Adron v. Evans

217 N.W. 397, 52 S.D. 292, 59 A.L.R. 947, 1927 S.D. LEXIS 346
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedDecember 31, 1927
DocketFile No. 6213
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 217 N.W. 397 (Adron v. Evans) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Adron v. Evans, 217 N.W. 397, 52 S.D. 292, 59 A.L.R. 947, 1927 S.D. LEXIS 346 (S.D. 1927).

Opinion

BROWN, J.

On July i, 1919, Verne Beebe entered into a contract with the defendant Nick Evans to sell the northeast quarter, and the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter and the east half of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 36, township 107, range 48, representing that he was the owner of the land. '

The contract provided that if Evans should make the payments and! perform the covenants on his part, Beebe would convey to him by warranty deed the premises above described. The payments provided for were $3,000 at the time of the execution of the contract, which was paid, and $12,900 on March 1, 1920, and $31,250 on March 1, 1930, with interest at 5 yi per cent, payable annually. It further provided that Evans should pay all taxes upon the land subsequent to 1919. The contract further provided that failure to pay the interest when due should cause the whole to become due and payable, and that the contract, at the option of [295]*295Beebe, might be forfeited.' and' determined; Evans took possession of the land by tenant pursuant to the contract.

On March i, 1920, when the payment of $12,900 fell due, Evans and Beebe met at the First National Bank at Flandreah for the purpose of making the payment on that date, and there Beebe informed Evans that he did not own the land, but had a contract for its purchase from H. W. Adron, the plaintiff in this action, who was then present in the bank. Evans, who had had no previous acquaintance with Adron, was there introduced to him, and in the conversation that took place between them about the contract, Beebe said that he owed just the same amount, with the same rate of interest and 'due at the same time on his contract with Adron, that Evans owed on his contract with Beebe, and Beebe proposed to assign to Eváns his contract with Adron in cancellation and discharge of the contract between him and Eváns. Evans says that at this point he ásked Adron for the description of the land covered by the Beebe-Adrón contract, and that Adron replied that it was the northeast quarter of section 36 and the east half of the northwest quarter of the same section. Whereupon defendant accepted" the proposition. Evans thereupon gave Beebe a check for $12,900 which was deposited in the bank, and Beebe wrote a check for $7,000 and gave to Adron in payment of the sum due that day in the Adron-Beebe contract.

Jas. T. Bigelow, who was the managing officer of the bank, and had drawn up both contracts, proceeded to typewrite thé terms of the assignment, which reads as follows:

“For value received I hereby sell, assign and transfer to Nick Evans of Dell Rapids, South Dakota, all my right, title and interest in and to one certain contract for deed between H. W. Adron ánd Verne Beebe, dated May 22, 1919, and covering the northeast quarter of section thirty-six (36) and the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter and the east half of the northwest quarter of section thirty-six (36) all in township one hundred and seven (107) north of range forty-eight (48) Moody county, South Dakota, and direct that upon the fulfillment of the terms of the contract by Nick Evans that deed be issued to him for the above described land.

“It 'being understood that there is now due on said contract the sum of $30,250.00 and interest thereon at five and one-half per cent from March 1, 1920.

[296]*296“Dated Plandreau, S. D., March i, 1920.

“[Signed] Verne Beebe.

“I hereby accept the above assignment.

“[Signed] H. W. Adron.”

This assignment was read over in the hearing of all parties, was signed by Beebe, and the acceptance written thereon signed by Adron. The assignment was assented to, but not signed, by Evans, and he received a copy of it, but claims that he did not see the Beebe-Adron contract itself, until after March 29, 1923, when his attorneys, Krause & Krause, procured a copy from the First National Bank of Plandreau. The contract thus assigned by Adron to Evans was on the .same form-as the Beebe-Evans contract, and in substance provides that if Beebe shall make, the payments and perform the covenants therein mentioned, • Adron will convey to him by warranty deed the premises therein described, the northeast quarter, and the northeast quarter of the northwest quarter and the east half of the northwest quarter- of the northwest quarter of section 36, township 107 north, range 4-8, in -Moody county, S. D. It further provides that Beebe agrees to pay the purchase price, $2,000 at the time of the execution of -the contract, $7,000 on March 1, 1919, and $31,250 on March 1, 1930, with interest at 5 per cent per annum from March 1, 1920, payable annually, and to pay all taxes on the land subsequent to the year 1919. The contract also contains a clause that failure to pay interest when due, or to perform any other covenant on the part of Beebe, shall cause the whole price to- become due and payable, .and the contract may at the option of Adron be forfeited and determined, and all payments made and. all improvements placed on the premises by Beebe may be retained by Adron as liquidated damages, .and concludes with a provision that all covenants and agreements therein contained shall be obligatory upon the heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns of the respective'parties.

Evans paid the taxes on the land for two years after getting this assignment, and also paid Adron interest for two years thereafter, then he defaulted, and this action was brought to recover from Evans the balance of the unpaid purchase price on the AdronBeebe contract, and to foreclose the rights of Evans under that contract.

[297]*297The complaint demanded that if the interest of Evans should fail to' sell for sufficient to satisfy the balance due under the contract, judgment for a deficiency be given against Evans, and that general execution issue against the property of Evans for the collection of such deficiency.

In his answer Evans alleges that the assignment of the Adron.Beebe contract to him was accepted by him in satisfaction and cancellation of the contract between himself and Beebe, and that it was agreed at the time of the transaction that the Beebe-Evans contract was satisfied and canceled, and that by the terms of the written assignment he did not undertake to pay the sums mentioned in the Adron-Beebe contract.

The case was tried to the court without a jury. Findings of fact and conclusions of law in favor of plaintiff were made and judgment entered against defendant for the amount, $38,527.17, then due under the Adron-Beebe contract, with a decree for the sale of the land and directing the entry of a deficiency judgment against defendant, and issuance of execution against his property, if the land did not sell for a sufficient amount to satisfy the judgment.

It is clear that the assignment of the Adron-Beebe contract does not bind Evans to take the land or make the payments provided in that contract. The assignment contains no promise or agreement on the part of Evans to pay anything. The assignment of a contract for the sale of real estate does not create a personal liability on the part of the assignee without a provision to that effect. The assignee cannot require conveyance of the land to him without payment of the contract price, but he is not personally liable for that price unless he agrees or promises to pay it. Meyer v. Droegemueller, 165 Minn. 245, 206 N. W. 391; Hugel v. Habel, 132 App. Div. 327, 117 N. Y. S. 78; Foley v. Dweyer, 122 Mich. 587, 81 N. W. 569; 27 R. C. L. 567; 5 C. J. 976.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
217 N.W. 397, 52 S.D. 292, 59 A.L.R. 947, 1927 S.D. LEXIS 346, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/adron-v-evans-sd-1927.