139 N.W. 318 | N.D. | 1912
Plaintiffs, who are the appellants, brought this action in the district court of Stuttsman county to recover from defendant and respondent damages in the sum of $6,150 and interest, for the alleged breach on defendant’s part of a written contract entered into between the parties, by the terms of which plaintiffs agreed to sell to defendant, and the latter agreed to purchase from the plaintiffs, certain real and personal property in the city of Jamestown. Such contract is not very lengthy, and we deem it advisable to set the same out in full in this opinion. It is as follows:
Jamestown, North Dakota, April 28, 1910.
This agreement, made and entered into this day by and between John McCulloch and C. F. Mudgett, copartners as McCulloch & Mudgett, parties of the first part, and Otto Bauer, party of the second part, witnesseth:
That the party of the first part hereby agrees to sell to the said second party, and the said second party hereby agrees to purchase from the said first party, the lumber and fuel business operated by them at Jamestown, North Dakota, together with all stock of lumber and fuel, all horses (4), wagons, harnesses, all office furniture and fixtures, engine, saw and splitter, together with the following described real estate: Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, block 31, original plat of Jamestown, North Dakota, lot 10, block 67, Klaus’s second addition to Jamestown, North Dakota, at the following prices: Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, block 31, together with all sheds, horses, and machinery, office furniture and fixtures, wood machinery, for the sum of twelve thousand five hundred dollars ($12,500).
*114 Lot 10, block 67, as above, for the exact cost of said lot, together with the improvements thereon, this figure to be arrived at by bills to be submitted by John McCulloch. The stock of lumber to be sold and bought on the basis of the present wholesale list of same f. o. b. cars Jamestown, North Dakota, with 50c per M. to be added for handling; all other building material at the present wholesale price with handling charges added. All hard coal at $8.50 per ton, and other coal at present wholesale price.
Said stock to be invoiced on May 2, 1910, and possession to be given immediately on completion of inventory and settlement.
Said second party agrees to pay for said business, real estate, stock, etc., as follows: The sum of two hundred dollars ($200) on signing of this agreement; the balance of said purchase price on completion of inventory, except that the said John McCulloch hereby agrees to carry the sum of thirty-five hundred dollars ($3,500) on lot 10, block 67, aforesaid, on a first mortgage, for the period of three years at the rate of 7 per cent per annum.
Said first party agrees to furnish said second party with abstract for property sold, and to give said second party a warranty deed for the same.
Said first party further agrees to guarantee the cost of moving coal shed, engine house, office, and lumber shed, to not exceed the sum of two hundred dollars ($200), but reserves the right to cause same to be moved for. this amount in case said second party cannot.contract for this amount or less.
Said first party further agrees that the said second party shall have the option of taking such lumber as he shall decide on of the stock now purchased for the Jamestown yard, at the prices at which such material is bought, and said second party agrees to fill all unfinished estimates of said first party, at prices at which stock is sold him, said amounts to be deducted from inventory and duebill issued for same.
McCulloch & Mudgett, party first part, By C. F. Mudgett.
Otto Bauer, party second part.
Witness, Erskine McCulloch.
Such contract is attached to the complaint and made a part thereof
At the conclusion of plaintiffs’ testimony, defendant’s counsel moved for a dismissal of the action, which motion was granted. Thereafter judgment was entered dismissing the action, from which judgment this appeal is prosecuted.
Numerous assignments of error are set forth in appellants’ brief, but it will not be necessary to notice them each separately. They relate principally to rulings of the court in excluding certain testimony offered by the plaintiffs tending to show a modification of the written contract, or a waiver by defendant of its provisions requiring plaintiffs to furnish marketable title to the real property at the time designated in the contract, and such assignments are discussed together in appellants’ brief.
We are fully agreed that there is no merit in any of these assignments, and that the rulings complained of were correct in each instance, and the judgment must therefore be affirmed. Our reasons for such conclusion will be briefly stated.
While the written contract between the parties is very explicit, and discloses that the covenants to convey on the one part and to pay on the other part are dependent covenants, appellant sought to show at the trial an oral modification or waiver by defendant of plaintiffs’ covenant to convey at the time mentioned in the contract, and this he'
Clearly defendant had a right to rely upon the express covenant of plaintiffs, even though he had knowledge that their title was defective, or that they had no title, and such knowledge on his part can in no manner be construed as any waiver by him of the binding force of such covenant. Even if the complaint had alleged such knowledge on defendant’s part, and had even gone further and alleged a parol agreement or understanding that defendant would accept a warranty deed from plaintiffs with the existing defects in the title, such fact could not be proved, as the same would contravene the well-settled rule that the terms of a written contract cannot be varied or contradicted by parol.
