Thiemann v. Heinze
Thiemann v. Heinze
Opinion of the Court
Louis Thiemann, plaintiff, owned a house and lot in Clayton, near the city of St. Louis. The defendant, Hermann Heinze and August Richter owned certain furniture and personal property which they used in carrying on a lodging house in the city of St. Louis, known as the Arlington Hotel. On the eighteenth of November, 1889, Thiemann and Heinze made an exchange of properties, whereby Heinze transferred his one-half interest in the personal property to Thiemann at the estimated value of $1,200. Thiemann conveyed his house and lot to „ Heinze at the value of $800 and gave his note for the remaining $400, secured by a chattel mortgage on the one-half interest in the personal property so purchased of Heinze. Thiemann and his wife moved into the hotel, and they and Richter carried on a lodging house business for five or six months. Differences arose between Richter and Mrs. Thiemann and Thiemann sold his half interest in the personal property to one G-old on the twenty-second of April, 1890, for $1,200, taking the notes of Grold for that amount, secured by a chattel mortgage on the
In June, 1890, Heinze conveyed the lot which he received from Thiemann, to the defendant Sanguinet for the consideration of $900.
Richter and Gold carried on the lodging house business for a period of about six months after Gold purchased Thiemann’s interest in the furniture, that is to say, after April, 1890. During that period Gold paid six of the notes of $20 each, which he had given Thiemann, but failed to make- any further payments. Thiemann then took back the undivided half interest in the personal property which he sold to Gold. This interest was sold in March, 1891, under the chattel mortgage given by Thiemann to secure the $400 to Heinze, and Heinze became the purchaser at the price of $300, that being the amount then due on the $400 note. Thereafter Heinze and Richter sold the personal property for $1,050, out of which Heinze received $300 and no more.1
Thiemann commenced this suit in May, 1891, to set aside the deed from him and his wife to the defendant Heinze, dated the first of November, 1889, and to set aside the deed from Heinze, to Sanguinet, made in June, 1890. The substantial averments made in the petition are, that Heinze represented to the plaintiff that the hotel was doing a very profitable business; that it was a reputable place; that plaintiff made the exchange of properties relying upon such representations, and that the representations were false; that the house -was a resort for low characters and was used for immoral purposes.
The evidence discloses these facts': The defendant Heinze purchased a one-half interest in the hotel personal property about one month before he made the trade with the plaintiff. Richter ran the hotel or
The plaintiff’s case must, therefore, stand or fall on the averment that Heinze represented the business of the house to be reputable. As to this issue there is no evidence showing or tending to show that Heinze made any representations as to the character of the business- carried on at the hotel. It is clear that he, as well as the plaintiff and his wife, supposed the business was a reputable one, and they had no other thought. The plaintiff and his wife testified that as soon as they moved into the house they found it was frequented by lewd women. Indeed she characterizes it as a whore house. The fact seems to be that the house was patronized to some extent by lewd women,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.