117 P. 677 | Cal. | 1911
[EDITORS' NOTE: THIS PAGE CONTAINS HEADNOTES. HEADNOTES ARE NOT AN OFFICIAL PRODUCT OF THE COURT, THEREFORE THEY ARE NOT DISPLAYED.] *561 Plaintiff sought an injunction to restrain the defendant corporation from violating a certain building restriction contained in a deed from the common grantors of the predecessors in interest of both parties. Judgment was given in favor of defendant and we are called upon to consider appeals from said judgment and from an order denying plaintiff's motion for a new trial.
There is very little, if any, material difference between the parties respecting the facts of the case, the only serious subject of controversy being the proper interpretation of the *562 building restriction contained in the original deed, and the effect of a subsequent quitclaim deed whereby the original grantors sought to release the present defendant from any binding force of such restriction.
In July, 1901, Abbott Kinney and Matilda Dudley were the owners of the Bay View Tract in Santa Monica. Three lots and part of a fourth (all adjoining and forming one parcel) were sold to Abner L. Ross, defendant's predecessor in title. The deed of conveyance from Kinney and Dudley, parties of the first part, to Ross, contained in addition to the usual covenants in a deed of grant, bargain, and sale, the following: "It is provided and covenanted with a covenant running with the land herein conveyed that a building and improvements shall be erected upon these premises to be maintained as a first-class hotel, to cost not less than five thousand ($5000.00) dollars, and the main part thereof shall be located not less than seven (7) feet from the front line and eight (8) feet from the N.E. side line and twelve (12) feet from the S.W. side line of said lot, which spaces between buildings and side lines are to be maintained as flower gardens, and all front porches shall be kept open and unobstructed on the front and ends thereof; said hotel to be erected and opened within sixty (60) days from date hereof. . . . And, it is hereby covenanted that if the hotel should be removed from said grounds or should be destroyed by fire or other elements, that parties of the second part shall rebuild said hotel or make other improvements on said lots to the full value as heretofore agreed upon and on failure so to do within one year, the said party of the second part, his heirs or assigns, shall reconvey the said premises to the parties of the first part, their heirs or assigns, on payment of twelve hundred and fifty dollars."
The hotel was constructed in accordance with the covenant above quoted. In September, 1902, one Junipher purchased from Kinney and Dudley's grantees of her interest in Bay View Tract, property adjoining that previously conveyed to Ross. The deed to Junipher contained a restriction against placing any building nearer than seven feet to the front line of the property conveyed. By mesne conveyances the title to this property was vested in Mary A. Berryman in 1903. She erected a three-story building, one wall of which was on the line between her land and that of defendant. There are many *563 windows for the admission of light and air to this building overlooking the twelve-foot space on defendant's property. Mary A. Berryman on May 15, 1906, conveyed this last mentioned property to her husband, the plaintiff, who owned it at the time when it is alleged defendant threatened to build on the twelve-foot strip above mentioned in such a manner as to shut off light and air from the windows on that side of the building adjacent to defendant's land. In May, 1908, Kinney and Dudley quitclaimed to the Hotel Savoy Company all of the property previously conveyed by them to Ross, such conveyance being "given especially for the purpose of quitclaiming and releasing the covenants and restrictions contained in and provided by" their deed to Ross.
After a trial of the issues the court found that the covenant providing for the maintenance of an open space next to the land afterwards acquired by plaintiff was not inserted in the deed for the benefit of "any particular property whatsoever"; that it was not the intention of any of the parties to the deed to create an easement for the benefit of the land now owned by plaintiff and that it "was the intention of the parties that said covenant should be for the benefit of the entire tract of land, of which the land in controversy was a part." The court also found that the title did not pass to defendant subject to the covenants contained in the deed to Ross; that such covenants created a mere personal right in favor of Kinney and Dudley; that this right was surrendered by the quitclaim deed; and that the covenants in the deed to Ross did not run with the land. It was also found that the wall of plaintiff's building encroached slightly on defendant's land.
Appellant contends that the deed to Ross and that to Junipher, each containing a restriction against building nearer the front line of the property than seven feet, create reciprocal obligations enforceable in equity, either as covenants that run with the land or as personal covenants with which a court of chancery will compel compliance by persons taking the respective parcels with due notice of the mutual agreements. We cannot accept this view of the law. As was said in Los Angeles TerminalLand Co. v. Southern Pacific R.R. Co.,
The covenant in the deed to Ross is affirmative. By it the covenantor agrees, in the future, to erect a building at a certain cost and in a certain manner. On the other hand, the deed to Junipher contains a negative covenant, a typical building restriction whereby the covenantor agrees to place no building nearer the front line of his property than seven feet. There is no mention of adjoining property in the deed to Ross. Indeed, there is nothing in that deed to show that Kinney and Dudley, the grantors of Ross, had any interest in any property other than that described in the said deed. In other words, no dominant tenement is described to which the restriction in the deed to Ross might make his land a servient tenement.
