Marmeni v. Bellarts
Marmeni v. Bellarts
070rehearing
On Petition for Rehearing.
(165 Pac. 1170.)
On petition for rehearing. Rehearing denied.
Mr. Henry M. Kimball, for the petition.
Messrs. Malarkey, Seabrook & Dibble, contra.
Department 1. Mr. Justice Benson delivered the opinion of the court.
In support of his motion for rehearing, counsel for appellant urges that the former opinion herein must have been hasty and ill-considered by reason of the fact that the opinion discusses certain allegations of the affirmative answer in regard to which there is no evidence in the record. By some inadvertence, it is true that the writer of the former opinion did refer to such portion of the answer upon the theory that it was not denied in the reply, and this is error. However, we have again read the testimony line by line, considering every suggestion made by counsel, and are unable to discover any good reason for changing the conclusion reached in the former opinion. The rehearing is therefore denied. Rehearing Denied.
Mr. Chief Justice McBride and Mr. Justice Burnett concur.
delivered the following concurring opinion:
“In 1912 property values were elevated. When Marmeni purchased there was talk of the construction of a bridge which would have materially benefited the property, but at the fall election the proposal to build the bridge was defeated. With the year 1914 came financial depression and marked reductions in realty values. The property was amply worth the price in 1912, but it was not worth the price in 1914.”
When checking over the pleadings, as printed in the abstract of record, paragraphs XI and XII of the answer and cross-complaint were treated as admitted by reason of the supposed failure of the plaintiff to deny them, but a re-examination of the abstract discloses that those two paragraphs were denied; and hence the quoted statements are not fully justified by the record, although the subject of the bridge and the decrease in realty values received more than passing notice at the time of the hearing. While there was no evidence concerning the bridge, for the reason that the court sustained an objection to an offer of the defendant to show the facts regarding the bridge, nevertheless, there was enough evidence to warrant the inference that the property was worth the purchase price in 1912. Deluchi, who was “in the real estate business,” said that at first Bellarts asked $4,000 for the property, but he consented to sell for $3,750. Deluchi considered the selling price was the fair value of the land, for in the language of his testimony: “I thought that was a fair purchase price, I told Mr. Bellarts, you know a real estate man tries to compromise, that is, wants to do the fair thing for both.” However, it is not essential, and perhaps not even important, to know the difference between the values in 1912 and in
Deluchi received a letter from J. Landigan on July 22 or 23, 1913. Deluchi immediately informed Marmeni of the letter and while the original opinion is not accurate in declaring that Marmeni “consulted with Montrezza” about this letter, it is nevertheless accurate to say that Montrezza was notified of the claim made in the Landigan letter, for according to the testimony of-Montrezza “Mr. Deluchi brought it to my attention himself. ’ ’
The petition for a rehearing questions the correctness of the statements made in the original opinion about the preparation of the $40 receipt. Montrezza had not yet been admitted to practice as an attorney at law when Marmeni purchased the property, and, on that account, Montrezza was unusually painstaking. He explained that he was very careful when examining the papers in Strowbridge’s office and he said that he was likewise careful in the preparation of the receipt, for he testified thus:
“I remember being naturally, you may say, waiting to be an attorney, and as an attorney to be at the time, I was careful what I was doing, as I had quite a large Italian practice at the time, before I was admitted.”
“I don’t remember whether I had the number of the lot or block, or the dimensions, or location of the property.”
Whether Montrezza' obtained the description or dimensions of the property before or at the time Bellarts signed the receipt is not material because the ultimate fact is that he had ‘J something connected with the dimensions, or location of the property.” While Montrezza testified that ‘ ‘ Mr. Marmeni paid me something for looking over the premises,” and Marmeni swore that “I didn’t pay him anything”; nevertheless, Marmeni is confronted with the indisputable facts that Montrezza prepared the receipt, was present when Bellarts signed it, was also present when the final papers were signed and passed, and was acting for and in behalf of Marmeni. Montrezza knew what property was being sold because he wrote the receipt. Montrezza was the agent of Marmeni and his knowledge was the knowledge of Marmeni.
