Chittenden v. Lapham
Chittenden v. Lapham
Opinion of the Court
Since this action was brought the defendant Mary K. Lapham has deceased and no administration has been taken out on her estate. It is therefore stipulated by the parties that whatever liability there might be on the part of either defendant is assumed by the defendant Celestia Lapham, that any final judgment which might be obtained by the plaintiff should be assumed and paid by her, and that the action should be discontinued as to Mary K. Lapham, without costs.
The plaintiff seeks to recover damages for the alleged breach of an oral contract, whereby the defendant agreed to reimburse him for expenditures for labor performed and
About April 19, 1929, the defendant found a prospective purchaser of the farm, named Johnson. Two letters written by the plaintiff’s wife to the defendant, dated respectively March 15 and March 31, 1929, were admitted in evidence. They were written with the knowledge and consent, and at the request, of the plaintiff. About the middle of April, 1929, there was a conversation between the defendant and the plaintiff’s wife respecting which the latter testified as follows: the defendant “said, ‘How would Norman [the plaintiff] feel about my selling the place?’ and I said, ‘He realizes that it’s a burden to you and I am sure he wouldn’t stand in your way, .only he has put a lot of money in there that he has got nothing out of.’ She said, ‘I should expect to pay Norman for all he has put on the place. I don’t want him to give me anything.’ I said, ‘I don’t think he would hesitate under those conditions, but I will talk with him and see.’ ” The plaintiff’s wife further testified that after this conversation she spoke to her husband, and the next morning said to the defendant, “ ‘ ... if you wanted to settle for what he [the plaintiff] had put on the place he wouldn’t stand in the way of your selling, ’ and . . . that the defendant answered, ‘I should expect to pay him for what he has put on the place.’ ” After this conversation the plaintiff’s wife, with his knowledge and consent, prepared a list of items which he claimed had been expended,by him on the
At the close of the evidence the defendant in writing requested the trial judge to rule that upon the evidence the plaintiff could not recover. This request was denied. A finding was made for the plaintiff and damages were assessed in the sum of $844.20. The refusal to grant this request presents the only question of law raised by the exceptions.
If, as the trial judge was warranted in finding, the plaintiff surrendered his rights under the lease in consideration of the promise of the defendant to reimburse him for expenditures made upon the leased premises during his occupancy under the lease, such promise was founded upon a sufficient legal consideration. Whether the plaintiff surrendered his right to occupy the premises before the expiration of the terms of the lease and whether he surrendered possession of the premises upon the defendant’s promise to reimburse him for his expenditures presented questions of fact which were decided adversely to the defendant upon sufficient evidence, notwithstanding her testimony to the effect that she never agreed to pay the plaintiff for such expenditures. The facts that the plaintiff did not surrender the key to the house and did not remove all his furniture when he vacated the premises do
As it could not rightly have been ruled that the plaintiff could not recover, the entry must be
Exceptions overruled.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Norman J. Chittenden v. Celestia Lapham
- Status
- Published