78 Md. 270 | Md. | 1893
delivered the opinion of the Court.
The property out of which this controversy has arisen, being a storehouse and dwelling, was sold at public auction on the 13th March, 1888, by John M. Littig and Jane McRae, trustees, under a decree of the Circuit Court of Baltimore City, and George P. McRae was returned as purchaser, and on the 18th April following the sale was finally ratified. On the 20th April, two days after the ratification of the sale, the purchaser leased the property to his brother, Charles McRae, for a term of five years at a yearly rent of $960, payable in monthly instalments, the .lessor agreeing to pay all taxes, including water rent and expenses of repair; and upon default in the payment of the rent, the lessor was to re-enter, and the lease thereby to be null and void. The lessor further agreed to sell and convey the property to Charles, the lessee, in fee, upon the payment by him, his heirs or personal representatives, of the sum of ten thousand dollars and all arrearages of rent at any time during the continuance of the lease. Under this Charles entered into possession of the premises, and remained in possession until his death in January, 1892. After his death, and within the time designated in the lease, his widow, the complainant, as executrix and devisee under his will, through Mr. Lanahan, her attorney, tendered to George P. McRae, the lessor, ten thousand dollars and all arrearages of rent, and also a deed conveying the property in fee to the complainant. This tender George the vendor refused to accept, and refused also to execute the deed. Thereupon a bill was filed by the complainant, executrix and devisee, against the vendor to enforce the specific performance of the contract of sale. In his answer, George, the vendor, says his wife not being a party to the contract of sale, refuses to join in a deed conveying the property in fee to the complainant, and that all the complainant has a right to
Then we have the testimony of Mr. Littig, one of the-trustees, and what does he prove? Quoting his exact language, he says: “There was a conversation between George and Charles McRae and the attorney Mr. Merry-man and myself, and there was a verbal understanding; Mr. George McRae had money as I understood out at a low rate of interest, and he was to be substituted for Mr. Charles McRae, with a verbal understanding that Mr. Charles McRae could buy the property back; it was
This is substantially the proof relied on to show that Charles was the purchaser, and that the purchase money was loaned to him by George, and that the legal title was conveyed to the latter to secure the payment of the loan. And although these witnesses speak of “understandings,” and how they understood the verbal agreement between George and Charles, yet they all agree that this verbal understanding was reduced to writing, and embodied in the lease prepared by Merryman, one of the witnesses, himself. Row, if the case rested here, it could hardly be said, in the face of the clear and explicit terms of the lease, containing, as all the witnesses say, the agreement between George and Charles, and in the face of the trustees’ deed conveying the legal title to George, that the complainant has offered such proof as the law requires to establish a resulting trust. But the case does not rest here. We have the repeated and unqualified declarations and admissions by Charles himself, made directly after the sale, to a number of persons, among whom were some of his intimate friends, that the property was bought by George, assigning at the same time the reasons why he did not himself buy it. Directly after the sale the witness Black went with George and Charles to the house of the latter, and as soon as they entered the dining-room, Mrs. Charles McRae said, “Charlie, who bought the store?” and he replied, “my brother George,” and then addressing George in an excited manner, she said, “What made you buy the store over Charley’s head?”
Then we have the testimony of Mr. Oapron, who called at the store to inquire about the sale of the property, and he says that Charles told him that George had
So taking the whole testimony together, instead of proving that the property was bought by Charles, and that the purchase money was loaned to him by George, it shows beyond all question, it seems to us, that George was in fact the purchaser, that he paid the entire purchase money, and that in pursuance of an understanding between them, George leased the property to Charles for a term of years with an option on the part of the latter to buy it at a named price and within a given time. And this being so there is no ground on which a resulting trust can be maintained. We come then to the original bill. And here we find a contract on the part of George to sell and convey the property in fee to Charles, his heirs and personal representatives, upon the payment by him of ten thousand dollars, and all arrears of rent at any time within five years from the date of the contract. The purchase money and arrears of rent have been tendered to George and he refuses to convey the property in fee, because his wife declines to join in the conveyance. His wife was not a party to the contract, and if she has an inchoate right of dower in the property this Court has no power to compel her to unite with her husband in the conveyance. The contention however is, that the husband having but an equitable estate in the property at the time he entered into the contract of sale, the contract itself being founded on a good consideration necessarily defeats the dower right of his wife. It is well settled that the wife is only entitled to dower in the equitable estates of which the husband
If it he conceded then that a sale and conveyance by G-eorge P. McRae of his equitable estate would have defeated the dower right of his wife, for the reason that he had disposed of such equitable estate, it must necessarily follow, that a contract entered into by him founded on a valuable consideration to sell the same must, upon the well settled principles of equity to which we have referred, have the same effect. It must have the same effect for the reason that, by the contract of sale, his interest in the equitable estate has been transferred to the vendee. In other words, the contract of sale is regarded in equity as executed, and as operating to transfer the estate from the vendor and to vest it in the vendee.
We have not overlooked the case of Bowie vs. Berry, 3 Md. Ch., 262, and some of the views expressed by the Chancellor may be considered as being in conflict with what we have said. No appeal, however, was taken in that case, and although the decision of that able and learned Chancellor upon any question is entitled to great weight, yet the conclusion reached by him is, it seems to us, in conflict with the well settled rules and principles by which contracts for the sale of land are treated and governed in a Court of equity. It follows from what we have said, that the complainant is entitled to a conveyance in fee for the property which the defendant, George P. McRae, agreed to sell to her husband, Charles McRae, upon the payment by her of the ten thousand dollars purchase monej'', and all arrears of rent if any may be due. And as the legal title was conveyed to him by the trustees after the execution of the contract of sale, he will be considered as holding such title as trustee for the vendee. In other words, having sold his equitable estate, he acquired no beneficial interest by the conveyance to him of the legal title. At the same time holding the dry legal title, it is proper that his wife should join in the conveyance to the complainant, and if they should refuse to execute a deed conveying the property in fee to the complainant, a trustee will be appointed to convey the same. It follows from what we have said that the decree below must be reversed and the cause remanded, in order that a decree may be passed in conformity with the views we have expressed.
Decree reversed, and cause remanded.