167 Iowa 727 | Iowa | 1914
The essential averments of plaintiff’s petition are as follows:
That in February, 1896, he purchased of the defendant a property known as the Reinhart Flats in Sioux City for $75,-
On February 4th, while said flats were yet in the control of the receiver, for whom, as alleged, the defendant was then acting as attorney, the defendant was informed by Severson: That he had purchased the flats by the contract and deed, had recorded the latter, and requested of defendant the assignment of the sheriff’s certificate of sale, that he might make redemption, and then requested the plaintiff to accept the amount necessary to redeem. That at such time and afterward the defendant, knowing that John M. Kock had entered into a contract to convey to plaintiff his half interest,
Jurgen Kock does not own the Beinhart Flats property. John M. Kock claims a half interest in it; owns a deed for half of the property. Jurgen Kock owns only half the property. You, John M. Severson, under your contract and deed, have no right to redeem that property from the second mortgage foreclosure, and no right to an assignment of the sheriff’s certificate of sale thereof. I own the certificate, but I will not assign it to you. The building is untenantable. It has very few tenants in there, who pay no rent. It has been used for immoral purposes (naming them). It is so dirty that it is not fit for hogs to live in. It cannot be rented because of its dirty and rotten condition. The boilers, steam plant, tanks, light plant, engines, machinery, plumbing, and fixtures are all worn out and worthless. The rent of the building does not pay expenses. It is running at a loss. Jurgen Kock is an old crook — a dishonest man — a man who never performs his contracts, and he will not perform and fulfill his said contract with you, and under the conditions of the title, the conditions of the building, it is your interest not to redeem said property from the foreclosure, and not to take an assignment of the sheriff’s certificate of sale of the second mortgage which I have, and to go no further with that contract and deed, and to have nothing more to do with the above property and Jurgen Kock.
That the said statements were made without justification, were false, and made for the purpose of influencing Severson as above stated, and to advance the'pecuniary interest of the defendant by preventing redemption. It is also charged that defendant and Severson conspired together to break the written contract, and not redeem. The petition avers that the fraud, deceit, and collusion charged caused Severson not to fulfill his contract, the right of redemption was lost, plaintiff was deprived of Severson as a buyer, lost five years’ use of the part to be under his control by the terms of the contract,
To this petition a demurrer was filed, the first two divisions of which challenge its sufficiency in the stating of a cause of action, that it made no claim for special damages, and that the damages claimed are too remote* and speculative. The third division of the demurrer is that the petition shows on its face that the alleged slanderous words were uttered after conveyance had been made to Severson, and at a time when plaintiff had an enforceable contract against Severson, and that plaintiff’s remedy, if any, is against Severson for the alleged breach and repudiation of the contract. The demurrer was sustained, and, plaintiff having elected to stand upon his petition, judgment was entered against him, and he appeals.
From the petition it appears that at the time of the alleged wrongful statements conveyance of the property had been made to Severson by the plaintiff, coupled with it being a contract which, as a part of the consideration for the conveyance, bound Severson to redeem from the foreclosure sale and take care of other existing liens. The averment of the petition is that the words spoken were with the intent on the part of the defendant to prevent such redemption, whereby he, the defendant, might secure title by sheriff’s deeds, and that because of such statement he did secure such benefit to himself, with consequent loss to plaintiff. While the language used in part attacked plaintiff’s title, as charged it covered other material conditions, in view of the mutual relations said to exist -under the contract between Kock and Severson in the use and management of the property. In other words, it charged plaintiff with being dishonest and that he would not fulfill his contracts. The case is not one purely of slander-of title, but is broader in its averments, and is not, therefore, controlled by the rules contended for by appellee as being applicable to cases of that kind.
As to wrongful interference with contracts of personal employment, the rule is well settled that if damages result the wrongdoer is liable, and the injured person is not bound to his remedy for a breach of the contract. Hollenbeck v. Ristine, 114 Iowa, 358; Faunce v. Searles, 122 Minn. 343 (142 N. W. 816. As to interference with contracts, not of employment, but based upon personal obligations, the rule which commends itself to us is:
That when a party has entered into a contract with another to do or not to do a particular act or acts, he has as clear a right to its performance as he has to his property, either real or personal, and that knowingly to induce the other party to violate it is as distinct a wrong as it is to injure or destroy his property. It is not a sufficient answer to say that he had a remedy against the party who has broken the contract. (Raymond v. Yarrington, 96 Tex. 443, 72 S. W. 580, 73 S. W. 800, 62 L. R. A. 962, 97 Am. St. Rep. 914.)
In principle, see Booth v. Burgess, 72 N. J. Eq. 181 (65 Atl. 226); Heath v. American Book Co. (C. C.), 97 Fed. 533. The position not being made to depend upon the failure of the buyer to receive the title, which, as averred, it appears he had done, but upon an unlawful interference which prevented him from performing contractual obligations to the plaintiff, we think a cause of action is stated.
Reference is made in argument to a ease decided by this court in which Kock and Severson were adverse parties, and in which their rights in the property were determined. So far as the facts were then adjudicated, they may have bearing upon the trial of this case; but we cannot adopt them as a basis for our conclusion here, but must in this appeal treat the
IV. A further ground urged by the appellee is that, as Severson was a part owner of the property, the utterance of the words to him, without publication, was not slanderous. This objection rests upon the assumption of the defendant