Williams v. Ray
Williams v. Ray
Opinion of the Court
This is an appeal from a judgment of the District Court dismissing plaintiff’s suit to recover the sum of $2,711.25, the alleged balance due on the purchase price of certain land in addition to the price stated in the deed, the Court having maintained the defendant’s plea of prescription of one year based on Article 2498 of the LSA-Civil Code of Louisiana.
The petition and documents in the record disclose that on September 16, 1952, the plaintiff, J. Clyde Williams, sold to the defendant, L. M. Ray, certain described land
The survey which the defendant caused to be made disclosed the property conveyed by the deed contained 126.05 acres, whereupon the plaintiff claimed a balance due on the cash consideration of $2,711.25. Alleging amicable demand without avail, plaintiff instituted this suit on June 29, 1954.
The defendant’s plea of prescription hinges on the applicability of various articles of the LSA-Civil Code, Articles 2492-2497, which give a right to claim increase or diminution of the price of an immovable in instances where the sale is made at a rate of so much per measure and the extent of the premises is subsequently found to be either more or less than the quantity recited in the contract. Treating the letter of September 16, 1952, as an amendment to the deed of that date so as to make the sale
The plaintiff-appellant, on the other hand, contends that Article 2498 and the articles to which its provisions apply are concerned with warranty of measure and relate to error or inaccuracies as to area, but are not applicable where the number of acres will be determined by subsequent survey according to agreement between the parties; and that an action for the purchase price, such as this, is a personal action which is prescribed in 10 years, under Article 3544 of the Code.
The articles of the Civil Code sought to be applied by the defendant are found in the portion delineating the obligations of the seller, one being “that of delivering * * * the thing which he sells”, Article 2475; and while “The seller is bound to' deliver the full extent of the premises, as specified in the contract, * * * ”, Article 2491 — an obligation which gives rise to the action for supplement of the price or diminution thereof, as mentioned above — it is clear that those articles apply to instances where, through error, an incorrect .price is agreed upon, having been arrived at by calculation on an inaccurate measure, i. e., a larger or a smaller area than is actually delivered. It is equally clear that those articles are not to be applied where the parties, being aware that they do not know the exact measurement of the area which is the subject of the contract, agree to a price per acre and also to a tentative consideration, the final settlement between them to be calculated with exactness following a survey of the total area when the correct measure will be disclosed.
Not only is such an analysis dictated by logic and reason, but in the articles to which we have referred the thought is tacitly comprised, and sometimes actually expressed, that the parties are free to contract even as to matters therein covered and that those provisions, in proper cases, are. to control provided there be no stipulation to the contrary. We are sustained in this view by statements of the French commentators, since our law on the subject
The case of Marinovich’s Estate v. Jones, 141 La. 397, 75 So. 93, 94, on which the appellee relies and on which the trial judge rested his decision, concerned a fractual situation differing in several pertinent respects from that presented in the instant case, and the rule therein stated is not apposite here.
. The description contained in the deed follows:
“West 34 of West 34 of Northeast 34, Section 6, Township 16 North, Range 4 east.
“North 1320 feet of Northwest 34, Section 6, T. 16 N, R 4 E lying East of the West right of way line of U. S. Highway 165; also all that portion of the Northeast 34 of Section 1 lying East of the West right of way line of U. S. Highway 165 which lies North of a line running East and West, which is 1320 feet South of the North line of Section 6, when said line Bast and West is projected at right angles from West line of Section 6 to the West right of way line of Highway 165; all the foregoing land in Section 1 being situated in Township 16 North, Range 3 East.
“The above and foregoing land contains 114 acres, more or less.”
. Defendant’s acceptance is evidenced by his signature below the words “accepted by” on the face of the letter.
. Article 3544, LSA-Civil' Code, declares: “In general, all personal actions, except those before enumerated, are prescribed by ten years.”
. 1 Zachariae, Cours de Droit Civil Franςais (2 éd. 1842) 400, no 354; 16 Marcadé, Explication Théorique et Pratique du Code Napoléon (5 éd. 1859) 249-250, no 1623, III; 10 Huc, Commentaire Théorique et Pratique du Code Civil (1897) 133-134, no 99; Bandry-Laeantinerie et Saignat, Traité Théorique et Pratique de Droit Civil (2 éd. 1900), “De la vente et de l’échange,” 281, no 341; 5 Aubry et Rau, Cours de Droit Civil Franςais (5 éd. 1907) 74-75, “De la vente,” no 354; 2 Traité Elémentaire de Droit Civil de Planiol, par Ripert et Boulanger (4 éd. 1952) 779, no 2454; 2 Colin et Capitant, Cours Elémentaire de Droit Civil Frangais (10 éd. 1953) 612, no 916.
. That case concerned a purchase by Mrs. Marinovich of a tract of land (according to the recitations in the deed) “known as the Eattier Place, containing 391.77 acres, said plantation being made up” of three adjoining tracts described separately as containing specified acreage' — - there being no indication, as observed by this Court in its opinion, “that the land was sold at a certain price per acre.” Following the death of Mrs. Marinovich some 14 years later and the offering of the property for sale to settle the debts of her succession, it was adjudicated to one Cohn, who caused a survey to be made which revealed that the area of the Lattier Place, although advertised in the succession sale as containing 391.77 acres, in fact contained only 263.30. The ad
Reference
- Full Case Name
- J. Clyde WILLIAMS v. L. M. RAY
- Status
- Published