Santiago v. Court of First Instance
Santiago v. Court of First Instance
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
Blanca R. de Santiago alleged in an amended complaint filed in the former District Court of Puerto Rico, San Juan Section, that she is “one of the sole universal heirs” of León Ramos Buist, who died in September, 1930; that on August 26, 1930 he “simulated a sale” by deed of an urban property, to codefendant Luz M. R. Duncan, one of his daughters,
The amended complaint contains two other causes of action as to damages and fruits.
Defendant Luz M. R. Duncan appeared by brief and did not deny the facts alleged in the complaint, consenting to judgment against her, and stating that the facts alleged in the complaint are known to her and that when she transferred the property to Raquel R. Dexter on November 12, 1936 “defendant Dexter had knowledge that the title in favor of the executing party was nonexistent and that the property in question belonged to the heirs of the deceased León Ramos Buist.”
Before filing an answer, codefendant Raquel R. Dexter presented a motion for summary judgment, alleging that
In the second deed of November 12, 1936, Luz María Ramos sells the same property to Raquel Ramos widow of Dexter, the sale being executed “for the fixed price of Five Thousand Seven Hundred and Fifty Dollars, of which amount Mrs. Raquel Ramos widow of Dexter retains Four Thousand Five Hundred Dollars as payment of the afore-mentioned credit (n.b., the afore-mentioned mortgage) and the accrued interest to date. The remaining One Thousand Two Hundred And Fifty Dollars are delivered in U. S. currency, in my presence and before the subscribing witnesses. Mrs, Luz María Ramos gives a formal receipt to Mrs. Raquel Ramos.”
The trial court sustained the motion of petitioner Raquel R. Dexter and rendered the summary judgment requested.
The trial court based its decision essentially on the theory that it appears from the two deeds presented that there was sufficient cause for the alienations, especially since it was particularly shown that in the deeds of sale of Ramos Buist to Luz María Ramos, the latter assumed the payment of the mortgage encumbering the property, which contributed sufficient consideration pursuant to the ruling in Pol v. Suau, 48 P.R.R. 169, and there being, therefore, according to the trial court, no genuine controversy of issues.
As to the facts in this case, it should be noted, in the first place, that the amended complaint challenges explicitly the validity of the deeds which were presented by the petitioner to defeat the amended complaint itself. Essentially, the actual existence of the deeds is recognized in the amended complaint and it is likewise admitted that certain facts regarding the consideration of the alienations are set forth in the deeds, but it is alleged that the consideration is false, simulated or nonexistent and that the true reason or consideration was Ramos Buist’s purpose of saving the property from the consequences of litigation. Those allegations are not overcome by the mere presentation of the deeds themselves, since their existence, at any rate, is recognized in the amended complaint. The issue raised in the amended complaint does not refer to the legal sufficiency of the consideration stated in the deeds, but it is directed to the veracity and certainty of the statements contained in the deed as to the consideration. The allegations of the plaintiff go beyond the statements appearing in the deeds and mean, clearly speaking, that what is stated in the deeds is untrue. Those allegations are not defeated by the presentation of the very statements which are challenged as untrue. An allegation to the effect that a consideration is apparent and not real is not destroyed by presenting the apparent consideration. The amended complaint has a dual purpose. It
“Thus the Roman law as well as the Spanish decisions recognize the validity of these contracts. For example, to avoid the bad effect that it has in some members of the family to hear that the person from whom they expect to inherit is making a donation, the donation is sometimes disguised in the form of a contract for a valuable consideration; but the donation is valid if it is neither immoral nor illicit and if the donor is competent to make it and the donee' to receive it. In this case the contract is not labelled simulated, but dissimulated, as held in the judgment of December 23, 1985 and another of March 3, 1932, which holds that ‘although under § 1.276 of the Civil Code dissimulated transactions are permissible, that is, valid and licit juridical acts concealed by apparent contracts, but deprived of the specific consideration attached to their existence, it is necessary, in order that they be considered fully effective, to prove not only that the indispensable personal elements of capacity and knowledge were satisfied, as well as the reality of the object of the binding relationships actually agreed upon, but also the real and licit cause of the act that the parties sought to conceal and the fulfillment of the formalities that the law requires where the parties act openly.’ Then the judgment states the essential requirements for the validity of a donation inter vivos, which requirements were not present in the case decided because of failure to comply with the provisions of § 633 of the Civil Code. Let us bear in mind the judgment of December 23, 1935.”
In the contested deed of August 26, 1930 it is stated that the selling price is Five Thousand Dollars, of which the vendor confessed having previously received Two Thousand Dollars after deducting the remaining Three Thousand Dollars, which
The trial court erred in rendering a summary judgment which should be vacated. We must make clear that we are not anticipating any opinion on the intrinsic merits of this case, nor on the findings of fact involved. We merely decide that a genuine controversy of facts appears from the record
The order and the judgment appealed from will be vacated, and the case remanded to the trial court for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.