Lebow v. Weiner

454 S.W.2d 869, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2227
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 12, 1970
Docket7114
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 454 S.W.2d 869 (Lebow v. Weiner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lebow v. Weiner, 454 S.W.2d 869, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2227 (Tex. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinions

KEITH, Justice.

Weiner, as plaintiff, sued LeBow to enforce specific performance of an alleged contract to convey land in Galveston County. The jury verdict was favorable to Weiner and LeBow appeals. The parties will be designated by their respective surnames in this opinion. In a prior appeal involving venue [LeBow v. Weiner, 420 S.W.2d 755 (Houston 14th, Tex.Civ.App., 1967, no writ)], Judge Tunks held that the two-page instrument forming the basis of the present suit was a binding and enforceable contract between the parties. Rather than repeat all of the circumstances surrounding the making and delivery of the instrument, we refer to pages 757 and 758 of the reported opinion for an account thereof.

LeBow, in his first point, raises the defense of the Statute of Frauds. This defense, although urged in the venue appeal, was found “not available” to him in that posture of the case. (420 S.W.2d at p. 759)

The printed form used as the first page of the earnest money contract and the layman’s language used in the addenda,1 makes it necessary to separate the three elements which the parties had under consideration: the area sold, the consideration, and the description. We separate these elements :

1. Description: “* * * out of Lot 534, Section 1, Trimble & Lindsey Survey, Galveston County, Texas, standing in the name of JOSEPH LEBOW; * * * to be specifically identified by survey * * * by licensed Engineer-Surveyor; * * * to be that part [of LeBow’s land] adjacent to and West of a-tract of land owned by Joseph Swiff, * * *.
[871]*871
“ * * * the frontage to said land shall not be less than ONE HUNDRED FIFTY (150ft.) feet, along the Feeder Road, * * *.
“ * * * the ‘West’ boundary line shall be parallel with the ‘East’ Boundary line, * *
2. Area of land sold: “One (1) acre [mentioned in the first line of the description]. * * *
«* * * frontage to said -owe •aero of 2 land shall not be less than
“ * * * in the event that the the [sic] total square footage within the survey exceeds one (1) acre, or [is] less than one acre (1) then the total price will be pro rated;
* * * a
3. Price of the land: “TOTAL PRICE $20,000.00 per acre3 to be paid by
PURCHASER as follows: * * *.
“This sale is based upon a price of $20,000.00 per acre, * * * in the event that the the [sic] total square footage within the survey exceeds one (1) acre, or [is] less than one acre (1) then the total price will be pro rated; * * * and the note representing balance [of] principal will be adjusted accordingly.”

Without doing harm to the sense of the instrument, we recast the language to read as follows:

“ * * * SELLER agrees to sell, upon the terms and conditions herein, the following described real estate, * * * in Galveston, Galveston County, Texas: One (1) acre of land out of Lot 534, Section 1, Trimble & Lindsey Survey, Galveston County, Texas, standing in the name of JOSEPH LEBOW; said acre of land to be specifically identified by survey * * * by Licensed Engineer-Surveyor; said acre of land to be that part [of LeBow’s land] adjacent to and West of a Tract of land owned by Joseph Swiff, * * * the frontage to said land [contracted to be sold] shall not be less than ONE HUNDRED FIFTY (150 ft.) feet, along the Feeder Road * * * [and] the ‘West’ boundary line shall be parallel with the ‘East’ Boundary line.
“[The] TOTAL price is $20,000.00 per acre; * * * this sale [being] based upon a price of $20,000.00 per acre, * * * [and] in the event that the the [sic] total square footage within the survey [to be made] exceeds one (1) acre, or [is] less than one acre (1) then the total price will be pro rated; * * * and the note representing balance [of] principal will be adjusted accordingly.” (Bracketed matter inserted.)

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Related

Hugley v. Caldwell
559 S.W.2d 877 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1977)
Chisholm v. Hipes
552 S.W.2d 519 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1977)
McKenzie v. Farr
541 S.W.2d 879 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1976)
Foster v. Bullard
496 S.W.2d 724 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1973)
Lebow v. Weiner
454 S.W.2d 869 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1970)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
454 S.W.2d 869, 1970 Tex. App. LEXIS 2227, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lebow-v-weiner-texapp-1970.