Strut v. Huselton
Strut v. Huselton
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
Plaintiff, Jacob Shrut, sued in equity to enforce specific performance of a contract for the sale of real estate, which he had purchased from M. Láveme Huselton, the wife of S. H. Huselton, and which they, instead of conveying to him, had deeded to Harry Gillman; all of whom, with Rebecca Gillman, the wife of the last mentioned, are defendants. After a hearing on bill, answer and proofs, a decree was entered in favor of plaintiff, and defendants have appealed.
The chancellor found: that, on November 17,1919, the first named defendant agreed in writing to convey the property in controversy to plaintiff, on or before December 1,1919, upon payment by the latter of $11,125; $100 was paid do wn as hand-money, and the agreement stipulated that a mortgage for $7,000, then on the property, should be assumed by the purchaser, the balance to be paid in cash at time of settlement; the agreement was not signed by the husband of the vendor, although he took part in negotiating the sale and was present at the execution of the contract; subsequently, all parties in interest, by mutual consent, fixed December 4, 1919, at the office of the vendor’s husband, in Pittsburgh, as the time and place of settlement, and they agreed that the vendee might give, and the vendor would accept, a sixty-day judgment note for $500, in lieu of that amount in cash; when the day of settlement arrived, December 4, 1919, the parties met at the appointed place, Huselton representing his wife, who was too ill to attend, and, after existing leases had been duly transferred in writing to the vendee, and a properly executed deed, signed and acknowledged by the vendor and her husband, had been exhibited to and approved by the vendee and his attorney, the latter having deposited on the table, where
Appellants, by exceptions in the court below, questioned the finding of the chancellor, urging, among other things, that no cash tender had at any time been made by actually displaying the money to vendor or her agent, S. H. Huselton. In reply to this, the court below very propérly remarks that, when Shrut brought the money to Huselton, saying he had it and was prepared to go on with the settlement, and the latter declined so to do, not on the ground that the money was unproduced, but, for other reasons, “He placed himself and his wife, for whom he acted as attorney in fact, in a position where they cannot deny that full tender was made.” Since no special consideration appears for vendor’s agreement to
Although the original contract was not executed by vendor’s husband, the deed, which was signed and acknowledged by him, as well as his wife, having been produced to the vendee and approved as acceptable to the latter, all the parties to the transaction being alive, was a sufficient memorandum in writing to satisfy the Pennsylvania Statute of Frauds (Tripp v. Bishop, 56 Pa. 424, 428, 429); and the court below did not err in so deciding.
After an examination of the entire record, including a careful reading of the testimony, we are not convinced of reversible error in any particular, although the final disposition of the case, made by the court below, calls for modification.
The decree is affirmed, except in so far as it directs Harry and Rebecca Gillman to join in a general warranty deed; nothing more than a quitclaim deed is required from them; and it is directed that, upon return
Reference
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- Syllabus
- Vendor and vendee — Sale of real estate — Specific performance— Tender of purchase money — Time when essence of contract — Consideration — Sale of wife’s real estate — Husband?s participation in sale — Statute 'of frauds — Quitclaim deed. 1. Where a vendee of land meets the vendor at the time and place mutually agreed upon for settlement, and the vendee, with- . out actually displaying the money, says that he has it and is prepared to go on with the settlement, and the vendor declines so to do, not on the ground that the money was unproduced, but for other reasons, the vendor cannot thereafter refuse to convey the land to the vendee because tho latter failed to tender the cash at the date fixed for settlement. 2. Where a contract for the sale of land provides for assumption of a mortgage on the premises, and the balance in cash, and the vendor subsequently orally agrees to accept a judgment note in lieu of a portion of the cash, and at the settlement refuses to accept the note, and demands the cash, while tho vendee might not be able to enforce the new agreement, for lack of consideration, the vendor will be estopped from setting up the vendee’s failure to produce the entire balance in cash, as a cause for rescinding the contract. 3. Under the facts of this case, time was not of the essence of the contract. 4. Where a wif© executes a contract for the sale of her land, in which her husband does not join, but husband and wife execute a deed for the land, which is submitted to the vendee and approved by him, but not delivered, the husband cannot thereafter, all the parties being alive, set up the statute of frauds as a defense against specific performance of the contract. 5. Where vendors wrongfully violate an agreement of sale of real estate, and convey the land to another, and such grantee is joined with the vendors as defendants in a bill for specific performance, the court in entering a decree against the defendants, should require the second grantee to execute simply a quitclaim deed and not a deed of general warranty.