129 Pa. 376 | Pa. | 1889
It is agreed that John Snyder owned and died seised of the premises in dispute. Both parties rely on this common source of title. The plaintiffs, on the one hand, are the heirs at law of John Anderson, deceased, who they allege, in his lifetime, in the year 1857, purchased the premises under a parol contract from the heirs of John Snyder, then deceased; and their claim is, that this parol contract has been so far in part executed as to render it unjust and inequitable to rescind the same. The defendant, on the other hand, claims under a regularly executed conveyance from the heirs of Snyder to J. ■ Hoffman Hershey, dated November 22, 1858, and under a deed from Hershey to him, dated August 19,1884: he denies that any such parol sale was made, and that if it had been, the defendant purchased without notice of it; and further, that if any such equitable right or title ever existed, it was subsequently abandoned and nullified, by an agreement to take the premises under a lease at a certain yearly rent.
The first question arising in the case, therefore, is, whether or not, if the evidence is believed, a parol contract has been established by sufficient proof, and enough shown to take the case out of the statute of frauds. This was a question of law for the court below, and is for our consideration here : Overmeyer v. Koerner, 81* Pa. 517.
To establish a parol contract for the sale of land, and take it out of the statute, the existence of the contract and its terms must be shown by full, complete, satisfactory and indubitable proof; the evidence must define the boundaries and fix the consideration; exclusive and notorious possession must have been taken under it, and continuously maintained, and the contract must have been so far in part performed, that compensation in damages would be inadequate, and rescission inequitable and unjust: Hart v. Carroll, 85 Pa. 508. In Jamison v. Dimock, 95 Pa. 52, it was held, however, that in the case of a parol sale for a money consideration, fully paid according to thp contract, where the possession was taken and continuously held in pursuance thereof, it is not essential that the improvements should be such as could not be compensated in damages; that the equities of the vendee might rest upon other equally available grounds.
It is undoubtedly true, that there was a contract for the sale of this lot by Washington R. Snyder to John Anderson, made in the year 1857; the receipt, dated October 22, 1857, taken with the other evidence in the cause, is full and complete on this point. The terms of the contract are, we think, sufficiently shown. The lot is described as No. 258 in the borough of Middletown, which may be regarded perhaps as a proper designation of the boundaries; the consideration was $300, a considerable part of which, if not all, was shown to have been paid; possession was taken immediately after and in pursuance of the purchase, and a dwelling house was erected upon it; the possession was open and notorious, and was continuously maintained for many years, and until legal proceedings were instituted to test the title. But how and by what authority did Washington R. Snyder represent his sisters, in the sale ? Was he their attorney in fact, regularly constituted, or was he their agent by parol merely ? Is there proof that he had authority of any kind or character from them ? He might perhaps enter into a parol contract in respect of his own interest, but how could he without authority bind his sisters ? They were not present; they do not appear to have participated in the sale, or to have approved it after it was made; it does not appear that they received any portion of the purchase money, or indeed that they ever knew any such contract was made, atft least until after their conveyance to Hershey. We are not to presume that Washington R. Snyder had power to sell his sisters’ shares,- simply because he assumed to have it, and if he had not the power, his contract to that effect was of no validity what
The transaction in question occurred nearly thirty years ago, during nearly all which time the plaintiffs had been in possession under claim of title. It cannot be expected, perhaps, after tins great lapse of time, that the proof should be as precise as if it related to a recent occurrence, but a person purchasing real property knows, or ought to know, that the law requires the evidence of his title to be in writing; the burden of proof is therefore upon him; the delay, as in this case, is frequently his own fault, and this stringent but statutory rule of evidence will not generally be relaxed in his favor. It was incumbent, therefore, upon the plaintiffs, not only to establish the existence of a contract made by Washington R. Snyder, and the terms of that contract, but also his authority for making the same.
