114 Mo. App. 274 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1905
In August, 1902, defendant Rice was conducting a hardware store in the town of Cambridge, Iowa. During that month he sold to plaintiff Shultis his stock of hardware and the furniture in the store where it was kept, consisting of shelving, counters, stepladder, showcase, lamps, a stove and perhaps other articles. No price was fixed on the different articles, which were sold for the round sum of $400. The building belonged to S. A. Rush, who subsequently, on Shultis attempting to move the stock and furniture to another room in the same town, asserted title to the shelving and a stepladder. Shultis having retained possession of the property against Rush’s claim, the latter sued him in an Iowa court for a wrongful conversion, demanding the value of the property converted and damages for injury to the building in removing the shelving. The latter circumstance renders it impossible, from the meager excerpt of the record in the Iowa case contained in the present record, to say how much of the damages allowed Rush in that case was assessed as the value of his property which Shultis had converted, and how much was assessed for damages to the building. Shultis notified Rice of the pendency of the action and requested the latter to defend the title he had conveyed, which Rice failed to do. The action resulted in a judgment against Shultis in favor of Rush for $122. In addition Shultis paid $37 for an attorney’s fee in the case and other expenses, such as the cost of taking depositions. The present action is on the defendant’s warranty of title to the fixtures sold and was instituted to recover from Rice the loss sustained by Shultis on account of the failure of the title. Prior to the sale to Shultis, Rice had purchased the stock of hardware and certain store furniture from J. M. Bartlett, and swore that he only undertook
The only point suggested against the validity of the judgment which we consider worthy of discussion is the measure of damages. There appears to be no question raised in regard to plaintiff’s right to recover the expense he was put to in defending the Rush case. The testimony showes plaintiff called on his warrantor Rice to make the defense, and the latter did nothing except maintain by deposition, Shultis’ right to the property claimed by Rush. Under the circumstances it was proper for Shultis to defend against Rush’s claim, and there is no contention that the outlay he incurred in making the defense was unreasonable. Rice is answerable as implied warrantor of the title to the chattels he sold, for a fair price, while in his possession. [Robinson v. Rice, 20 Mo. 229; Ranney v. Meisenheimer, 61 Mo. App. 434.] The usual statement of the rule is that an implied warranty of title arises on the sale of a chattel for full value; but we understand “full value” to mean there must be no snch inadequacy of price as would warn a prudent buyer that the seller’s acceptance of it was sus
In the following cases it was directly decided that the measure of damages on failure of title to personal property in an action on a warranty of title, was the pur
The plaintiff Shultis was compelled to answer to Rush for the value of the shelving and stepladder in an
The judgment is affirmed.