In tbe latter ease it was said: “The plaintiff offered to prove thereby that, at the time of the making of the contract, the defendants knew of the encumbrance on the same by the mortgage to Mrs. Jennison, and that it was then understood and agreed that the mortgage should remain thereon. This evidence would have had a tendency to vary and contradict the terms of the written contract, and had no tendency to prove a subsequent waiver of the exception to the plaintiff's title. It was therefore clearly inadmissible.”
Appellants also sought to prove conversations with defendant during the talcing of the inventory, relative to the defective condition of the title to some of the property, presumably for the purpose of showing a subsequent oral modification of this written contract. Such offered proof was clearly inadmissible for several reasons. First. No foundation was laid in the complaint for proving any .such subsequent oral modification. Second. There rvas no consideration shown for any such modification. And third. Under § 5382, Rev. Codes 1905, it is provided: “A contract in writing may be altered by a contract in writing or by an executed oral agreement, and not otherwise.” Cughan v. Larson, 13 N. D. 373, 100 N. W. 1088; Reeves & Co. v. Bruening, supra, 13 N. D. 157, 100 N. W. 241. In Cughan v. Larson, supra, we quote the following from the third paragraph of the syllabus: “A written contract for the sale of real estate cannot be modified by an unexecuted oral agreement, although the modification pertains only to the performance of the contract.” Moreover such offered proof was; properly rejected, because under § 5332, Rev. Codes, an agreement for-the sale of real property must be in writing and subscribed by the party to be charged or by his agent, and a contract required by the statute of frauds to be in writing cannot be modified or changed by a subsequent, oral agreement or modification. This is well settled. Reiff v. Coulter, 47 Wash. 678, 92 Pac. 436; Downing Invest. Co. v. Coolidge, 46 Colo. 345, 104 Pac. 392; Bradley v. Harter, 156 Ind. 499, 60 N. E. 139; Grand Forks Lumber Co. v. McClure Logging Co. 103 Minn. 471, 115 N. W. 406; Culey v. Upham, 135 Mich. 131, 106 Am. St. Rep. 388, 97 N. W. 405.
As very tersely and correctly stated by respondent’s counsel: “If
The theory of plaintiffs, both in their complaint and throughout the trial in the court below, was not that there had been a modification or waiver of the contract with reference to their covenant to convey a perfect title at the time of defendant’s payment of the purchase price, but that the covenants of the parties were dependent, and that they were entitled to excuse nonperformance on their part by showing that defendant had knowledge of their inability to perform, and either expressly or impliedly waived such performance. They have apparently shifted their position in this court and assert the right to recover upon the theory of independent covenants. In other words, they here assert that defendant’s promise to pay the purchase price of this property, amounting to about $45,000, is wholly independent of plaintiffs’ promise to convey a marketable title to the property, and for an alleged breach by defendant of his said promise, plaintiffs here assert a right to recover large damages, although concededly they are not able to comply with the covenant on their part to furnish title. Appellant’s contention is manifestly erroneous. The covenants in the contract are clearly dependent, and plaintiffs have wholly failed to show a valid modification or waiver of the provisions of the contract in this respect. Hence, in order to prove a cause of action against defendant, it was incumbent upon plaintiffs to establish, by competent proof, the truth of the allegations of their complaint to the effect that they, prior to the commencement of this- action, were ready, able, and willing to fully perform on their part. Ho such proof was offered, and the trial court therefore cori’ectly granted defendant’s motion for a dismissal of the action. Shelly v. Mikkelson, 5 N. D. 22, 63 N. W. 210.
Appellants’ counsel seem to labor under the .belief that because of defendant’s statement to plaintiffs of his inability to raise the money necessary to complete the contract on his part, that proof of such
In Bigler v. Morgan, 77 N. Y. 312, it was, among other things, said: “However positively a vendee may have refused to perform his contract, and however insufficient the reason assigned for his refusal, he cannot be subjected to damages without showing that he would have received what he contracted for, had be performed.” Citing Heron v. Hoffner, 3 Rawle, 393, 400; Bank of Columbia v. Hagner, 1 Pet. 464, 7 L. ed. 222; Traver v. Halsted, 23 Wend. 66.
It follows from what we have above said that the judgment appealed from is correct, and the same is accordingly affirmed.