Aranzamendi v. Loubriel
Aranzamendi v. Loubriel
Opinion of the Court
after making the above statement of facts, delivered the opinion of the court, as follows:
Having considered the merits of the documents presented by the petitioners herein, Alfredo Solomon and José Asensio Smith, on behalf of their respective wives, Escolás-tica and Carmen Aranzamendi, and the proofs submitted by the opponents Jesús Loubriel, Pedro Sayans and wife, Rosario López and Carmen Aguilar, the ownership of the petitioners of the two parcels of land referred to in the record cannot be regarded as having been established, for in alleging that they had acquired them by inheritance from their deceased father, José Lucas de Aranzamendi, it was necessary for them to prove that he was the lawful owner thereof, which they have altogether failed to do, inasmuch as the defunct ■“Sociedad del Vapor de Catafio,” from which it is said the deceased Aranzamendi had obtained them, did not acquire the ownership of the lands in question, owing to the fact that María Davila had not transferred them to him by virtue of the deed of January 14, 1851, described by both contracting parties as simply a promise to sell, nor fulfilled the obligation .and undertaking she imposed upon herself in said document, to execute the deed of sale as- soon as the testamentary proceedings of her late husband, Tomás Dávila y Quinones, had been completed; nor has it been in any manner proven that said Ana Maria was the real owner of the lands in question, but, on the contrary, she having deferred the execution of the' deed of sale until the settlement of her late husband’s estate, it is logically to be inferred therefrom that she had no title •of ownership in said lands, and that she was awaiting the ■settlement of the testamentary proceedings in order to obtain such title, when she would be in a position to transfer the same, validly, to the “Empresa” or “Compañía del Vapor •de Catan ’ ’ with which she had beforehand for contracted the purchase and sale of aforesaid lands.
On the other hand, even waiving the defects in the titles of ownership presented by the petitioners, Carmen and Escolás-tica Aranzamendi, it is evident that, having instituted the proceedings in question in their own name, and not in the name of the succession of their, deceased father, José Lucas Aranzamendi, the ownership of the lands cannot be adjudges! in favor of the petitioners herein nor the same ordered to be recorded in their name in the Begistry of Property, when
The documents presented by the petitioners to establish the ownership of their respective wives, Escolástica and Carmen Aranzamendi, of the parcels of land mentioned herein, being, therefore, insufficient, and as on the other hand, it has not been proven-that they acquired them by prescription •or by any other title, since it has been fully shown that neither Escolástica nor Carmen Aranzamendi, nor their father, José Lucas de Aranzamendi, from whom they derived their right, had ever possessed the lands in question, either personally or through the mediation of any other person, the institution of proceedings to obtain dominion title commenced by Alberto Solomon and José Asensio Smith, in their respective representations herein, should, for all these reasons, be denied.
1 As to the opposition set up by Antonio B. Oaimari, Jesús Loubriel, Pedro Sayans, and his wife Rosaria López and Carmen Aguilar, the latter in representation of her infant chil■dren Agustín and María Seculina Feliú y Aguilar, although they have alleged as ground for their opposition that they are respectively the legitimate, possessors of several houses and lots, situated within the lands claimed by the petitioners, and that they possess the same in good faith and with just title, and have been in possession thereof for the time required by .article 1957 of the old Civil Code, for the acquisition of ownership of real estate by prescription, no decision with respect
Inasmuch as according to Eule 63 of General Order No. 118 the costs should be imposed upon the party whose demands are totally rejected, and in other cases the court shall render a decision agreeable to equity, it is logical to infer that, when the petitions of both parties ’absolutely fail to succeed, as happens in the present case, each of the said parties should pay the costs occasioned at his instance.
In consideration of articles 395 of the Mortgage Law of this Island, and articles 358 and 360 of the Law of Civil Procedure, we adjudge that we should deny and do deny the title of ownership applied for by Alfredo Solomon and José Asoncio Smith, as representatives of their respective wives, Escolástica and Carmen de Aranzamendi, and consequently the ownership of the two parcels of land referred to in the present proceeding should not be declared in their favor We likeyise declare that no pronouncement is called for with respect to the houses claimed by' the opponents herein, namely, Antonio B. Caimari, Jesús Loubriel,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.