Welsh v. Dick
Welsh v. Dick
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The contract upon which this action was brought was entered into in writing May 11, 1906. By its terms the appellant agreed to purchase from the appellees a tract of land in Delaware county and to pay them for it $79,-000. The clause in the agreement upon which he relies for relief from the judgment recovered against him in the court below is as follows: “The taxes and rents to be apportioned to the date of settlement, which is to be within three months from this date, and time, it is hereby agreed, shall be of the essence of this contract.” By a supplemental written agreement, dated August 4, 1906, the time for settlement was extended to Sepember 20.1906. The appellees, however, did not tender a deed to the appellant until August 3, 1907, and the real question involved in this controversy between them is whether he had waived his right to insist that a deed should have been tendered to him on or before September 20,1906, if he is to be compelled to pay for the property. The learned trial judge, though so requested, refused to direct the jury to return a verdict for the defendant, because the appellees had not performed their contract within the time fixed for its performance, and the finding was that he had waived the clause which provided that time was to be of the esssence of the contract.
The right to insist upon time as the essence of a contract may be waived as effectually by implication as by express agreement, and whether there has been an implied waiver in any case depends upon whether the conduct of the party seeking- to invoke the strict provision of the contract had been such as to lead the other party to believe he would not be held to it, but might, notwithstanding it, proceed to perform. If in the case before us the conduct of the appellant after September 20.1906, was inconsistent with an intention on his part to hold the appellees to strict compliance with the contract, and indicated to them that he would still perform
A. J. Wilkinson, Esq., a member of the bar and counsel for the appellees, prepared the agreement of May 11, 1906, and on that day he and his clients met Smith and Dick, the appellant. Wilkinson submitted the agreement to Smith, who, after reading it, had some conversation with Dick, and Wilkinson was then informed that the agreement was ail right. It was immediately signed by the parties, and Dick, in accordance with the terms of the contract, gave his check to one of the vendors for $1,000 in part payment of the purchase money. It was subsequently found necessary to get a decree of the Orphans’ Court of Delaware County, authorizing or confirming the sale, and a petition for that purpose was presented to the court on June 21, 1906, to which was appended a draft of the land, furnished
The court below correctly held that the tender of the deed was good, if the testimony of Wilkinson was to be believed. True, the name of the grantee was Hartman, but he was named as the appointee of Dick, who had the right to appoint under the contract. The name of this appointee was inserted in the petition to the Orphans’ Court at the request of Smith, presumably acting for Dick at the time the latter was still admittedly liable on the contract, and the deed was not declined because it had not been executed to the proper person.
The offers which are the subjects of the 9th and 10th assignments were properly excluded, for the reasons intimated by the learned trial judge in overruling them. The 6th and 7th assignments complain of the inadequacy of the charge. We find no merit in them. The case was essentially one of fact, and every question raised by the evidence went to the jury under full and
Judgment affirmed.
Reference
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- Contract — Time as essence of contract — Waiver — Vendor and vendee. 1. The right to insist upon time as the essence of a contract may be waived as effectually by implication as by express agreement, and whether there has been an implied waiver in any case depends upon whether the conduct of the party seeking to invoke the strict provision of the contract had been such as to lead the other party to believe he would not be held to it, but might, notwithstanding it, proceed to perform. 2. By a contract in writing dated May 11, 1906, plaintiffs agreed to sell land to the defendant. The contract provided that “The taxes and rents to be apportioned to the date of settlement which is to be within three months from this date, and time, it is hereby agreed, shall be of the essence of this contract.” By a later, writing dated August 4, 1906, the time for settlement was extended to September 20, 1906. On account of certain legal proceedings, which were necessary, the deed was not executed until November 3, 1906, and was not tendered until some months thereafter. There was evidence of acts and conduct not only of the defendant, but also of his authorized attorney after September 20, 1906, which were inconsistent with an intention on the part of the defendant to hold the plaintiffs to strict compliance with the contract, and indicated to them that he would still perform if they would. Held, in an action for breach of contract that the question of defendant’s waiver of the time limit was for the jury. 3. In an action for the breach of a contract to sell land, where the contract was signed by the defendant himself, and there is no disclosure of any other person in interest than the defendant, it is proper for the trial judge to refuse to permit the defendant to show that he had no beneficial interest in the purchase of the property; nor is it error for the trial judge to refuse to permit the defendant to show that immediately after the execution of the contract he assigned it to another person, where there is no offer to prove notice of such assignment to the other parties, and where tbe evidence, if admitted, would contradict a later act of the defendant in signing an extension agreement.