima facie evidence of its correctnes. It may be opened up for mistake or fraud and corrected within a reasonable time. (Clark v. Marbourg, 33 Kan. 471, 6 Pac. 548; Schmoker v. Miller, 89 Kan. 594, 132 Pac. 158; 1 Cyc. 451.) It is alleged that the account in question is not only incorrect in that a number of liabilities of the company, which the plaintiff has since been compelled to pay, were omitted, but that this was done through the con
It is insisted by the defendant that the case should be treated as an action for relief on the ground of fraud, and that so considered it was barred after two years from the time it accrued. It is rather an action to open up an account and settlement between the parties, to make a new settlement, and to adjust the rights of the parties under their written agreement. The mere fact that mistakes occurred, or that there was deception practiced in the settlement sought to be set aside so that a new settlement may be made, does not make the action one for relief on the ground of fraud. It is still an accounting under the written agreement and does not fall within the two-year statute of limitations.
The decision of the trial court striking out of the petition the averments of fraud as well as the one sustaining a demurrer to the first count of the petition is reversed, and the decision overruling the demurrer to the second count of the petition is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- B. M. McCue v. J. W. Hope
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- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS BY THE COURT. Action — Reopening Account and Settlement — Not an Action for Relief on the Ground of Fraud — Limitation of Actions. Two parties who owned the stock of a corporation agreed that one of them should purchase the stock and interest of the other for a certain price, the purchaser to pay the outstanding liabilities of the company, and a settlement between them was effected on the basis of an account stated which purported to contain a complete list of all of the assets and liabilities of the company and was a part of their written agreement. In an action subsequently brought by the purchaser he alleged that the account stated was incorrect in that it omitted certain specified liabilities of the company of which he had no knowledge and which he has been compelled to pay; that the account was not only incorrect but it was fraudulently made so by the seller. Held, that the action is one to reopen the account and settlement and remake it in accordance with the agreement of the parties; that such an account stated is only prima facie evidence of its correctness; that it may be opened up for mistake or fraud; that the averments of fraud of the seller as stated in the petition were pertinent and proper; and that the action pleaded is not to be regarded as one for relief on the ground of fraud, and therefore is not barred by the two-year statute of limitation.