Staten v. Railway Land & Improvement Co.
Staten v. Railway Land & Improvement Co.
Opinion of the Court
Suit to recover various payments made under a contract for the sale of real estate and for the value of improvements placed thereon. Based on the findings made by it, the trial court entered judgment dismissing the action, and this appeal results.
In December, 1907, the respondent and one Gordon and wife (the parents of appellant) entered into a written contract whereby the former agreed to sell, and the latter to purchase, a tract of land for $2,000. A small amount was paid down in cash and the balance was to be paid in small regular monthly payments.
The appellant by this action sought to recover all of the amounts that had been paid by her father and mother under the first contract, together with the value *of the improvements they had put on the land, and also all of the payments made by them and herself under the second contract.
Under no circumstances can there be any recovery for any of the improvements placed on the land or for
Appellant contends that, notwithstanding she was in default in making her payments under the second contract, still no forfeiture could be made by the respondent without first notifying her that a default would be claimed and giving her time to make good her default, because the provision of the contract requiring the payments to be made promptly at certain periods had been waived by the respondent’s accepting payments which were not made promptly nor strictly in accordance with the terms of the contract.
In support of this contention appellant relies on the doctrine announced in Wadham v. McVicar, 115 Wash. 503, 197 Pac. 616, and cases there cited, to the effect that where, under a contract calling for payment at designated times and for strict performance, the vendor receives payments after the times provided therefor or grants other indulgences, he thereby waives the strict performance clause of his contract and cannot claim forfeiture until he has given the vendee notice of intention so to do and a reasonable time within which tO'make the overdue payments. It may
However, we do not find it necessary to decide this question. If we assume that the doctrine of the cases cited is applicable to this contract, appellant will not be assisted. She made her last payment in July, 1915, and no forfeiture was made until more than a year thereafter. On September 2,1915, (being two or three months after appellant went into default) the respondent wrote her at her address in Honolulu as follows: “Your payments on contract for purchase of land at Valley Ford are delinquent. There is now due — ” payments for August and September — “You understand how important this amount be paid without further delay.” Appellant testified that she did not receive this letter, but it was never returned to the respondent. It was more than a year after the date of this letter that the respondent declared a forfeiture and made another contract for the disposition of the property. This letter was sufficient notice to the appellant to bring the respondent within the doctrine of the McVicar case, supra.
It is very plain to us that the respondent has acted fairly with the appellant and that it was wholly within its rights when it annulled her contract and forfeited
We are satisfied the judgment is right and it is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.