Svenson v. Rohrer

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Svenson v. Rohrer, 206 Pa. 407 (Pa. 1903)
55 A. 1070; 1903 Pa. LEXIS 731
Brown, Dean, Fell, Mitchell, Potter

Svenson v. Rohrer

Opinion of the Court

Per Curiam,

'The agreement between the parties as appears from its face is for a reconveyance of property conveyed by plaintiff to defendant as security for the payment of money. Under such contracts time though specified is not regarded in equity as of the essence. We pass by as unnecessary to consider in the present case, the effect of the act of 1881. But even in equity the pledgee is not bound to wait indefinitely and may call upon the pledgor to redeem in a reasonable time. What is a reasonable time may be fixed by the parties or by a court of equity. In the present case the parties agreed upon an extension of the time to a given date, and whatever their respective rights may have been previously, the date fixed then became of the essence of the agreement and plaintiff was bound by it. She did not tender the money on the date, and her bill was not filed until more than four months later. The court held that it was too late and we are not convinced that he erred in so doing.

Decree affirmed.

Reference

Cited By
1 case
Status
Published
Syllabus
Deed — Reconveyance—Time—Agreement as to time — Time as essence of contract. Where an agreement on its face shows that it was for a reconveyance of property originally conveyed as security for the payment of money, and the agreement specifies a time for the reconveyance, but the parties subsequently agree upon another and later time, the date then fixed becomes of the essence of the agreement, and if the party desiring the reconveyance does not tender the money on the date, and does not file a bill for a reconveyance until four months thereafter, the bill will be dismissed.