132 Minn. 351 | Minn. | 1916
In 1913, one Halle Olson owned a small farm in Blue Earth county. His title was good. On October 14, defendants procured from him a
The contract in this case provides'that “if the title to said premises is not good and cannot be made good within or by March 1st, 1914, this agreement shall be void and the above one thousand ($1,000) dollars refunded.” This provision, standing alone, is clear and unequivocal. It is a provision in common use in land contracts and has often been construed by this court. It means that if the title which the vendor can convey to the purchaser is not good, and cannot in the exercise of good
There is no question in this ease but that defendant vendors were unable, by the exercise of good faith and of every effort, to make good title, and were it not for the provision in the contract which follows the one above quoted, not a doubt could exist as to the construction of this contract. The provision following reads: “But if the title to said premises is good in the name of Halle Olson within or by March 1st, 1914, and the said purchaser refuses to accept the same, said One Thousand (1,000) Dollars shall be forfeited to William J. Morehart and Oeorge Atchison, but it is agreed and understood by all parties to this agreement that said forfeiture shall in no way affect the rights of either party to enforce the specific performance of this contract.” This provision is a strange one in that by its terms it provides for a forfeiture by the vendee of the consideration paid, in the event of repudiation by him, if the title should be good in Halle Olson, even though the vendors could not get the Olson title and could not make title to the vendee. We are not sure that such a forfeiture could be enforced. It is contended by defendants that the insertion of the name “Hálle Olson” was a clerical error, that instead the contract should have read “Morehart and Atchison,” and that the error arose from the fact that the scrivener copied the form of this contract from the contract between Olson and defendants and failed to properly conform this part of the contract to the terms agreed upon between plaintiff and defendants. These questions are not before the court and we do not decide them. We simply hold that this incongruous and inconsistent provision cannot be held to control
The verdict returned gave to the plaintiff just what he was entitled to under his contract. Since the result is right, and since no other result could be reached, it is unimportant whether the court committed any errors in arriving at that result. If he did, they were errors without prejudice.
Order affirmed.