But, assuming that, in the re-trial of this case, proof may be made of the authority of Washington R. Snyder, to “represent” his sisters in the sale, we come next to consider the question as to the effect of the written agreement, made between Hershey and Anderson on December 30, 1875. It is contended, on part of the defendant, that this writing was an abandonment of any equity Anderson may have acquired under the parol purchase alleged, and that he and his heirs are thereby estopped from claiming any title to the lot. The lease was undoubtedly evidence of abandonment, and was, with all the other evidence in the cause, for the consideration of the jury, but it cannot be set up as an estoppel. Hershey was the holder of the legal title; Anderson had for eighteen years made default in the payment of the purchase money, and it was Hershey’s clear right by an equitable ejectment, at any time to rescind the contract and recover the possession. But he might contract, in the form of a lease or otherwise, with the defaulting vendee for the continuance of his possession, for fixed periods of time, on terms agreed upon, the rent to be applied to the interest or principal of the purchase money. Abandonment includes both the intention to abandon, and the external act by which that intention is carried into effect; intent is of the essence of the act, and therefore the facts are in each particular case for the judge: Clemmins v. Gottshall, 4 Y. 330;
If a lease under such circumstances was not inconsistent with the relation between mortgagor and mortgagee, we cannot see how it could be supposed to be inconsistent, under like circumstances, with the relation of vendor and vendee. We think the court was right, therefore, in submitting to the jury, “ whether Hershey took the deed from the Snyders in the interest of Anderson, and to enable Anderson, by paying the $150 on the footing of the lease, to obtain title to the lot.” “ If Anderson in making this lease,” says the learned court, “ and Hershey in taking the lease, did not intend that Anderson was acknowledging that he had no title to the property, but it was for the purpose of carrying out that arrangement and of securing the payment of the $150, the giving of the lease would not, as a pure matter of law, prevent Anderson, or his heirs, from setting up a claim of title; and we leave to you
But it is said that Brinser was a bona fide purchaser without notice of any equity in Anderson, and therefore his title is not affected by it. This would seem to be true, unless by the possession of Anderson, Brinser was put upon inquiry as to the title under which the possession was maintained. Anderson was at the time in possession, under the terms of the paper w'hich has been denominated a lease, and if Brinser had actual knowledge of the lease, and had no knowledge of the facts relating to its execution, it is probable, under the ruling of this court in Leach v. Ansbacher, 55 Pa. 85, he might be regarded as an innocent purchaser. “ Nothing in the transaction,” says Mr. Justice Thompson, in the case cited, “ gave the least sign to put the purchaser on inquiry. The possession will, it is admitted ; but when the party is in possession under a lease, the knowledge of the lease dispenses with the inquiry of how the possession is held. That knowledge the agent had, and of the very terms of the lease. That was enough for him; he was not bound to inquire of the tenant in possession if the lease was fair or fraudulent, or whether there was a trust notwithstanding: Sugden on Vendors, 339; Hood v. Fahnestock, 1 Pa. 474.” But there is not the slightest evidence in this case .that Brinser knew of the lease, and we are not to assume a fact that has not been proven. If he had no knowledge of the lease, then, plainly, the possession put him upon inquiry as to the ground of that possession, and he is chargeable constructively with the knowledge of every fact which due and proper inquiry would have brought to light: Leonard’s App., 94 Pa.
Opinion,
When this case was here before, we said there was abundant proof of a contract for the sale of the lot in dispute by Washington R. Snyder to John Anderson, in the year 1857. “ The receipt, dated October 22, 1857,” we then said, “ taken with the other evidence in the cause, is full and complete upon this point; the terms of the contract are, we think, sufficiently shown; the lot is described as No. 258, in the borough of Middle-
We are of opinion, also, that there was evidence from which the jury might fairly infer that the deed to Hershey was only a security for the money advanced by him to pay out the purchase money, and that the writing denominated a lease, which, it is alleged, was subsequently executed between Hershey and Anderson, was a contract on the part of the defaulting vendee for the continuance of the possession on terms agreed upon, the rent, as it was paid, being applicable to the principal and interest of the purchase money. In view of what was said in our former opinion, we think it is not necessary to enter into any further discussion on this branch of the case.
The only remaining question for our consideration is whether or not Jonas Brinser is to be regarded as an innocent purchaser, and entitled to protection as such. Anderson died in 1883, and the conveyance by Hershey to Brinser was in 1884. Anderson’s heirs were in the actual possession of the premises in dispute at the time of the conveyance, and it is contended that their possession put Brinser upon inquiry as to the title, in virtue of which that possession was maintained, and that, having failed in this respect, he is affected with notice of that which a proper inquiry would have developed. The rule of law which
In Sugden on Vendors it is expressly stated, and numerous authorities cited in support of the statement, that if a tenant during his tenancy change his 'character by having agreed to purchase the estate, his possession amounts to notice of his equitable title as purchaser. Among the cases cited we find Daniels v. Davison, 16 Ves. 249, where it is held that the possession of a tenant, who had taken it under a lease for a term of years, and during the pendency of the lease made a contract with his lessor for the purchase of the reversion, was notice in itself to a subsequent purchaser (the lease being still unexpired), not only of a tenant’s interest under it, but likewise of his equitable title to the estate under his contract for the
Moreover, it now appears that Anderson, the lessee, was not himself in the possession. He had died two years or more before the sale to Brinser, and his widow and children were in the possession. The term of the lease had expired, and it would not, we think, be presumed in favor of a purchaser, in the absence of proof, that the heirs -were holding over.
We are of opinion that this case was properly tried, and
The judgment is affirmed.