Blodgett v. Trumbull

257 P. 199, 83 Cal. App. 566, 1927 Cal. App. LEXIS 561
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 3, 1927
DocketDocket No. 4545.
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 257 P. 199 (Blodgett v. Trumbull) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Blodgett v. Trumbull, 257 P. 199, 83 Cal. App. 566, 1927 Cal. App. LEXIS 561 (Cal. Ct. App. 1927).

Opinion

JOHNSON, J., pro tem.

This is an appeal by plaintiff from a judgment in favor of the defendants based on an order sustaining their demurrer to plaintiff’s second amended complaint.

The complaint is in two counts. In the first count plaintiff alleges that the defendant Grace Sherwood Trumbull was the owner of lots 1 to 7, inclusive, in Block 1, of the Casitas Tract in Santa Barbara, as delineated on a recorded map, and that on May 3, 1922, the said defendant, together with her husband, Charles W. Trumbull, conveyed lot 7 to plaintiff, for a valuable consideration, by a deed of grant, of which a copy is attached to the complaint. The deed recites that the conveyance is subject to certain restrictions, declared therein to be “conditions running with the land. ’ ’ These restrictions continue in - force until January 1, 1940, and provide that the premises shall be used only for private residence purposes and shall not be occupied by anyone not of the Caucasian race; also that the improvements shall cost not less than two thousand, five hundred dollars, and shall be set back at least thirty-five feet from the street line. The restrictions are not made to inure to the benefit of any of the other lots in the block, nor is any right of re-entry reserved in case of breach. *570 The deed states merely that any breach “may be enjoined, abated or remedied by appropriate proceedings had and taken by the grantors, their successors or assigns.’’ Plaintiff 'alleges further that she was induced to purchase said lot by reason of promises made by the defendant Trumbull, through the defendant McFadden as agent, that defendant Trumbull would restrict in the same way the use of each of said other lots in said block, and would not convey any of them without subjecting the title to the same restrictions to which plaintiff's title was subjected. These promises, plaintiff alleges, were made by the defendant Trumbull without intent to perform and with intent to defraud plaintiff and induce her to accept title subject to the restrictions set forth. It is then alleged that by deed dated February 7, 1923, of which a copy is likewise annexed to the complaint, the defendant Trumbull and her husband conveyed lots 1 to 6 in said Block 1, together with other lots in the Casitas Tract, to the defendant McFadden, without any restrictions whatever.

The second count sets forth the same averments, and in addition alleges that by reason of defendant Trumbull’s promises, plaintiff was induced to, and did, pay five hundred dollars more for her lot than she would have paid but for the promises made; and further, that by the conveyance of lots 1 to 6 to McFadden, without restrictions, the value of plaintiff’s lots has been injured in the amount of five hundred dollars. Plaintiff prays for both actual and exemplary damages against defendant Trumbull, and further prays for a decree that her lot be freed from the restrictions imposed by the terms of her deed.

While defendants Trumbull and McFadden joined in the demurrer, yet they demurred therein separately as well as jointly to the entire complaint and to each separate count. The grounds of demurrer are that in neither count is a cause of action stated against either defendant; that there is a misjoinder of causes, in that a cause of action for damages is joined with a cause of action for reformation of the deed to plaintiff; and that the defendant McFadden is improperly joined as a defendant in the action with the defendant Trumbull.

So far as the defendant McFadden is concerned, his general demurrer was well taken. The second count *571 of the complaint seeks damages from the defendant Trumbull, but no damages are demanded of McFadden; nor does the complaint contain any allegations on which to base any claim against him for damages. The first count does not state a case for reformation of the deed, though the demurrer seems so to view that count. It really is aimed at quieting title against the restrictions in plaintiff’s deed; but there being no mention in the deed of any other lots to be benefited by the restrictions, there is neither privity of estate nor privity of contract between plaintiff and the defendant McFadden, and no equitable servitude is in fact imposed on plaintiff’s property in favor of any of the other lots in the block. (Werner v. Graham, 181 Cal. 174 [183 Pac. 945]; McBride v. Freeman, 191 Cal. 152 [215 Pac. 678].) As a matter of law, McFadden is a stranger to the restrictions in plaintiff’s deed; and there is nothing in the complaint indicating that he has asserted any claim that the restrictions are for the benefit of any of his lots or that he is in any way interested in their enforcement. Thus no cause of action was stated in either count against McFadden, and he was improperly joined as a defendant. His demurrer was therefore properly sustained.

It is otherwise, however, as to the defendant Trumbull. Her demurrer admits not only that the promises alleged were made in order to induce plaintiff to buy lot 7, but that they were made without intent to perform; and the deed to McFadden shows that in conveying to him lots 1 to 6, defendant Trumbull did not keep her promises. Hence the second count does state a cause of action for damages against her.

In the first count it is made to appear that at the time when lot 7 of Block 1 was deeded- to plaintiff subject to restrictions, defendant Trumbull also owned lots 1 to 6; and while no reversionary right is reserved in the deed to plaintiff, the grantors did reserve for themselves, their successors or assigns, the right to enjoin, abate or remedy by appropriate proceedings any breach of any of the restrictions. The right so reserved would be enforceable, in the absence of fraud, while the defendant Trumbull remained owner of the adjoining lots; but after she had parted with the property which would derive benefit from a continuance of the restrictions, she would have no standing, in a court *572 of equity at least, to complain of a breach. (Forman v. Sadler’s Exrs., 114 Md. 574 [80 Atl. 298]; Genung v. Harvey, 79 N. J. Eq. 57 [80 Atl. 955].) In this case not only is it alleged that the defendant Trumbull has parted with the adjoining lots, but for purposes of demurrer it is admitted that the restrictions were introduced into the deed to plaintiff through fraudulent promises. (Sec. 1572, subd. 4, Civ. Code.) In this respect the case differs from Currie v. Title Insurance & Trust Co., 60 Cal. App. 192 [212 Pac. 409], cited in the respondents’ brief. The restrictions are described in the deed as conditions and not as covenants; but whether treated as one or the other, if they were incorporated in the deed through promises made by defendant Trumbull without intent to keep them, they could afford no right of action to her, either in a court of equity or a court of law.

In Werner v. Graham, 181 Cal. 174 [183 Pac.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Maron v. Howard
258 Cal. App. 2d 473 (California Court of Appeal, 1968)
Shields v. Bank of America National Trust & Savings Ass'n
225 Cal. App. 2d 330 (California Court of Appeal, 1964)
Whitson v. City of Long Beach
200 Cal. App. 2d 486 (California Court of Appeal, 1962)
Bramwell v. Kuhle
183 Cal. App. 2d 767 (California Court of Appeal, 1960)
Kent v. Koch
333 P.2d 411 (California Court of Appeal, 1958)
Townsend v. Allen
250 P.2d 292 (California Court of Appeal, 1952)
Lord v. Garland
168 P.2d 5 (California Supreme Court, 1946)
Lynch v. Kemp
49 P.2d 817 (California Supreme Court, 1935)
Ginsberg v. Faraone
14 P.2d 777 (California Court of Appeal, 1932)
Masten v. Fox West Coast Theatres
3 P.2d 610 (California Court of Appeal, 1931)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
257 P. 199, 83 Cal. App. 566, 1927 Cal. App. LEXIS 561, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/blodgett-v-trumbull-calctapp-1927.