Livengood v. Ball

1916 OK 1009, 162 P. 766, 63 Okla. 90, 1916 Okla. LEXIS 1382
Supreme Court of Oklahoma·Decided December 5, 1916·No. 5540·Published·Cited by 6 cases

Opinion

HARDY, J.

The parties occupy the same position here which they occupied in the trial court, and will be referred to accordingly. Plaintiffs brought this action for the balance due upon a promissory note and for foreclosure of a mortgage given to secure the same. The defendants answered by way of general denial, and further alleged that on the 25th day of June, 1909, plaintiffs entered into a contract with defendants by which plaintiffs covenanted and agreed to sell and convey to defendants certain lands, in consideration of the sum of $32,000, to be paid on or before the 25th day of June, 1910; that under the contract they were authorized to plat, dedicate, and sell said lands in lots and blocks, and upon certain payments being made to plaintiffs warranty deeds to the lots sold were to be executed and delivered by plaintiffs to , purchasers; that, acting under said contract, defendants platted the land and sold various lots and made payments, and that on the 28th day of July, 1910, they had paid an aggregate sum of $22,000, leaving a balance of $10,000 of the original purchase price due and unpaid, and on said last-named date, in conformity with their contract, plaintiffs executed and delivered to defendant Ball a warranty deed conveying the remaining portion of said lands; that on said July 28, 1910, plaintiffs demanded payment of the balance of $10,000 due on the purchase price of said lands, but, defendants' being unable to pay same, an agreement was entered into that the time of payment of said sum of $10,000 should be extended to the 1st day of February, 1911, and a new note given therefor, in the sum of $15,000, which note was executed and delivered, and said note is alleged to be the note sued on herein. It is further alleged that said agreement and the taking of said note was corrupt and usurious.

Demurrer was filed to this answer, which was overruled, and reply filed containing a general denial and admitting the execution of the contract set out in the defendants’ answer with reference to the sale of said land, but alleging that the full purchase price thereof was not paid according to the terms thereof, and that time was specifically made of the essence of the contract, and by reason of the default of defendants in ■ not making payments according to the terms thereof plaintiffs were entitled to and did elect to treat said contract as at an end and that thereafter, on the 28th day of July. 1910. the parties entered into a new agreement whereby said lands were sold and conveyed to the defendants. The case was tried to a jury, which returned a verdict for defendants.

*91 The errors assigned are considered together as practically presenting the same question. On page 36 of plaintiffs’ brief it is said:

“Tlie matters upon which there was dispute in the evidence were found against tlie plaintiffs by the jury, and we shall not seek in this brief to question tlie well-understood and long-established rule of this court that it will not examine the evidence and weigh it in order to- pass its judgment upon the correctness or incorrectness of any finding of the jury that is reasonably supported by tlie evidence. If the issues raised by the pleadings and testified about by tlie witnesses were of such nature as to sustain the defense pleaded and testified to, and if the same were properly submitted to the jury, then it will not be contended by us in this argument that there was not evidence supporting the jury’s verdict.”

The. position taken by counsel is that the. allegations of tlie answer do not constitute a defense to the plaintiffs’ action, and that the evidence and all of the reasonable in-tendments and inferences drawn therefrom, considered in the light most favorable, to the defendants, constituted no defense to the plaintiffs’ right of recovery. There was a sharply drawn conflict in the evidence, and in tlie foregoing extract from counsel’s brief it is admitted that the evidence was sufficient to sustain the allegations of defendants' answer. Tlie controversy grew out of a contract by which defendants purchased certain lands for tlie purpose of platting them as an addition to the city of Oklahoma Oity, which contract provided that the full purchase price should be paid on or before June 25, 1910, and further provided that time was of the essence of tlie contract. The full amount of the purchase price was not paid upon this date, and payment of the balance due was demanded by plaintiffs. Being unable to pay tlie sum due, defendants sent a representative to see plaintiffs, and certain negotiations were had resulting in the execution of the note and mortgage sued on. The contention of the plaintiffs was that a forfeiture of the original contract had occurred and the subsequent dealings resulting in tlie execution of said note and mortgage were a new and different contract; while defendants contended that the balance of said purchase, price, except the sum. of $10,000, was paid, and an agreement entered into that the time of_ payment of the remaining $10,000 should be extended until February 1, 1011, and as a consideration for said extension a bonus of $5,000 should be paid. Plaintiffs say that, time having been made of the essence of the contract, they had the right to declare the same terminated and all payments theretofore made forfeited, and that they had the right thereafter to enter into a new and subsequent contract upon any consideration the parties might mutually agree upon. The law is now established in this state that, where it is expressly stipulated in the contract that time is of the essence thereof, there must be compliance with its terms within the time specified or no recovery can be had upon such contract. Powers v. Rude, 14 Okla. 381, 79 Pac. 89; Federal Trust Co. v. Coyle, 34 Okla. 636, 126 Pac. 800; Snyder v. Stribling, 18 Okla. 168. 89 Pac. 222.

In Helm v. Rone, 43 Okla. 137, 141 Pac. 678, it was held that, where a vendee pays money in part performance of- an executory contract of sale of real estate and fails to perform it, he cannot recover of the vendor the amount so paid. Had the plaintiffs terminated their contract with defendants and refused to be further bound thereby, and refused to accept payments after the time of its expiration, and refused to give further releases or deeds thereunder as they had a right to do, and these had been acquiesced in by defendants as claimed, there could be no reason why tire parties might not have entered into a new contract for the purchase of that part of the lands not theretofore conveyed under the original contract. But there is evidence to show that after June 25, 1910, plaintiffs demanded payment of the balance due upon the original contract with interest thereon and damages for breach of the contract, and accepted payment of $3,100 thereon and executed releases for certain lots which had not theretofore been conveyed, and at the time of the execution of the note in suit accepted a payment of $12,200 in money. While the law is that time is of the essence of the contract when made so by its terms, and that payments made upon an executory contract for the purchase of real estate where time is of the essence thereof will be forfeited upon failure to pay the full purchase price according to its terms, yet a vendor for whose benefit such provision is inserted in the contract may waive this condition, and where after the expiration of tlie time fixed he receives payment of the purchase price without objection, he waives the forfeiture, and will not afterwards be permitted to claim that tlie contract has been forfeited. 39 Cyc. 1394.

In Berry v.

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Livengood v. Ball, 1916 OK 1009, 162 P. 766, 63 Okla. 90, 1916 Okla. LEXIS 1382 (Okla. 1916).

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