Martínez v. Roig

23 P.R. 426
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico·Decided January 28, 1916·No. No. 1270·Published

Opinion

Mr. Chief Justice Hernández

delivered the opinion of the court.

This is an appeal from a judgment of the District Court •of Humacao dismissing an action for the annulment of a record of servitude and for its cancellation in the registry.

The facts of the case which must serve as a basis for the decision of the appeal are as follows:

By public deed No. 227, executed before Notary Marcelino Estévanes Nanclaes in Humacao on November 15, 1896, Rodulfo Leoncio Pérez y Polanco, owner of the plantation uProvidencia” situated in the municipal district of Huma-cao, segregated therefrom a parcel, of twelve cuerdas of land together with the buildings, machinery and appurtenances thereon and sold the same to Antonio Roig Torrellas snbT ject to certain conditions, among which is the one recited in clause 6 of the said instrument which reads as follows:

“Rodulfo Leoncio Pérez binds himself to allow such roads over his plantation ‘Providencia’ as Antonio Roig may deem necessary, without injury to its crops, and in turn the latter obligates himself to give the former preferential use, free of charge, of certain railways as soon as they are constructed on the property * *

The boundaries of the piece of land segregated from “Providencia” and known since that time as “El Ejemplo,” according to the deed, are as follows:

“On the north by the brook called Mariana which separates it from other lands of the main property ‘Providencia’; on the east by the country road of the Mariana ward which separates it from other lands of the said property ‘Providencia’; on the south by the same road and by a ditch which separates it from the said ‘Providencia’; and on the west by other lands of the said plantation ‘Providencia.’ ”

The deed of bargain and sale was recorded on page. 101 of volume 14 of Humacao as property No. 674, entry 1, and the servitude referred to in clause 6 was recorded on pages 81 and 103 of volumes ¡13 and 14 of Humacao as properties Nos. 633 and 674, entries Nos. 4 and 2, respectively. Prop[429]*429erty No. 633 is the one known as “Providencia” and property No. 674 is the parcel segregated therefrom and called “El Ejemplo.”

Rodulfo Leoncio Pérez Polanco having died, a part of the plantation “Providencia,” composed of 53.75 cuerdas,. was allotted to his daughter Jnlia Ana María Pérez y Sán-chez and was recorded in the same registry of property an a separate estate under the name of “Vega del Recreo,” no-mention being made of the agreement in the deed of November 15, 1896.

By another public instrument executed before Notary Antonio de Aldrey in Humacao on August 21, 1902, Julia Ana María Pérez y Sánchez and her husband, Emilio Cuadra y Rosa, entered into an agreement with Antonio Roig Torrellas for a loan o>f money secured by a lien on sugar cane, one of the clauses of which reads, as follows:

“7. As an essential and strict condition of this contract, Jnlia Ana María Pérez y Sánchez, by leave and with the consent of her husband, Emilio Cuadra, and Antonio Roig Torrellas absolutely renounce all rights of whatever nature which might accrue to each of them by virtue of deed No. 227 executed' before Notary Marcelino Estévanes in this city on November 15, 1896, by which Rodulfo Leon-cio Pérez y Polanco, father of Julia, conveyed to Roig that part of the plantation ‘Providencial now known as ‘El Ejemplo,’ reserving to said Roig only the right of way which he has over the property of the said Julia with relation to the central ‘El Ejemplo’ owned by him, and both agree not to make at any time any claim for the same.”'

Antonio Roig Torrellas having made a written application on November 26, 1910, to the Registrar of Property of ITumacao for admission to record in accordance with the-stipulations contained in clause 7 of the agreement of August 21, 1902, which he exhibited therewith, of the servitude of right of way over the property “Vega del Recreo” owned by Julia Ana María Pérez y Sánchez which Rodulfo Leoncio Pérez had placed upon the property “Providencia” in favor of the central “El Ejemplo” belonging to Antonio Roig, the [430]*430registrar inserted on the margin of the entry of presentation of the said application the following note:

“ Admission _ to record of tbe ratification, of tbe servitude applied for in tbe documents referred to in this entry is denied in conformity witb tbe decision of June 27, 1864, because no mention of tbe servitude is'made in tbe record of tbe ‘Vega del Eecreo’ property and tbe consent of tbe owner to its creation does not appear. Clause 7 of tbe agreement presented is an essential condition of a contract whose purpose was not tbe express acknowledgment of any servitude upon tbe said property. A cautionary notice is entered, etc.”

Later, by a petition dated May 5, 1911, Antonio Eoig Torrellas presented to the same registrar the deed of November 15, 1896, and requested admission 'to record of the servitude of right of way created by its owner in favor of “El Ejemplo” belonging to Eoig upon the property known as “Vega del Eecreo” which was segregated from the plantation “Providencia,” and on the margin of the entry of presentation of the petition and documents referred to the registrar noted the following decision:

‘ ‘ Tbe record applied for in the documents mentioned in this entry is denied because it appears that tbe ‘Vega del Eecreo’ property was recorded in favor of Julia Ana María Pérez Sánchez free of the servitude to which said documents refer under a later title than that constituting tbe same. Art. 17 of tbe Mortgage Law. A cautionary notice is entered, etc.”

Antonio Eoig Torrellas appealed from that decision and this court reA^ersed the same on October 11, 1911, ordering the record to he made.

The record of the servitude having1 been again denied by the registrar on the ground that the “Vega del Eecreo” property was recorded in the registry in the name of G. Martínez & Company free of the said charge, another appeal was taken by Antonio Eoig Torrellas from the said decision and on January 25, 1912, this court reversed the same and ordered the registrar to record the servitude upon the “Vega del Eecreo” property, which he did.

[431]*431That record is what gave rise to the present action brought by G-. Martínez & Company against Antonio Roig Torrellas, in which, as the present owners of the “Vega-del Recreo,” they pray for a decree annulling the said record and ordering its cancellation in the registry, with the costs, expenses, disbursements and attorney fees in case the action should be contested.

The defendant opposed the claim of the plaintiffs and the case having been tried, the court rendered judgment on July 1, 1914, dismissing the complaint with the costs against the plaintiffs. From that judgment G-. Martínez & Company took the present appeal.

The appellant pleads the following grounds:

1. That the lower court erred in holding that by clause 6 of the deed of November 15, 1896, a servitude was created and that it was properly recorded in the registry in accordance with article 13 of the Mortgage Law.

2. Violation of article 30 of the Mortgage Law in relation to subdivision 2 of article 9 thereof.

3.

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Martínez v. Roig, 23 P.R. 426 (prsupreme 1916).

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