Ickler v. Mullen
Ickler v. Mullen
Opinion of the Court
On November 26, 1915, the defendant
At this second conference, plaintiff wanted one-half of the lumber left on the premises, and on defendant’s refusal wanted to buy one-half of it; but defendant, while willing to sell all of it, declined to sell part. The parties did not succeed in getting together at this meeting. It is not clear the number of conferences that took place with reference to the matter. Defendant was not present at all of them, his employer having objected to his taking too much time off, and his attorney represented him. Suffice to say that on December 20th, which seems to have been the fifteenth day after furnishing the abstract, a conference was held at the office of defendant’s attorney. The attorney had prepared a land contract, more favorable to plaintiff than the writing of November 26th called for, in that plaintiff was given immediate possession of the premises. It ran to plaintiff and Moore, as the parties had agreed. There were in this contract none of the clauses or modifications which had caused the previous disagreements. The attorney had, however, prepared a memorandum setting at rest the question as to the ownership of the lumber, and made it a rider on the contract. The contract, we think, fully complied with the terms of the original writing, except that it was more favorable to plaintiff, as stated above. Plaintiff objected to this contract, and about two hours were consumed in its discussion. There was a clerical mistake in the date of a deed given by one Carew, which could have been easily remedied. The other objection
“* * * The purpose of this contract being to sell to second parties the same land that the first party acquired and holds by virtue of a deed by Edward Carew, dated February 18,1911, and recorded in Liber 241 on page 186, Oakland County Records.”
This language was undoubtedly surplusage, as the land described in the contract was the same land described in the deed from Carew to the defendant. This deed does not recite that Carew was an unmarried man, and plaintiff claims objection was then made to the title and to this clause of the contract, and it is here urged that he was justified in the objection he made to this clause, that the language above quoted from the contract had reference to and might be construed as agreeing to convey only the title that Carew conveyed by his deed, at least that it would cloud the title. But, as we have already stated, the abstract had been submitted to plaintiff before any negotiations as to the form of the contract was taken up and had been pronounced satisfactory. Defendant’s testimony and that of his attorney denies that plaintiff objected at any time to the title, and no question of title is made in the bill. Beyond that, the language used could not bear the construction claimed. The lands, not the title, contracted to be sold, were the lands acquired by the Carew deed, and the contract expressly required a “warranty deed of said described lands free and clear of and from all liens and incumbrances.”
This last conference consumed some two or three hours, and plaintiff persistently refused to accept the contract prepared by defendant’s attorney. It was not until the conference had been protracted long beyond lunch hour that plaintiff produced from, his pocket a contract and asked defendant’s attorney to read it and see what was the matter with it. We are unable to
We are satisfied from the testimony in the case that the agreed price of the land in question was at the time of the transaction its fair value; it was not a bargain, but defendant was then anxious to close up the deal, as the agreed price was more than he had paid for it. Nothing further was done by plaintiff, except to secure the recording of the memorandum, for nearly two months and until after the land had materially increased in value, and defendant had made a verbal bargain to sell to other parties, when this bill was filed for specific performance.
It will not be necessary to consider the interesting legal questions, discussed in the briefs filed by the parties, as we are satisfied on the facts the plaintiff is not entitled to prevail. While time of performance was not made the essence of the contract, and might be extended by parol (Frazer v. Hovey, 195 Mich. 160 [161 N. W. 887]), there was a time fixed for performance, and within that time, and practically at its close, defendant tendered performance, and it was refused, and the parties made no arrangements for any extension of time, or for further conference, and plaintiff, that evening, when requested, declined to enter further negotiations to close the deal. We think the parties then regarded the transaction at an end. The time of
Remedy by specific performance is not a remedy of right, but rests in the sound discretion of the court. The case must be clear before that discretion is moved. In the instant case, we are not satisfied that plaintiff has made his right so clear as to entitle him to this relief; but, on the contrary, we are satisfied that the evidence preponderates in favor of the defendant.
The decree of the court below will therefore be affirmed, with costs to defendant.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- ICKLER v. MULLEN
- Status
- Published