Winfrey v. Drake
Winfrey v. Drake
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the Court.
On the 27th of January, 1872, complainant and' defendant entered into an agreement in writing, by which the latter agreed to sell, and the former to buy, an undivided half interest in the Ionia plantation, in Desha County, State of Arkansas, consisting of 973 acres, “ more or less,” for $9,000, payable partly in complainant’s own notes. On
On the 18th of March, 1872, the complainant gave the defendant written notice of the omission, and that, unless he made him a good and valid title to the undivided half of the said S. E. qr. section, he thereby tendered possession of the land, and would proceed to file a bill for rescission. Some negotiations passed between the parties, during which the defendant, in writing, acknowledged that he understood himself as selling the quarter section in question to the complainant, and was bound to defend his title thereto. A suit was at once instituted by the defendant to enjoin the sale of the land under the Randolph execution, and to perfect his title to the land. Winfrey was at first joined as a party complainant in that suit, but
The defendant filed a cross bill tendering a warranty deed for the S. E. qr. of see. 20. The cause was heard on the 1st of July, 1875, and the contract rescinded. The defendant appealed. At that time, the litigation commenced in Arkansas to perfect the title was still pending.
The law regulating the rights of a vendee of land to rescission is well settled in this State, in accord with the current of authority, and it is not shown that the law is otherwise- in the State of Arkansas. If the purchaser go into possession of land under a contract executed by deed of conveyance, he must rely upon the covenants of his deed, and cannot come into equity for rescission because of a defect of title except for fraud, the vendor’s insolvency, or other independent equity: Buchanan v. Alwell, 8 Hum., 516; Barnett v. Clark, 5 Sneed, 435. It is otherwise when the contract is execu-tory, in which case, even if the failure of title be for only a part, but a material part of the land, the vendee is entitled to a rescission of the entire contract: Galloway v. Bradshaw, 5 Sneed, 70; Topp v. White, 12 Heis., 168. In the absence of fraud,
The contract in this case was intended to be and, if ' the deed had covered the entire tract, would have been executed. The S. E. qr. of sec. 20 was not, however, included in the conveyance. That quarter section, the proof shows, lay in the very center of the tract, near to the improvements, and consisted principally of cleared land, as valuable as any in the tract. The witnesses agree that it was a material part . of the land sold. Not having been conveyed, the rights of the parties must be governed by the contract of the 27th of January, 1872. If the defendant had then been clothed with a good title, and had, at the filing of the bill, tendered to the complainant a deed for the land omitted, with the covenants of the deed of the 7th of February, 1872, the complainant would have been compelled to take it. So if, as I think may be conceded, there was no fraud on the part of the vendor, and he had an equitable right to obtain the legal title, and had actually acquired it previous to the final decree below, the complainant’s riffht to rescission might have been defeated. The
The decree must be affirmed, with costs, but upon condition that the complainant, within a reasonable time, make a deed of reconveyance of the laud, duly probated for registration according co the laws of the State of Arkansas.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.