104 Iowa 631 | Iowa | 1898
We are of the opinion that, whether the contract w.as procured by fraud or mistake, the defendants are -entitled to its reformation-, unless they are estopped by their own. laches from obtaining that relief, gee 2 Pomeroy, Equity Jurisprudence, sections 852, 853. It is said in 3 Pomeroy, Equity Jurisprudence, section 1376, that “equity has- jurisdiction to reform written instruments in but two well-defined oases: (1) Where there is a mutual mistake, — that is, where there has been a meeting of the minds, ah agreement actually entered into, but the contract, deed, settlement, or other instrument, in its written form, does not express what was really intended by the parties thereto; and (2) where there has been a mistake of one party, accompanied by fraud or other inequitable conduct of the remaining parti-e®. In such cases the instrument may
It is insisted by the appellant that the transaction in question is within the rule of numerous cases in which relief has been denied to parties who sought to be relieved from contracts they had entered into under a mistake respecting their scope and effect, and among the cases cited to support the claim thus made are Wallace v. Railway Co., 67 Iowa, 547; Glenn v. Statler, 42 Iowa, 107; McCormack v. Molburg, 43 Iowa, 561; McKinney v. Herrick, 66 Iowa, 414, and Jenkins v. Coal Co., 82 Iowa, 618. But an examination of these cases will show that none of them involved facts which, in principle, were the same as those which must control in this case. Had the defendants not been influenced not to read the contract by artifice or false statement on the part of others interested in it, the rule of the cases cited would have applied. But the contract was signed by the defendants in consequence of the false statements of Griffith to W. H. Risser, that his brother had seen .and approved it. O. E. Risser was. the member of the firm who negotiated its contracts,-and W. H. Risser attended to the office work. It was, therefore, natural that he should rely upon the conclusions of Ms brother. He did not exercise the highest degree of care and diligence which prudent men would be apt to exercise in matters of such importance, but it does not appear that he knew of any reason for questioning the truthfulness of Griffith; and since the plaintiff has not been misled by what was done, and will have all the rights to which he was entitled under the agreement actually made, we do not tMnk it should be held that the negligence of the defendants in sigMng the contract was so gross as to debar them from relief. 2 Pomeroy Equity Jurisprudence, section 856. To enforce the writing as signed,