19 Wend. 518 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1838
By the Court,
Courts of equity, proceeding on the ground of fraud or mistake, admit parol evidence to show that an absolute deed was intended, as a mortgage ; and it is said that the same rule prevails at law. Walton v. Cronly, 14 Wendell, 63. But it is unnecessary to anticipate a question which may arise on another trial.
Defeasible purchases are narrowly watched, and courts of equity always lean strongly in favor of the right of redemption. Longuet v. Scawen, 1 Ves. sen. 402. Still it is well settled that an agreement to reconvey, either with or without an advance in price, will not turn an absolute conveyance into a mortgage. In Robinson v. Cropsey, 2 Edw. V. C. R. 138, there had been previous dealings between the parties, but the debt was extinguished at the time of the conveyance: and the vice chancellor held that an absolute
The view already taken renders it unnecessary to examine the other questions presented by the bill of exceptions.
New trial granted.