First National Bank of West Plains v. King

363 S.W.2d 590, 1963 Mo. LEXIS 874
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedJanuary 14, 1963
DocketNo. 49307
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 363 S.W.2d 590 (First National Bank of West Plains v. King) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First National Bank of West Plains v. King, 363 S.W.2d 590, 1963 Mo. LEXIS 874 (Mo. 1963).

Opinion

BARRETT, Commissioner.

This proceeding, initiated as an action for a declaratory judgment as to the duties of an escrow agent and the rights of the parties under a real estate contract, has now become a suit to quiet the title to real estate, an action for money had and received by reason of unjust enrichment and a suit of a general equitable nature including an accounting and an adjustment of rights between the parties. It is necessary to a complete understanding of the issues upon this appeal therefore to detail the background in which the litigation originated.

Buck and Evaleen Pennington and Harold and Dorothy Reed came to West Plains from the State of California in December 1959. It is not known whether any of them had had any previous acquaintance with Howell County or any prior experience with farming in Southwest Missouri or elsewhere. Buck and Mrs. Reed are brother and sister. The Reeds have three children and the Penningtons two. Almost immediately upon their arrival and for undisclosed reasons they entered into a written contract with I. N. and Sarah King to purchase their 300 acre farm for the price of $15,000. The signed contract was deposited with the First National Bank of West Plains as escrow agent for all the parties and upon fulfillment of the agreement the bank was to deliver the deposited deed to the Penningtons and Reeds, conveying to each couple a one half interest by the entirety. Upon the signing of the contract the purchasers, contributing equal sums, paid the Kings $1,000 and on January 1, 1960, made an additional payment of $5,500 and went into possession of the farm. There was a secured loan from the Federal Land Bank on which there was a balance due of $3,031.35, payable $159.33 a year together with 4% interest. The purchasers assumed and agreed to pay that obligation. This left a balance due on the purchase price of $5,468.65 and this sum the purchasers agreed to pay to the Kings in annual installments of $540.67 together with 6% interest on the unpaid balance.

In addition to the Reeds’ and Penning-tons’ contract with the Kings there was also an agreement and certain transactions among themselves. While not clearly spelled out in terms, the basic idea appears to have been that they would jointly, perhaps even in a full partnership, pay the purchase price, jointly improve, jointly operate and equally share in the expense and ultimately jointly own the farm and equally share in its profits. To initially carry out these purposes and particularly to start farm operations it was agreed that the Reeds and Penningtons would contribute equal sums to be deposited in a joint bank account. When the time came, however, Buck Pennington had no money and could not immediately furnish his half of the cash. They “put in * * * $50.00 apiece for groceries” and by the time they got to the bank “that was the end of my money.” Nevertheless, Reed deposited, according to Buck, $600 in their joint names and $600 in his own account. Reed says that he deposited $1,000 in their joint account and $700 in his own account “which I later spent for things that weren’t to be itemized, or deductible in that way, like operations and things of that nature.” It was anticipated that the Penningtons would sell their property in Atascadero, California, at which time they would contribute their proportionate share to the bank account.

In any event, the Reeds and the Pen-ningtons all moved into the unimproved farmhouse. From the joint bank account, according to Buck, they spent about $600 for lumber, general repairs and modernization of the house. They bought one cow, ten pigs and two hundred chickens. They sold a neighbor standing timber for which they received $300, each of them took $50 and Buck bought groceries, he does not know what became of the other $200. But in less than thirty days the Reeds and Penningtons were unable to get along with one another, for some reason they avoided a recitation of “the particulars” of their disagreement, and Buck decided that he would rather live in Cali[593]*593fornia. He sold their furniture to the Kings’ son-in-law and on February 8, 1960, returned to California. The Reeds stayed on and during the year 1960 attempted with most indifferent success to operate the farm.

During the year 1960 there were no further payments due under the contract with the Kings, but in January 1961 total payments of $868 were to be paid the bank. Reed says that a week before these payments were due he called Pennington in California and Pennington said that he would be in Howell County in ten days and would “settle things.” Buck claims that all the while he and Reed were negotiating with one another to either buy or sell their respective interests in the farm. But Reed’s demand was for $5,500 which Buck thought was more than he had in the farm and so he “left it hanging there.” He says, however, that both King and Reed knew that he had made an agreement to sell to some “third party.” And a man did talk to Reed, but “I advised him I was in a lot of trouble” and “if he wanted to go into something like that, he’d be in the same water with me.” King says that it was a day or so after he had resold the farm to Reed that this man talked to him about buying Buck’s interest. In any event, Buck returned to West Plains on January 27, 1961. He did not see or communicate with the Reeds. He did talk to Mr. King and admittedly informed him that he had returned with the intention of making his half of the payment but after returning had changed his mind and “decided to let the whole thing go.” King’s version of the conversation was that Buck came in and wanted to know how “I’d like to have * * * his part of the farm back, and I told him I didn’t want it * * * and he said, ‘Well, I am going to turn it back to you, anyway. * * * I brought the money with me, but I had a change of heart. I am not going to pay it.’ ” And, King says, “he gave me a reason — he said he couldn’t make a living here in Missouri, and he couldn’t get nothing off of the place if he stayed here, and he was just going to turn it back to me and have no more to do with it and was washing his hands clean of it * * Buck’s interpretation of this particular episode was this: “Well, I was so disgusted with it, I didn’t want to keep putting money into it and not get anything back. When I got back here, it was about six below. I was cold and disgusted and I thought I’d just let it go.” The upshot was that Pennington returned to California without tendering any of the payments then due on the contract.

Definite dates and terms were not established, whatever documents, contract or deed, may have been executed were not offered in evidence. But King says that on February 18, 1961, he sold the property to the Reeds. A mutual release was executed and the Reeds executed and gave King a quitclaim deed, and, according to Harold Reed, the Kings entered into a new contract selling the property to the Reeds for the original price of $15,000; “Of course, with the down payment taken into consideration.” Some time after this transaction Harold Reed made a trip to California and it was then that Pennington learned that the Kings had resold the property to the Reeds. And on March 8, 1961, Pennington telegraphed $434.40 to the bank in West Plains, one half the sum due under the original contract in January. But the Kings’ lawyer had instructed the bank to not accept any payments from the Penningtons and when the case was tried in October 1961 the bank had the Western Union check.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
363 S.W.2d 590, 1963 Mo. LEXIS 874, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-national-bank-of-west-plains-v-king-mo-1963.