Reid v. Slocum
Reid v. Slocum
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff brought this action in the lower court to enforce specific performance of a contract of purchase of real estate. The complaint sets up the contract, and alleges a compliance therewith on the part of the plaintiff and a refusal by defendants to convey the lands described by the contract Defendants by their answer admit the making of the contract, but allege that they were not, at that time, and are not now, the owners of all the lands therein described; and that ten acres of land, not owned by them and not intended to be
The only question involved on this appeal is one of fact, viz: was there a mutual mistake m'ade by the parties in describing the lands which they intended to include in the contract? We have carefully examined the evidence, and are convinced that the finding of the lower court on this question was right. The whole tract of land described in the contract is a rectangular tract containing eighty-seven and one-half acres. It is described in the contract as follows: “Beginning at the northeast comer of the Michael Hartigan homestead claim 334, running thence south 30 chains, thence west 29 chains and 15 links, thence north 30 chains, thence east 29 chains and 15 links to the place of beginning, containing eighty-.-seven and one-half acres of lands.” Before defendants acquired the title to this tract of land they held a mortgage upon it. In order to avoid foreclosure of the mortgage, they took a deed from- the mortgagors for the whole tract, and immediately, as a part of the same transaction, reconveyed to a Mrs. Laws ten acres in rectangular form out of the southwest- quarter of the tract. This ten acres Was cleared and improved land upon which Mrs. Laws lived. The balance of the tract was timber lands. The controversy here is over this ten acres. When plaintiff and defendants entered into the contract involved in this action, the whole tract was described without excepting dherefrom this ten acres.
The judgment is therefore affirmed.
Fullerton, C. J, and Hadley, Anders, and Dunbar, JJ., concur.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- S. A. Reid v. C. W. Slocum
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Vendor and Purchaser — Specific Performance of Contract to Convey — Defenses—Mutuai Mistake Including Land Not Owned — Evidence—Sufficiency. In an action for the specific performance of a contract to sell a tract of land purchased for the timber tbereon, in which the defendants claim that ten acres previously sold by them to another, and which was cleared land and occupied, was included by mutual mistake, findings for the defendant will not be disturbed where the plaintiff testifies that he was familiar with the land, knew of the other purchaser’s house and improvements, and did not think at the time that he was getting the house and land around it.