Johnson v. Perry

582 P.2d 886, 20 Wash. App. 696, 1978 Wash. App. LEXIS 2459
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedJuly 17, 1978
DocketNo. 5173-1
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 582 P.2d 886 (Johnson v. Perry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson v. Perry, 582 P.2d 886, 20 Wash. App. 696, 1978 Wash. App. LEXIS 2459 (Wash. Ct. App. 1978).

Opinion

Ringold, J.

This is an action brought in November 1975, to quiet title and to obtain judicial confirmation of the forfeiture of a real estate contract. As an affirmative defense the defendant purchaser, Arthur Perry, alleged that he lacked the mental capacity to enter into the contract. Perry's counterclaims alleged: (1) trespass, (2) tortious interference with his contractual relations with his tenants, (3) abuse of process, (4) breach of contract, and (5) misrepresentation, unequal position, duress, lack of capacity, [698]*698unconscionability and failure of consideration. He sought damages and injunctive relief. The defendant's jury demand was stricken and the cause was tried to the court, which granted the plaintiff's relief and overruled or dismissed all of Perry's affirmative defenses and counterclaims. This appeal followed. We find no error in the trial court rulings and affirm.

Perry purchased the subject property, an apartment building, from the Beau-Dang Corporation in 1969. From 1969 until 1972 he made the $800 monthly payments as required by the real estate contract. Shortly after Perry had purchased the property the seller assigned its interest to Fern Shaffer, who subsequently conveyed her interest by means of quitclaim deeds to the present plaintiffs, her daughters, sons-in-law, and their children.

From the record it is not clear when Mrs. Shaffer died, but during the year 1972 the payments were made by Perry to the plaintiffs and he negotiated with the plaintiffs in an effort to reduce the payments. The plaintiffs accepted reduced payments of $500 per month, without agreeing to a modification of the contract. Perry eventually stopped the payments. By February 1974, he was in default under the contract in the amount of $16,800. On April 1, 1974, the plaintiffs directed to Perry a notice of intention to declare a forfeiture and cancel the real estate contract. A declaration of cancellation of the contract and forfeiture of Perry's interest was made on April 29, 1974. Subsequently unlawful detainer actions were commenced to dispossess the tenants of the building, which actions were the basis for several of Perry's counterclaims.

Perry contends that the trial court erred in (1) denying his demand for a jury trial; (2) in permitting the plaintiffs to enforce a real estate contract to which they were not a party; and (3) in failing to find that Perry lacked capacity to enter into the contract. Error is also assigned in the trial court's dismissal of Perry's counterclaims.

[699]*699Jury Trial

The case Scavenius v. Manchester Port Dist., 2 Wn. App. 126, 129-30, 467 P.2d 372 (1970), interprets CR 38 and 39 to vest discretion in the trial court in deciding whether a jury trial should be granted.

We hold that the only effect of the adoption of CR 38 and 39 is to vest in the trial court wide discretion in cases involving both legal and equitable issues, to allow a jury on some, none, or all issues presented. Subsection (c) of CR 39 allows an advisory jury on equitable issues in the discretion of the trial court.

Such discretion should be exercised with reference to many factors including, but not necessarily limited to the following: (1) who seeks the equitable relief; (2) is the person seeking the equitable relief also demanding trial of the issues to the jury; (3) are the main issues primarily legal or equitable in their nature; (4) do the equitable issues present complexities in the trial which will affect the orderly determination of such issues by a jury;

(5) are the equitable and legal issues easily separable;

(6) in the exercise of such discretion, great weight should be given to the constitutional right of trial by jury and if the nature of the action is doubtful, a jury trial should be allowed; (7) the trial court should go beyond the pleadings to ascertain the real issues in dispute before making the determination as to whether or not a jury trial should be granted on all or part of such issues.

Applying the Scavenius criteria, we see that both parties seek equitable relief and the main issue, contract forfeiture, is equitable.

There is no record before this court by which we can determine which factors within the parameters of the Scauenius rule were considered by the trial court. We conclude that in the absence of a contrary showing, the trial court properly exercised its discretion.

Plaintiff's Right To Enforce the Contract

Before her death Fern Shaffer executed and delivered quitclaim deeds to her daughters, sons-in-law, and grandchildren. The quitclaim deeds conveyed the entire legal [700]*700title which Fern Shaffer had to the property here in question. At the commencement of this action, guardians ad litem were appointed to represent the minor plaintiffs. No heirs or other persons claiming any right to receive the payments challenged the plaintiffs' right to enforce the contract and to receive payments.

Perry contends that the plaintiffs are not entitled to enforce the contract because the legal title had been conveyed to them by quitclaim deeds rather than by deeds and assignments of the vendor's interest in the real estate contract. Perry relies on Biehn v. Lyon, 29 Wn.2d 750, 755, 189 P.2d 482 (1948), where our court stated: "We have on numerous occasions recognized that the vendor in a real estate contract may assign the contract to one person and convey legal title to another; or he may convey the legal title and retain the contract and the right to receive payments thereon." (Citations omitted.) From the proposition that a vendor may divest himself of legal title yet retain the right to receive the payments, as in Biehn, it does not follow that when the conveyance is silent as to the disposition of the right to receive payments, the grantee does not succeed to the right to enforce the contract.

Neither party has cited authority dealing with the question whether the conveyance of a contract vendor's entire legal title to a third person without reference to the rights under the contract of sale gives to the third person the right to enforce the vendor's rights against the purchaser.1 We find the general rule stated in 77 Am. Jur. 2d Vendor and Purchasers § 377, at 527 as follows:

A conveyance of his interest by a vendor to a third person, or an assignment by the vendor of the executory contract, will as a general rule pass the right to receive the purchase money that remains unpaid at the time the purchaser has notice, or is chargeable with constructive notice, of the conveyance.

[701]*701The cases cited by the editors of American Jurisprudence supporting the rule are not definitive. The court in Biehn ascertained the intent of Biehn to retain the right to the payments due under the contract even though he conveyed the title by quitclaim deed to his intended bride before the wedding. We hold that upon the conveyance of the vendor's legal title, the right to receive the payments due under a real estate contract passes to the grantee in the absence of showing an intention of the vendor to make a separate disposition of the right to enforce performance of the contract.

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Bluebook (online)
582 P.2d 886, 20 Wash. App. 696, 1978 Wash. App. LEXIS 2459, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-perry-washctapp-1978.