Arzuaga v. Gonzalez

239 F. 60, 152 C.C.A. 110, 1917 U.S. App. LEXIS 2187
CourtCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit
DecidedJanuary 12, 1917
DocketNo. 1239
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 239 F. 60 (Arzuaga v. Gonzalez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the First Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arzuaga v. Gonzalez, 239 F. 60, 152 C.C.A. 110, 1917 U.S. App. LEXIS 2187 (1st Cir. 1917).

Opinion

BINGHAM, Circuit Judge.

This is a bill in equity brought by Isabel Gonzalez, a citizen of Porto Rico, against the defendants, José Ignacio Arzuaga and Francisco Arzuaga, subjects of his majesty the king of Spain, ánd against the heirs composing the succession of Juan Bautista, seeking the cancellation of a deed dated January 12, 1907, alleged to have been given by the plaintiff’s agent, without authority and through fraud of her rights, to the said José Ignacio Arzuaga and Francisco Arzuaga; the half interest of José Ignacio Arzuaga having been conveyed by him August 10, 1908, to Juan Bautista, who has since died. In the District Court a decree was entered in favor of the plaintiff, and the defendants appealed, assigning various errors.

It appears: That the plaintiff, in 1898, and before her marriage, acquired a certain farm in the district of Loiza, Porto Rico, known by the name of “Dot Sixteen.” That on the 27th day of November, 1905, [61]*61the plaintiff, her husband, Juan de la Mata Silva, being absent, and his whereabouts unknown, and having left at the time of his departure a commercial establishment known as “El Sol,” executed a power of attorney constituting her uncle, Rodolfo Gonzalez, her agent. That the power of attorney recites that:

“She has decided to give and confer to her uncle * * * the most absolute and effective power of attorney, not only for the purpose that he represents her in all the matters concerning her private property, but also in everything in connection with the share that her husband has in the mercantile establishment aforesaid, giving him further the following special powers: To make loans of sums in cash, whether with interest or not, stipulating the agreements that he might deem proper in regard to the payment thereof. To incumber the property of his principal with mortgages as security for the loans that he may contract, with all the requisites and formalities that might be necessary according to law, and which might be required. To cancel and redeem mortgages which exist on the property belonging to her. To sell the real or personal property or live stock owned, or that may hereafter be owned, by the maker of this document, for which her attorney shall endeavor to get the best price, and for the sale of a rural estate or property which she owns in the district of Loiza, known as ‘Lot Sixteen,’ before effecting which sale he shall receive her written consent.”

That on the 3d day of January, 1906, said Rodolfo Gonzalez, acting in pursuance of said power of attorney, procured a loan for the benefit of the plaintiff in the sum of $4,000 from said José Ignacio Arzuaga and Francisco Arzuaga, one-half of said amount being payable to each of them on the 3d day of January, 1910_, and secured the loan by a mortgage in their favor o.n the farm in Loiza, known as “Lot Sixteen.” That on January 12, 1907, while the mortgage was still in existence, Rodolfo Gonzalez, purporting to act in pursuance of said' power of attorney, executed a deed of the farm known as “Lot Sixteen” to José Ignacio Arzuaga and Francisco Arzuaga for the sum of $5,500, the same to be paid by a cancellation of the mortgage of $4,000 existing in favor of the purchasers and a cash payment of $1,500. That in the authentication of the deed, making it a public instrument, the notary stated that:

“The attorney in fact of the vendor states that he has secured the consent in writing of his principal to effect this sale, as shown in the power of attorney under which he acts; that the other incumbrances on the property have been canceled, and that there is no necessity for the attendance of the absent husband, as the property referred to herein was acquired by the vendor before her marriage.”

That in procuring the sale and consummating the trade for the farm the defendants, José Ignacio and Francisco Arzuaga, were represented by their agent, Juan José Arzuaga, who, at the time of the trial of the cause, was dead. That upon procuring the deed, Juan José Arzuaga, in behalf of his principals, caused the mortgage held by them to be canceled and the sum of $1,500 to be paid to the plaintiff’s agent, Rodolfo Gonzalez. That upon offering the deed 'for registration in the public records the registrar declined to enter the same upon the records without the presentation of the written consent of the plaintiff called for in her power of attorney; and that, on the 9th day of May, 1907, a letter purporting to be the consent of the plaintiff and reading as follows:

[62]*62•‘San Juan, January 2, 1907.
“Dear Godfather: I am agreeable to the sale which you propose to me of the rural property in Doiza, known as lot number 16, by virtue of which I authorize you to sell. 1 remain your affectionate godchild,
“Isabel G. de la Mata.
“Don Rodolfo Gonzalez.”

—was duly authenticated as a public instrument before the same notary before whom the deed was authenticated, and as a supplement to the deed.

It also appears that, on the 14th day of August, 1905, the plaintiff, represented by her husband, Juan de la Mata Silva, leased the farm known as “Lot Sixteen” to a mercantile firm, doing business under the name of Sobrinos de Ezquiaga, for six years, from the 2d day of June, 1907 (when an old lease under which they were then occupying the property would expire), with an option on the part of the lessees to renew the same for six additional years by giving six months’ notice, at a rental of $400 per year, payable monthly at the rate of $33.33% per month, that in the mortgage given by the plaintiff to the defendants, it was provided that the interest on the loan, amounting to $30 a month, should be payable out of the rent, and that the same should be paid monthly by the mercantile firm of Sobrinos de Ezquiaga to the mortgagees.

The plaintiff’s contention,was, and her evidence tended to prove, that she was practically blind, and was not aware of the sale of the farm by her agent until the latter part of May or early in June, 1907; that if she signed the written consent of January 2, 1907, she did not do so knowingly, but on the representation of her agent, Rodolfo Gonzalez, that it was a letter addressed to the lessees of the farm requesting them to increase the rent (which she understood they had agreed to do) to $70 a month; that her discovery in May or June, 1907, that the farm had been sold came about by her going to the mercantile firm of Sobrinos, to learn from them further in-regard to the matter of increasing the rent; that shortly after learning of the sale, and in the month of June, 1907, she revoked the authority of her agent, Rodolfo Gonzalez, and shortly thereafter.received a renunciation of his power of attorney; that accompanying the renunciation were two notes, each payable to the plaintiff, one for $1,200, signed by José Cazuela Geigel, 'and the other for $434, signed by José E. Lucero; and that her agent, Rodolfo Gonzalez, stated that these notes represented the $1,500 cash balance of the sale which he had loaned for her to the parties named in the notes. She also claimed and introduced evidence tending to show that the farm was worth from $10,000 to $14,000, and that Juan José Arzuaga, agent for the purchasers, knew that it was worth more than the price agreed upon in the deed.

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Bluebook (online)
239 F. 60, 152 C.C.A. 110, 1917 U.S. App. LEXIS 2187, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arzuaga-v-gonzalez-ca1-1917.