Coleridge Creamery Co. v. Jenkins
Coleridge Creamery Co. v. Jenkins
Opinion of the Court
This is a suit for specific performance, in which the defendant appeals from a decree granting the relief prayed. So far as complaint is made with reference to the pleadings, it is enough to say that after judgment the petition is to be construed liberally, and that the interlocutory orders and rulings upon motions directed to the
Coming.to the merits of the cause, objection is made because the plaintiff, which is a corporation, has neither alleged nor proved that the property was necessary for its legitimate business, so as $o come within the purview of section 124, chapter 16, Compiled Statutes.
Reliance is also had upon the. statute of frauds, and it is contended that since the defendant did not have title to' or possession of the property at the time the contract was made and the improvements erected, there has been no part performance sufficient to take the case out of the • statute.. But defendant expected to procure the title he contracted to convey, and did afterwards procure it. He participated actively in the transactions whereby the company, in reliance on the contract, -took possession and made the improvements. He can not avail himself of the statute under such circumstances. The acts of the company are so palpably those of an owner, the dispro- \ portion between the value of the land and the amount of the improvements is so great, that no other construction than performance of a contract for purchase can be indulged. Poland v. O’Connor, 1 Nebr., 50; Baker v. Wiswell, 17 Nebr., 52; Haines v. Spanogle, 17 Nebr., 637;
Finally, it is argued that the contract is too indefinite in its terms to admit of specific performance, in that the time of performance is not fixed. The obvious answer is that in the absence of express stipulations the vendor would have a reasonable time in which to acquire title and make the conveyance, and the conveyance and payment of the price would be concurrent. Defendant having acquired title before suit was brought, no question as to time or possibility of- performance is involved. All that is necessary is that the contract be such that an efficient decree for its specific performance may be made, which may be enforced when rendered. 3 .Pomeroy, Equity Jurisprudence, sec. 1405.
The petition states a cause of action, and there is ample evidence to sustain the findings. We recommend that the decree be affirmed.
By the Court: For the reasons set forth in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of the district court is
Affirmed.
Cobbey’s Annotated Statutes, see. 4117.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Coleridge Creamery Company v. George W. Jenkins
- Cited By
- 1 case
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- Published