Appellant insists that judgment should have been entered upon the findings, because the court found that the parties intended the covenant in question to be "for the benefit of the entire tract of land of which the land in controversy was a part." Since the whole includes a part, we are asked to interpret this finding as giving to the plaintiff the right to enforce the covenant made for the benefit of his land which was included in the original Bay View Tract. The finding upon this matter, however, must be read in its entirety. That part of it which declares that Ross and his grantors intended the covenant to operate for the benefit of the whole tract of land immediately follows a finding that the parties did not intend to create an easement for the benefit of the land subsequently acquired by Berryman "or of any land whatever." Read as a whole the finding is neither ambiguous nor in opposition to respondent's theory of the case. A covenant not running with the land may be for the benefit of property owned by the persons who may enforce it, but that fact does not take it out of the category of personal covenants and make it an easement. Examining the words of the covenant itself we cannot see that it creates an easement running with plaintiff's land. It purports to be a covenant running with the "land conveyed" and there is nothing in the deed itself to show that the grantors owned another foot of land in that vicinity. Defendant, therefore, as a subsequent purchaser of the land, could not be charged with knowledge, derived from the record, that Kinney *565
and Dudley owned other property to be benefited and the evidence adduced at the trial showed no such knowledge. He had the right to read the covenant in the deed to Ross, imposing as it did a burden on his property, as one creating no servitude that would pass with the land. To that covenant the language of this court in Los Angeles Terminal Land Co. v. Southern Pacific R.R. Co.,
Appellant says that the judgment enables Kinney and Dudley *566
to profit by their own wrong; that after selling their property at high prices because of the improvements on the lots now owned by respondent, they quitclaim for a consideration to the Hotel Company that restriction upon which appellant had depended as insuring the free admission of light and air to one side of his building. But they are not parties to this action nor are they seeking equitable relief. Respondent in purchasing the land in question had a right to depend upon the title as conveyed to his predecessors and to him. In the deed to Ross he found a provision which possessed all of the characteristics of a personal covenant. The deed provided that in the event of the destruction of the hotel by fire it must be rebuilt or improvements on the land must be made "to the full value as heretofore agreed upon" or otherwise the vendors or their assigns might repurchase at a stipulated price. There was no provision that the building restriction should apply to such new structure or improvements. True, as appellant says, this contingency never arose, but nevertheless the provision with reference to rebuilding in case of fire is very illuminating. It indicates that the parties did not intend the building restriction theretofore expressed in the deed to be perpetual and to pass as an easement, for if such had been their intention there would have been some effort to require the reconstruction of the building, in case of fire, upon the same lines and for the same uses as the original structure. The intention of the parties should be "determined by a fair interpretation of the grant or reserve creating the easement."(Peck v. Conway,
Authority is not lacking to support the interpretation given by the trial court to the deed which was the basis of this action. In Badger v. Boardman, 16 Gray, (Mass.) 559, the facts were as follows: One Downing, the owner of a tract of land, conveyed to the defendant a certain lot, "subject to the following restriction; that no outbuildings or shed shall ever be erected westerly of the main building of a greater height than those *567 now standing thereon." Downing subsequently conveyed the adjoining lot to another person and plaintiff through various mesne conveyances acquired title to it. The bill whereby the plaintiff sought to enforce the restriction in the deed was dismissed and in upholding this course the supreme court of Massachusetts said: "The infirmity of the plaintiff's case is that there is nothing from which the court can infer that the restriction in the deed from Downing to Boardman was inserted for the benefit of the estate now owned by the plaintiff. If it appeared that the parties to that conveyance intended to create or reserve a right in the nature of a servitude or easement in the estate granted, which should be attached to and be deemed an appurtenance of the whole of the remaining parcel belonging to the grantor, of which the plaintiff's land forms a part, then it is clear, on the principles declared in the recent decision ofWhitney v. Union Railway, 11 Gray, (Mass.) 359, [71 Am. Dec. 715], that the plaintiff would be entitled to insist on its enjoyment, and to enforce his rights by a remedy in equity. But there is an entire absence of any language in the deeds under which the parties claim, from which it can be fairly inferred that the restriction in the deed to the defendant against erecting his building above a certain height was intended to enure to the benefit of the estate now owned by the plaintiff. The restriction is in the most general terms, and no words are used which indicate the object of the grantor in inserting it in the deed. Nor is there any language in the deeds under which the plaintiff claims title, which refers specifically to this restriction, or from which any intent is shown to annex the benefit of this particular restriction to the plaintiff's estate. Generally, when such a right or privilege is reserved, the purpose intended to be accomplished by it is stated in the conveyance or can be gathered from a plan referred to therein, or from the situation of the property with reference to other land of the grantor. All parties then take with notice of the right reserved and the burden or easement imposed. But the conveyances in the present case contain no such clause, nor is there anything in the terms of the grant, or in the circumstances surrounding the parties when it was made, to lead to an inference in favor of the claim set up by the plaintiff. For aught that appears, it might have been intended by the parties for the benefit of the grantor only so long as he remained the *568 owner of any of the land of which that conveyed to the plaintiff originally formed a part. However this may be, it is certain that the defendant took his grant without any notice, either express or constructive, that this restriction was intended for the benefit of the plaintiff's estate. This is the material distinction between the case at bar and that of Whitney v. UnionRailway, above cited. And it is vital to the rights of the parties, because, as the case stands, the plaintiff is not entitled to avail himself of the equitable principle, that the defendant has taken his estate with notice of a stipulation for the benefit of the estate now owned by the plaintiff, which in equity by accepting the grant the defendant would be bound to observe. We are therefore of opinion that the clause in the deed to the defendant, creating the restriction on the enjoyment of his estate, must be construed as a personal covenant merely with the original grantor, which the plaintiff cannot ask to have enforced in this suit."
