Ennis v. Ring

300 P.2d 773, 49 Wash. 2d 284, 1956 Wash. LEXIS 268
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 23, 1956
Docket33607
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 300 P.2d 773 (Ennis v. Ring) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ennis v. Ring, 300 P.2d 773, 49 Wash. 2d 284, 1956 Wash. LEXIS 268 (Wash. 1956).

Opinions

Ott, J.

February 15, 1944, Walter S. Wynhoff and Ethel O. Wynhoff, his wife, executed a lease of a forty-three-hundred-acre ranch to Harold E. Ring and Edwin W. Ring. It provided for a term of ten years and one month, terminating April 1,1954, and for an annual cash rental of seventeen hundred dollars, to be paid on or before December 1st of each year, with the exception of the last year of the lease, when the rent was payable on or before October 1, 1954. The lessees were to have the use of certain Indian-owned land (the “Henrietta Hazelhurst Allotment”) which was then under lease to the Wynhoffs. The lessees agreed to comply with the department of Indian affairs’ regulations pertinent thereto. The Wynhoff-Ring lease further provided that the lessees would sow, in the fall of 1953, one hundred twenty acres to winter wheat, and that they would farm the land in a “good farming manner,” and return the premises in good repair at the expiration of the lease.

At various times prior to March 20, 1947, the Wynhoffs had mortgaged the ranch to Albert Gieb. March 20, 1947, they deeded the ranch to Albert Gieb and wife, and on the same date, the Giebs executed a contract of sale back to the Wynhoffs.

June 17, 1950, the Giebs deeded the premises to Bernard [286]*286M. White and wife. Thereafter, the Whites gave an option to the Wynhoffs to purchase the property on or before December 1, 1956.

Subsequent to June 17,1950, the tenants, Edwin and Harold Ring, were notified in writing by the Wynhoffs and the Whites that the Whites were subrogated to the leasehold interest of the Wynhoffs, and that the rent should be paid to the Whites. Thereafter, rent was paid to the Whites.

October 13, 1953, the Whites sent a notice to the Rings which read, in part, as follows:

"... you agreed to pay the sum of $1700.00 as rent each year payable on the 1st day of December with the exception of the last year in which the rent is payable on or before October 1st of that year. The year 1953 is the last year of your tenancy under said lease which provides for expiration of the term on April 1, 1954; consequently, your rental payment for the year 1953 is due October 1st. You are further notified that your rental payment is in default and that according to the provisions of said lease, if such default is not cured within thirty days of the giving of notice of default, said lease shall terminate and the lessor shall enter into possession of said real estate.”

The Rings did not pay the rent claimed to be due in the October 13th notice, nor did they pay the rent on or before October 1, 1954, as required by the lease.

January 6,1953, Ethel O. Wynhoff and Walter S. Wynhoff were divorced, and William C. Harrison and Richard J. Ennis were appointed as court commissioners to sell and dispose of the forty-three-hundred-acre ranch. By supplemental order dated March 26,1954, the commissioners were specifically authorized

“To commence and maintain in their own names, as Court Commissioners, any action necessary ... to collect any rents, . . . and to prosecute or defend any action for damages which may occur in connection with said real property . ., . ”

August 23, 1954, Walter S. Wynhoff and Ethel O. Copen-haver (Wynhoff) sold the ranch to the Whites, conveying their interest therein by quitclaim deed.

This action was litigated upon issues joined by a third [287]*287amended complaint and the answer thereto. It involves six causes of action arising from alleged breach of the lease.

At the close of plaintiffs’ testimony, upon defendants’ motion, the trial court dismissed the first, second, third, sixth, and items one and two of the fourth causes of action for the stated reason that the third amended complaint related back to the date the action was originally commenced and that, therefore, these causes of action were premature. The fifth cause of action was dismissed for the reason that the oral agreement upon which it was based was within the statute of frauds. The third item of the fourth cause of action, dealing with conversion of personal property, was dismissed upon the ground of failure of proof.

From the judgment of dismissal without prejudice, the plaintiffs have appealed.

In determining the issue of prematurity, analysis of the pleadings is necessary.