When a witness for the plaintiff, Deluchi said that while he did not measure the distance from “the front to the back, between the two fences” he was “positive it was over a hundred”; but that it appeared “fully
If Bellarts is liable at all it is because of what Marmeni says that Deluchi told him. It is true that Marmeni testified that Bellarts told him when the receipt was signed that “everything Deluchi showed me inside the fence was all mine,” but it is also true that Bellarts denied this, and, although present on the occasion mentioned, neither Montrezza nor Deluchi undertook to corroborate Marmeni.
While Bellarts is responsible for whatever Deluchi said, by the same token Marmeni is chargeable with whatever he himself knew and also with whatever Montrezza learned when acting as his agent. "When speaking of the knowledge with which Marmeni was chargeable, the circuit judge who saw the witnesses and heard them testify remarked that
“a man who was so diligent as Mr. Marmeni in accumulating money in his business with which to buy property, it seems to me he would ascertain how many feet there were in the lot. I believe that Marmeni knew the dimensions of that lot after the examination of the abstract, because an attorney could not help by the reading of the abstract know that the lot was 45 feet frontage and 81.8 feet deep, that is the property which he was buying.”
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
The persons to be kept in mind are H. J. Bellarts, the vendor, Eugene Marmeni, the vendee, Louis Deluchi, a real estate agent, and M. Gr. Montrezza, who was admitted to practice as an attorney at law in June, 1912.
Marmeni had “a little money” in 1912 and as he expressed it “I thought I better buy a little piece of property before I spend the money.” Montrezza was advised by his client Marmeni that the latter “wanted to purchase a house somewhere” and the former then
The description in the deed to Marmeni is in exact conformity with the description found in the abstract and three deeds which were delivered with it and also with the description found in the written opinion by Olson concerning the title. The first page of the abstract reads thus: “Lot 6 Block 4, Beacon Heights, also a strip of land 30 feet wide along the east side of said lot 6. ’ ’ The second page contains a, map of lot 6 and the other lots in the block facing Ninth Street. The map plainly shows that the width of lot 6 is 45 feet and that its length is 51.8 feet.
While the liability of Bellarts does not necessarily depend upon whether he showed the premises to Deluchi or upon whether he told Deluchi that he owned all the property within the board fence, nevertheless the testimony concerning those matters may be helpful in determining the credibility of the witnesses. The testimony of Deluchi concerning a woman cleaning the house, together with what Mrs. Bellarts says about cleaning the house rather indicates that Bellarts never accompanied Deluchi to the premises. Bellarts knew that he owned lot 6 and A and he also knew that the deeds under which he claimed title did not embrace B. Bellarts had the abstract and it is to be presumed
The subsequent conduct of Marmeni throws additional light upon the contention he now makes. On July 22 or 23, 1913, Deluchi received a letter from J. Landigan giving notice that the latter held a warranty deed to B and complaining because B was fenced in. Deluchi immediately notified Marmeni of the re
It would not be difficult to imagine a variety of situations where a vendee would be entitled to rely upon representations by the vendor or his agent concerning the location of a boundary line; and because of such reliance, upon ascertaining the falsity of the representations, he could rescind the sale. However, at the very outset of the present investigation we find the contention of plaintiff clouded with suspicion. In 1912 property values were elevated. When Marmeni purchased there was talk of the construction of a bridge which would have materially benefited the property, but at the fall election the proposal to build the bridge was defeated. With the year 1914 came financial depression and marked reductions in realty values. The property was amply worth the price in 1912 but it was not worth the price in 1914.
If Marmeni was deceived at all it was only because of what Deluchi claims he told him about the board
Affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MARMENI v. BELLARTS
- Cited By
- 1 case
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- Published