Wingenroth v. Dellenbach
Wingenroth v. Dellenbach
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The plaintiff, Nora E. Wingenroth, was the owner of cer
The present case can readily be distinguished from the case of Moran v. Munhall, 204 Pa. 242, on its facts, but the principal distinguishing feature between the two cases lends little, or rather no, support to the contention here made, that through a common-law action this appellant could not have as complete and adequate a remedy as the plaintiff there had. In that case — an action in assumpsit— an agreement not unlike that here alleged, in connection with the conveyance from a debtor to creditor was shown; but the grantee had sold and conveyed the property for a sum in excess of the indebtedness, and it was this excess that the plaintiff was allowed to recover in the action. Here the property remains unsold, and, because of this distinction in fact, it is argued that the only remedy plaintiff could have must be through equity to recover back the property. But how does this follow ? In the case referred to the plaintiff’s right to recover was not made to rest on the fact of a sale of the property; the amount realized on the sale simply determined the measure of plaintiff’s damages, and the fact of the sale merely indicated when the right of action commenced. In the present case, taking the agreement alleged to be established, plaintiff’s right of action began with the refusal of Dellenbach to accept her offer to pay the indebtedness due on the mortgage. Her damages could be measured just as readily, if not as accurately, from the market value of the property at the time, as from a cash price actually obtained. Nothing that has been suggested would interfere to prevent full and adequate compensation for the plaintiff’s disappointment through a common-law action. There being no trust here to be enforced, whatever claim plaintiff may have sounds in damages, and for the recovery of these an action at law is the only proper proceeding.
Appeal dismissed and decree confirmed.
Reference
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- Equity — Jurisdiction—Remedy at law — Parol agreement to reconvey— Deed — Mortgage—Trust and trustees. Where a mortgagor in arrears for interest conveys the mortgaged premises to the mortgagee without any reservation in the deed, or other writing between the parties, and the mortgagee conveys the premises to a relative without consideration, and the mortgagor subsequently files a bill against the mortgagee and his grantee for a reconveyance on the; ground that when the deed was made there was a parol agreement that the mortgagee might redeem within a year on payment of principal and interest, and that she had offered to do so, the bill will be dismissed, because (1) under the Act of April 22, 1856, P. L. 532, no trust could be enforced, and (2) the plaintiff had an adequate remedy at law for the breach of the alleged parol agreement. Moran v. Munhall, 204 Pa. 242, distinguished.