The original action was commenced February 17, 1954, by the appellant commissioners only. This complaint contained three separate causes of action, (1) that the annual rent of seventeen hundred dollars for the last year of the lease was then due, owing, and unpaid [although the lease provided otherwise]; (2) that the one hundred twenty acres of winter wheat were not planted “in accordance with good husbandry,” to the damage of the appellants; and (3) that the pasture lands were greatly over-pastured and had been permitted to be eroded or killed out, to the appellants’ damage.

A first amended complaint was served April 14, 1954. It alleged three additional causes of action, (4) that the lease had expired, that respondents had violated the lease in failing to keep the premises in a good state of repair, and that certain personal property had been converted by the respondents; (5) that the one-hundred-sixty-acre Hazelhurst allotment had not been surrendered, as provided by a subsequent oral agreement; and (6) that the respondents continued to occupy and trespass upon the land unlawfully.

A second amended complaint was served June 7, 1954. It alleged the same six causes of action pleaded in the first [288]*288amended, complaint and, in addition, prayed that the Wyn-hoff-Ring lease be reformed to designate the last year’s rental to be due October 1, 1953, instead of October 1, 1954, for the alleged reason that the latter due date was obviously a typographical error.

A motion to dismiss the second amended complaint was filed by the respondents. The appellants filed a motion for leave to amend and to add additional parties. October 15, 1954, the court denied respondents’ motion to dismiss, granted appellants’ motion for leave to amend, and directed that Water S. Wynhoff and Ethel O. Copenhaver (Wynhoff) be joined as parties plaintiff. The court’s order further directed that the new complaint allege the added parties’ interest in the land which was the subject of the lease, and that all parties plaintiff verify the complaint.

A third amended complaint, which conformed with the court’s order, was served October 26, 1954. This pleading alleged the same six causes of action but abandoned the plea for reformation and relied upon breach of the lease as drawn.

, We are committed to the rule that, if an amended complaint (1) adds a new cause of action, or (2) abandons a former theory or cause of action, it does not relate back to the original complaint but, instead, rests the action upon the pleadings as amended. Seely v. Gilbert, 16 Wn. (2d) 611, 134 P. (2d) 710 (1943); Skidmore v. Pacific Creditors, 18 Wn. (2d) 157, 138 P. (2d) 664 (1943); Herr v. Herr, 35 Wn. (2d) 164, 211 P. (2d) 710 (1949); High v. High, 41 Wn. (2d) 811, 252 P. (2d) 272 (1953).

An exception, which is not here pertinent, is stated in Rule of Pleading, Practice and Procedure 6(4), 34A Wn. (2d) 72.

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

Related

Kimberly Bogardus v. City of Yakima
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2025
Lennar Multifamily Builders, Llc, V. Saxum Stone, Llc
492 P.3d 175 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021)
17 Mile, L.L.C. v. Kruzel
2013 Ohio 3005 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2013)
Carlile v. Harbour Homes, Inc.
147 Wash. App. 193 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2008)
Kezner v. Landover Corp.
942 P.2d 1003 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1997)
Smoke v. City of Seattle
902 P.2d 678 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1995)
Mueller v. Rupp
761 P.2d 62 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1988)
Fluke Capital & Management Services Co. v. Richmond
724 P.2d 356 (Washington Supreme Court, 1986)
Caruso v. Local Union No. 690
670 P.2d 240 (Washington Supreme Court, 1983)
Missouri-Indiana Investment Group v. Obie Shaw
699 F.2d 952 (Eighth Circuit, 1983)
Missouri-Indiana Investment Group v. Shaw
699 F.2d 952 (Eighth Circuit, 1983)
State v. Eppens
633 P.2d 92 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1981)
Missouri-Indiana Inv. Group v. Shaw
518 F. Supp. 576 (E.D. Missouri, 1981)
Stevenson v. Parker
608 P.2d 1263 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1980)
Olson v. Roberts & Schaeffer Co.
607 P.2d 319 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1980)
Consolidated Electrical Distributors, Inc. v. Gier
602 P.2d 1206 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1979)
Muscatel v. Storey
354 P.2d 931 (Washington Supreme Court, 1960)
Hill v. Withers
348 P.2d 218 (Washington Supreme Court, 1960)
Wilson v. Wilson
341 P.2d 894 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1959)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
300 P.2d 773, 49 Wash. 2d 284, 1956 Wash. LEXIS 268, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ennis-v-ring-wash-1956.