30 N.J. Eq. 612 | New York Court of Chancery | 1879
The object of this suit is to reform a deed made by the defendant to the complainant. The deed bears date August 2d, 1870, and the bill was filed February 17th, 1874. The defendant, on the 29th day of June, 1870, made a public sale of building lots at Tenafly, N. J. Some time prior to the sale, and for the purposes of the sale, the defendant caused his lands at Tenafly to be surveyed and laid out into streets and building lots, and lithographic maps to be made, showing the locations and dimensions of the lots to be offered for sale. These maps, with the auctioneer’s advertisement of the sale attached, were freely distributed, both prior to the sale and on the day of sale. The complainant purchased the first lot sold, and, as delineated on these maps, it extended from Hudson avenue on the south, to Union avenue on the north. He claims to have purchased, believing the lot was sold as it was described upon the maps, and also relying upon an alleged public declaration made by the auctioneer, at the time he offered the lot, that it extended from Hudson avenue to Union avenue. His deed conveys the lot to the centre line of a brook running across its rear. The rear or northern line, as fixed by the deed, is sixty-six feet south of Union avenue at the intersection of the north and west lines of the lot, and sixteen feet south thereof at the intersection of the north and east lines. The strip lying between the centre line of the brook and Union avenue is the subject matter in dispute. The complainant insists that his deed should be so reformed as to include this strip.
There can be no doubt that, if the complainant has shown by sufficient proof that his deed does not embrace all the land comprehended within his contract, and that he accepted his deed in ignorance of his rights, or under a mistake as to its contents, that he may have relief in equity. It is true, as a general rule, that the acceptance of a deed discharges the vendor from the covenant or promise to convey, though the deed may not, in essential particulars, conform to the executory contract. An executory contract, until finally per
The power of the court to give relief of the nature sought in this case is undoubted. It stands among the most ancient of its powers, but to warrant its exercise the proof must be very clear and convincing. "When the evidence, in demonstration of mistake, is doubtful or equivocal, or strongly contradicted, so that it is impossible for the mind to reach a strong conviction as to the truth, the court will not change what is written. Story’s Eq. Jar. 152, 157; Grahams. Berryman, 4 C. E. Gr. 29, 35; Zane v. Cawley, 6 C. E. Gr. 130; Loss v. Obry, 7 C. E. Gr. 52, 54; Burgin v. Giberson, 11 C. E. Gr. 72. Until a mistake has been established by such force of proof as leaves no rational doubt of the fact, no change in the writing sought to be reformed is entitled to be called a correction.
Do the proofs show,with sufficient force to entitle the coniplainant to a decree, that he accepted the deed in question under a mistake as to its contents, .or under a misapprehension as to the location of the rear line of his lot as fixed by the deed? He purchased by oral contract; at least no written contract has been shown. The lithographic maps did not show the brook, and the complainant, in his bill, says that, until after he had accepted his deed, he had no knowledge whatever that a brook ran through the lot. He swears that, when the lot was offered for sale, the auctioneer
But the whole of the evidence bearing on this question has not yet been mentioned. There are circumstances in the conduct of the complainant which render it almost impossible to believe that he understood, at the time of the contract, that he was purchasing a lot bounded by Union avenue. When his deed was first presented to him, it described the rear boundary of his lot as the southerly line of a brook. After giving the deed a careful examination, he asked to have this line changed to. the middle of the
Under this view of the case, the alterations made in the original map, by direction of the defendant, were not only free from any suspicion of an evil purpose, but were necessary to prevent confusion and a correct representation of the rights of the parties.
The bill must be dismissed, with costs.