McLendon Bros. v. Finch

58 S.E. 690, 2 Ga. App. 421, 1907 Ga. App. LEXIS 410
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedAugust 8, 1907
Docket380
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 58 S.E. 690 (McLendon Bros. v. Finch) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McLendon Bros. v. Finch, 58 S.E. 690, 2 Ga. App. 421, 1907 Ga. App. LEXIS 410 (Ga. Ct. App. 1907).

Opinion

Powell, J.

In March, 1902, Finch, for the consideration of $1,000, sold to Smith & Tomlin all of the timber on certain lots of land, together with sawmill privileges, including right of ingress and egress; but limited the time within which the timber was to be cut and the privileges exercised to two years from date. The instrument of conveyance contained no clause of warranty.' As a part of the transaction Smith’ & Tomlin gave promissory notes for the purchase-money of the timber. In September, 1902, Smith & Tomlin transferred their conveyance to McLendon Brothers, and Finch took the notes of the latter partnership in lieu of the notes of the former. .Afterwards the partnership of McLendon Brothers & Smith, composed of the same persons as the partnership McLendon Brothers with the addition of Smith, acquired the conveyance; but the record is silent as to just how this was done. In May, 1903, the East & West Railroad Company sought to condemn a right of way through the lands on which the timber stood; and, to avoid the statutory proceedings, Finch, in consideration of $800, executed and delivered to the railroad company a warranty deed to the strip of land squght as a right of. way, and made no exception as to the timber. At the time this conveyance was executed McLendon Brothers & Smith were in possession of the timber and were actually engaged in cutting it. The railroad company proceeded to open and grade its right of way, and, in addi[423]*423tion. to cutting down a considerable quantity of tbe timber* also impeded the ingress and egress to and from the mill and timber of McLendon Brothers & Smith; and this partnership brought suit against the railroad company for these damages. In settlement of this suit the railroad company paid to McLendon Brothers & Smith $425, and took from them a receipt in full for all damages done by the cutting of the right of way. Subsequently to this transaction Finch sued McLendon Brothers upon the notes which they had given for the timber. In defense to this action several pleas were filed, all of them based upon the fact that Finch had executed the deed to the railroad company, without excepting the timber and milling rights previously conveyed. They first set up the transaction bjr a plea of failure of consideration, asserting that the second conveyance was a violation of the former contract, and that through the violation of this contract the defendants had been damaged in a sum far in excess of the amount due on. the notes, by reason of the fact that the railroad company had destroyed their timber and mill rights, and that the consideration of the notes had therefore failed. They also set up the same transaction in the form of a plea of recoupment, and prayed judgment for the excess of the damages above the amount of the notes. They further set up, that, in conveying the land to the railroad company, Finch had also conveyed the timber; that the timber conveyed was of the value of $500; that this amount of money having been received by Finch for timber belonging to defendants, he should in equity and good conscience account to them for it; and they therefore prayed a set-off of this amount. It appeared, from the testimony that the railroad company had notice of the timber conveyance at the date on which they bought the right of way, and that n*> part of the eight hundred dollars consideration was paid on account of the timber. The defendants objected to this testimony, so far as it went to show that Finch had received no consideration for the timber, on the ground that it contradicted the recitals of the deed from Finch to the railroad company, which asserted that in consideration of $800 Finch conveyed the land, and did not except the timber. The court directed a verdict for the plaintiff, and the defendants bring error.

1. The relation between the parties to a conveyance whereby the one sells to the other the timber on land is that of vendor and ven[424]*424clee, and not that of landlord and tenant; and the conveyance is a deed, not a lease, although the time within which the timber is to be cut and removed is limited to less than five years. Baxter v. Mattox, 106 Ga. 344; McRae v. Stillwell, 111 Ga. 65; Morgan v. Perkins, 94 Ga. 353; Coody v. Gress Lumber Co., 82 Ga. 793. In cases of landlord and tenant, no estate passes out of the landlord further than a mere usufruct which is not assignable without the landlord’s consent. Civil Code, § 3115. The conveyance of timber, on the other hand, authorizes the grantee, not merely to use it and return it, but to take it away, sell it, and otherwise possess it. The time limit within which the timber must be removed is not a limitation directly upon the estate owned in the timber, but upon the concurrent license of ingress and egress necessary to the use of the timber. These conveyances are further distinguishable from leases, by reason of the fact that they are •assignable without the consent of the grantor. McRae v. Stillwell, 111 Ga. 65; Baxter v. Mattox, 106 Ga. 355. The conveyance from Finch to Smith & Tomlin, being a deed and not a lease, is within the purview of the Civil Code, § 3613, that “In a sale of land there is no implied warranty of title.” It is to be treated as a quitclaim deed. McDonald v. Beall, 55 Ga. 289 (9, 10); Wright v. Shorter, 56 Ga. 72 (4, 5); McDonough v. Martin, 88 Ga. 675; Nathans v. Arkwright, 66 Ga. 186. Whether it is such a deed as falls within the purview of Civil Code, § 3609, which provides that a title after-acquired by the vendor inures to the benefit of the vendee, is not in point in this case and is not decided (see Morrison v. Whiteside, 116 Ga. 459, and Taylor v. Wainman, 116 Ga. 795); but it has no express contract of warranty, and none will be implied. This conveyance being a deed and not a lease, this case is distinguishable from Perry v. Wall, 68 Ga. 70, and Williams v. George, 104 Ga. 599; for statutes declaring “that no covenants shall be implied in a conveyance of real estate have been considered as not applying to leases, because they are not conveyances of real estate within the meaning of the statute.” Brewster on Conveyancing, § 211. The case is likewise distinguishable from Sanderlin v. Willis, 94 Ga. 171, and Gibson v. Carreker, 91 Ga. 617; for in those cases there was involved the breach of the ■express covenant of a bond for title. We have thus defined the character of the timber conveyance executed by Finch to McLendon [425]*425Brothers, as prefatory to the statement, that, since it contained no covenant of warranty, and since none will be implied, Finch committed no contractual breach by his subsequent deed to the railway company. Finch having committed no contractual breach in executing the second conveyance, it follows that the court did not err in disregarding such of the defendant’s pleas as were necessarily founded upon this theory. This is especially applicable to the plea of recoupment.

Further, as to the plea of failure of consideration, let us inquire as to what was the consideration of the notes. It was the execution of the timber conveyance by Finch and the passage of the title to the timber from him to his grantees.

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Bluebook (online)
58 S.E. 690, 2 Ga. App. 421, 1907 Ga. App. LEXIS 410, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mclendon-bros-v-finch-gactapp-1907.