210 N.W. 628 | Minn. | 1926
The rule is well established that a party may in the same action ask for the reformation of a contract and for damages for a breach thereof as reformed. Nelson v. Vassenden,
Where it is sought to reform a written contract, good practice requires that the instrument to be reformed should be set forth in the pleading so that from it and the allegations in the pleading it may clearly appear that it does not conform to the real contract made by the parties. The pleading should also show the particular mistake or the fraud and mistake complained of and how it occurred. Here it is sought to reform the lease by inserting the covenants set forth in paragraph 3 of the answer, as follows:
"That plaintiff would, immediately after the defendant took possession of said premises, repair and make useful the well upon said premises and farm so as to provide and furnish ample water supply for the use upon said farm in the proper operation thereof; that he would immediately repair and make serviceable the dwelling and all fences and especially those fences immediately adjoining the buildings, including the barn, for use by the defendant in yarding and pasturing his hogs, horses and cattle, and otherwise make said farm suitable for the purpose for which it was rented so as to enable the defendant to properly carry on farming operations in the usual and customary manner."
Paragraph 4 of the answer is as follows:
"That said contract was prepared by the plaintiff herein and his agents, and submitted to the defendant for execution; that plaintiff *95 herein, through fraud and mistake in reducing said contract to writing, omitted to insert in said contract the further covenants set forth in paragraph `three' of this answer, and said contract does not express the real agreement of said parties hereto; that said contract was submitted to the defendant for signature by plaintiff with fraudulent intent and plan to have defendant sign without the insertion of said covenants and it was so signed by the defendant, by mutual mistake of the parties hereto and without expressing the real contract and agreement of said parties."
Where mistake is relied on, the particular mistake and how it occurred must be set forth and that the mistake was common to both parties. Notes: 5 L.R.A. 157; 28 L.R.A. (N.S.) 845, 913. We fail to find any such allegations in the pleading under consideration. Where fraud is relied on, the pleading must be specific in stating the facts and circumstances which constitute the fraud, and that the representations inducing the execution of the instrument were relied upon and were false, and that the pleader was misled thereby. None of these matters appear in the pleading before us. For these reasons the allegations of the answer are not sufficient to entitle defendant to a reformation. Under this view of the answer the rulings upon the admissibility of evidence complained of are not material. If there was error in such rulings it was error without prejudice.
Affirmed. *96