Hernández Cirino v. Ayala
Hernández Cirino v. Ayala
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
This is an action of revendication, for the declaration of nonexistence of certain contracts, and for other relief. Since in opposition to the complaint filed by the plaintiffs, the defendant presented a motion to dismiss the same for in
The complaint also set up a second cause of action, to the effect that the defendant has leased one of the two houses mentioned above and has appropriated the corresponding rentals.
Regarding the first cause of action, which is really, as it will be seen presently, the only one pertinent to the question under discussion, it is prayed that judgment be rendered declaring that the above-mentioned deeds are void and nonexistent, and that the property described in said first cause of action belongs exclusively to the plaintiffs as heirs of their predecessor in interest, Sotero Hernández.
On July 3, 1947 the lower court, after citing the cases of González et al. v. Fumero et al., 38 P.R.R. 497; Rivera v. Heirs of Caraballo, 56 P.R.R. 705; Heirs of Soto v. Vélez, 60 P.R.R. 210; Rodríguez v. Pizá, 60 P.R.R. 653 and Logia Caballeros del Plata v. García, 63 P.R.R. 279, denied the motion to dismiss and held that, according to the doctrine laid down in those cases, the complaint stated facts sufficient
In Peña v. Mendoza, supra, the question involved was as follows: On February 8, 1930, Francisco Peña Vázquez, legitimate father of the plaintiffs, executed a public deed wherein he admitted haying received from the defendant Maria Mendoza, the sum of $3,200 as a loan; and as security for the same he mortgaged two urban properties owned by him. The plaintiffs, after the death of their predecessor in interest, brought an action to annul the mortgage deed and alleged that long before February 8, 1930, their predecessor and Mrs. Mendoza lived in public concubinage as husband and wife, and that during all that time the defendant was insolvent; that both of them conspired for the sole purpose of defrauding the plaintiffs; and that the mortgage deed had been simulated and executed for a fraudulent purpose. They prayed for a judgment declaring the mortgage contract null and void. The d efendant answered and denied the essential averments of the complaint, and alleged certain special defenses. The case went to trial and after the close of the plaintiffs’ evidence the defendant filed a motion for nonsuit which was sustained, whereupon a judgment was rendered dismissing the complaint and adjudging the plaintiffs to pay the costs an¡d attorney’s fees. The plaintiffs appealed and assigned as error the granting of the motion for nonsuit and dismissal of the complaint, and
The words which we have just cited, set off by quotation marks, constituted merely a dictum in the case. There the validity of the mortgage contract was not challenged because said contract was equivalent to a donation or to a gratuitous [disposal in favor of the defendant. The gist of the action was that the said contract was simulated and fraudulent and that it had been entered into with the sole purpose of defrauding the plaintiffs, and hence it was nonexistent and void.
In González et al. v. Fumero et al., supra, it was alleged that certain contracts were void as they were simulated and in the course of the opinion it was stated:
*888 “. . . In the case before us, from whatever angle the question may he viewed, and whether there is lack of consent as a concurrence of wills for the contract of sale or whether there is no consideration, the contract is void because the act in question lacks the essential requisites for the creation of such a contract.”_(Italics ours.)
“As there is no contract in the present case and as no right whatever has been created by the simulated deeds in question, it can not be held that the district court erred.” etc.
As it may be seen, it was held that a simulated contract is wholly void and can not create any right. This being so, and since in the case of Peña v. Mendoza, supra, it was alleged that the mortgage contract was simulated, it was unnecessary to make reference to any gratuitous disposal.
The case of Heirs of Soto v. Vélez, seems to us identical to the present one. There it was alleged that a certain deed of sale executed by the predecessor of the plaintiff in favor of Maria Velez was void for it was simulated. As stated in the opinion, the evidence introduced was to the effect that Soto abandoned his wife and went to live in concubinage with the defendant; that subsequently and through a private document Soto purchased the property in controversy and two days later the same vendors sold it again to the defendant. It was held, that under the circumstances of the case, the district court was justified in deciding that there was involved a simulated contract, citing Rivera v. Heirs of Caraballo, supra, and González et al. v. Fumero et al., supra,
In the case at bar, as we have already seen from the allegations and the prayer of the complaint, it is sought rthat certain deeds executed in favor of the defendant Adolfina Ayala be declared void and nonexistent, as they are simulated. There is nothing in the complaint to show that there is involved a gratuitous disposal or a donation made by Sotero Hernández in favor of his alleged concubine. A motion like the one filed by the defendant admits the truth of the essential averments of the complaint. Once the simu
In view of the foregoing conclusion, we deem it unnecessary to discuss the second error assigned.
The judgment appealed from should be reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.