95 Minn. 431 | Minn. | 1905
Appeal by plaintiff from a judgment in favor of the defendant entered pursuant to the order of the trial court on the ground that the complaint did not state a cause of action. The basis of the judgment' appears from the judgment roll and on the face of the judgment; hence no bill of exceptions or settled case is necessary in order to secure a review of the judgment. See Peach v. Reed, 87 Minn. 375, 92 N. W. 229.
The question here to be decided is whether the complaint states facts-sufficient to constitute a cause of action. Stated briefly, such facts are these: Prior to October 1, 1900, the city of Minneapolis duly ordered a stone sidewalk to be constructed in front of a lot owned by J. W. Dunnegan, and levied a special assessment thereon to pay for the proposed improvement in the sum of $96.66, which was added to the taxes on the lot for the year 1900. The then owner on April 6, 1901; paid the amount of this assessment with the other taxes on the lot, and thereafter and on the same day conveyed by warranty deed, duly
Do these facts constitute a cause of action against the city? The equities, if any, between the plaintiff and his grantor, are not before us for adjudication, for the question before us is limited to an inquiry as to the legal rights of the plaintiff against the city. The alleged inducements offered by the plaintiff’s grantor for the'purchase of the lot are not relevant to such question in this action against the city, nor is the fact relevant that a subsequent order for the laying of a sidewalk in front of the lot was made in the fall of 1901. There is no alleged connection between the two orders. The only facts, then, relevant to the question before us, are the levying of a special assessment to pay for the proposed sidewalk in front of the lot, a payment of the assessment by the owner thereof, a conveyance of the lot thereafter to the plaintiff, a subsequent cancellation of the order for the proposed improvement, a repayment by the city of the amount paid by the original owner to him, and a demand on and a refusal by the city to pay such sum to the plaintiff. The contention of the plaintiff is to the effect that when the monej'- paid on the assessment for the proposed sidewalk came to the hands of the city the money ceased to be the property of the man who paid it, and the city became the custodian of the fund as a trustee for the owner of the lot, whoever he might be; that the fund was created for a specific purpose, and the property was entitled to the benefit of it. Or, in other words, the city was constituted a trustee of a fund for a specific purpose, and, if it did not execute the purpose, it must see that the proper person gets the money.
We hold that the city was legally justified, upon the failure of the consideration for the special assessment, in paying the amount thereof to the person from whom it was received, the plaintiff’s grantor, and that the complaint does not state a cause of action.
Judgment affirmed.