Jewell v. Lee, 14 Allen, (Mass.) 145, [92 Am. Dec. 744], has many features resembling the case at bar. One Bates, who was the owner of land lying on both sides of Orient Street, Swampscott, conveyed a portion on the southerly side, bordering upon the ocean "upon condition that the granted premises shall be used for no other purpose or purposes than those for which they are now used, — namely, for bathing and boating upon the beach, excepting only that low bathing-houses may be built thereon; it being understood and agreed that the grantee, his heirs or assigns, may ornament the granted premises in such manner as shall not be inconsistent with the foregoing condition." Subsequently Stephen Wardwell released his interest to Eben and the latter conveyed the westerly part thereof to plaintiff subject to the condition expressed in the deed from Bates. In the following year Wardwell conveyed to Gray the lot adjoining plaintiff's property on the east, subject also to the aforementioned condition, and Gray quitclaimed to defendant. The property on the north side of Orient Street was also conveyed by Bates to the Wardwells and through mesne conveyances Jewell and Lee obtained title to lots immediately opposite their respective holdings on the south side of the street. Defendant with full knowledge of the restrictions in the deed from Bates to Wardwell prepared in violation thereof to move a house on to his lot. Plaintiff sued to enjoin him from so *569 doing, After the suit was instituted defendant procured and caused to be recorded instruments releasing all the owners of land on the south side of the street from the condition in the deed to the Wardwells. Plaintiff's bill was dismissed, the court saying, among other things: "So far as we are able to see, there is nothing to indicate that the original grantor of the premises, in annexing the condition, had any intent to regulate or control the possession or enjoyment of the premises for the benefit of subsequent owners or grantees of the estate, or any part of it, but that it was imposed by him solely for his own private and personal benefit, as the owner of other lots in the vicinity, in which the present plaintiff has no interest whatever."
Sharp v. Ropes,
"It is not claimed that, in regard to any of the lots, there was any written covenant by the grantor, and it does not appear that there was any express stipulation or direct assurance on his part, that any person who should purchase a lot on the north side of that street should have the benefit of a restriction binding all the other purchasers to leave an open space between their dwelling-houses and the street. The only ground upon which the plaintiff can rest her claim that the restriction in question was intended to operate for the benefit of all the purchasers, and to establish a general plan of building, by which each one would acquire a right in the nature of an easement in the land purchased by the others, is to be found in the fact, that in his transactions with two separate and independent purchasers, the grantor conveyed a portion of the land in each case, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the bill of complaint. . . . It is undoubtedly true, and has often been decided, that where a tract of land is subdivided into lots, and those lots are conveyed to separate purchasers, subject to conditions that are of a nature to operate as inducements to the purchase, and to give to each purchaser the benefit of a general *570
plan of building or occupation, so that each shall have attached to his own lot a right in the nature of an easement or incorporeal hereditament in the lots of the others, a right is thereby acquired by each grantee which he may enforce against any other grantee. (Whitney v. Union Railway Co., 11 Gray, 359, [71 Am. Dec. 715]; Parker v. Nightingale, 6 Allen, 341, [83 Am. Dec. 632]; Linzee v. Mixer,
Of a similar restriction the same court said, in Skinner v.Shepard,
The case of Judd v. Robinson,
Without further citation we may say that we think the great weight of authority is in favor of the conclusion reached by the trial court that the covenant in question was a personal one, not running with the land and not capable of enforcement by the owner of adjoining property who was a subsequent grantee deriving title from the grantors in the deed to Ross.
We have examined the authorities cited by appellant and find that they are all readily distinguishable in their facts from the case at bar. We have already shown how one of these, De Gray v.Monmouth Beach Company, has been analyzed by the supreme court of Colorado and found not applicable to a case like this. Peck v.Conway,
Owing to the conclusion which we have reached with reference to the covenant which we have been discussing it will be unnecessary to examine respondent's point that appellant is a trespasser upon its property, having built slightly over its line as found by the court, and that as such trespasser appellant has no standing in a court of equity without first doing equity himself.
There are no other points that require special notice.
The judgment and order are affirmed.
Lorigan, J., and Henshaw, J., concurred.