Clinch Valley Coal & Iron Co. ex rel. Grove v. Willing
Clinch Valley Coal & Iron Co. ex rel. Grove v. Willing
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The plaintiff was the seller and the defendant was the buyer of certain town lots in the village of Richlands, Tazewell county, Virginia. A portion of the purchase money was not required to be paid at the date of the sale, but was deferred and made payable, one half in one year, and one half in two years thereafter. Notes were given by the defendant for these deferred payments, which were under seal and made payable to the plaintiff company “or its assigns.” They each contained a recital of the fact that the payment of the note was secured by a trust deed executed by the defendant and wife to Frank M. Dick bearing even date with the note. The last of these notes fell due in May, 1892. This action was brought in January, 1896, and copies of the notes with their recitals were incorporated into the plaintiff’s statement. The defendant filed an affidavit of defense which the court below held to be insufficient, and judgment was entered against the defendant for this reason: this appeal depends on the correctness of this ruling of the learned judge. It will be noticed that the affidavit admits the execution of the notes and the ultimate liability of the
This affidavit states a good defense, and one which it is competent for the defendant to make. It was a mistake therefore for the court below to enter judgment against the defendant for want of a sufficient affidavit of defense.
The existence of a contemporaneous parol agreement between the parties under the influence of which a note or contract has been signed, which is violated as soon as it has accomplished its purpose in securing the execution of the paper, may always be shown when the enforcement of the paper is attempted. It is a plain fraud to secure the execution of an instrument by representations as to the manner in which payment shall be made, differing in important particulars from those contained in the paper, and, after the paper has been signed, attempt to compel literal compliance with its terms, regardless of the contemporaneous agreement without which it would never have been signed at all. Among the more recent cases in which this has been distinctly declared are Keough v. Leslie, 92 Pa. 424; Martin v. Kline, 157 Pa. 473; Martin v. Fridenberg, 169 Pa. 447. These cases are not in conflict with Clarke v. Allen, 132 Pa. 40; Ziegler v. McFarland, 147 Pa. 607, for in these cases the agreement set up was wholly inconsistent with the terms of the note. The written contract and the alleged parol contract set
The judgment is reversed and the record remitted. A procedendo is awarded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Clinch Valley Coal and Iron Company to the use of Henry S. Grove and George McCall, Trustees v. George Willing
- Cited By
- 41 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Evidence — Parol agreement — Promissory notes. The existence of a contemporaneous parol agreement between the pari ties under the influence of which a note or contract has been signed, whicl is violated as soon as it has accomplished its purpose in securing the exe-| cution of the paper, may always be shown when the enforcement of the; paper is attempted between the parties. I It is fraud to secure the execution of an instrument by representations as to the manner in which payment shall be made different in important particulars from those contained in the paper, and, after the paper has been signed, to attempt to compel literal compliance with its terms regardless of the contemporaneous agreement without which it would never have been signed at all. In an action upon promissory notes given to secure deferred payments for town lots and secured by trust deeds for the lots, an affidavit of defense is sufficient which avers that at the time the notes were executed a parol agreement was made that the lots should at once be reconveyed to a trustee who should hold them as a security for the sums due upon the notes, and exhaust the security thus furnished before the payment of the notes should be required of the maker, and that this agreement had not been carried out.