Peper v. Eveland

272 N.W. 11, 224 Wis. 267, 1937 Wisc. LEXIS 103
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 9, 1937
StatusPublished

This text of 272 N.W. 11 (Peper v. Eveland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Peper v. Eveland, 272 N.W. 11, 224 Wis. 267, 1937 Wisc. LEXIS 103 (Wis. 1937).

Opinion

Fritz, J.

In connection with their appeal the defendants assigned error in respect to a ruling by the court which denied their motion to strike out an amended complaint filed within the time allowed by an order sustaining a demurrer to a prior complaint. It suffices to note that we find no prejudicial error in that ruling.

The plaintiff bases his cause of action for specific performance upon an instrument which reads as follows :

Application to Purchase.
August 15th, 1934.
The undersigned hereby agrees to purchase from Jesse Eveland, one of the heirs of the J. A. Eveland estate, the following described land in Polk County, Wisconsin.
The north Half of the Northeast Quarter of Section Twenty-seven, and the South half of the northwest quarter of section Twenty-six, in Township thirty-five, North, Range Eighteen west, known as the J. A. Eve-land farm.
[271]*271and the undersigned agrees to pay the sum of Thirty-seven Hundred dollars in full therefore, which amount is to be paid as follows:
This application also includes all the personal property belonging to the estate of J. A. Eveland including all crops belonging to the said estate and whatever cash that is on hand as of this date.
Pledge payment. $ 50.00
Cash payment. 3650.00
$3700.00
Papers are to be in the form of warranty deed and accompanied by abstract of title showing clear title to the premises,
. . . such papers to be at the State Bank of Centuria, for execution and delivery by the undersigned on or before sixty days. This agreement becomes a binding contract subject to be specifically enforced by either party, or in case applicant fails to fulfill this contract before the execution and delivery of the formal deed, at the owners option, the pledge payment shall become forfeited by such failure. The payment tendered herewith shall be refunded if the offer is not accepted, otherwise to be applied as part of the purchase price of the premises above described.
Wm. Peper
Purchaser.
Jesse Eveland
Owner.
Witness
Oscar W. Peterson
The $50.00 payment delivered as pledged payment is held in escrow by the State Bank of Centuria, subject to the completion of this deal. If clear title is not delivered to the purchaser the pledge payment is to be returned to the purchaser, otherwise to be made as part of the purchase price.
State Bank of Centuria
By Oscar W. Peterson, Cashier.

That instrument was subscribed in triplicate by the plaintiff above the designation “Purchaser” and by the defend[272]*272ant Eveland above the designation "Owner,” on August IS, 1934; and their execution thereof is evidenced by a notarial acknowledgment, which appears thereon after the signature to the escrow provision on behalf of the defendant bank by Oscar W. Peterson, its cashier. A signed copy thereof was delivered to each of the parties thereto, and the third copy, together with the pledge payment of $50, which was made by the plaintiff, as therein provided, was delivered in escrow to the bank.

The evidence received on the trial warranted the court's findings to the following effect, in respect to the subject matter of that instrument and the acts or conduct of the parties in performance thereof or in relation thereto: The land described therein was a farm, which was owned in 1934 by the defendant Eveland and other heirs of James Eveland, deceased, whose estate was in the process of administration, which necessitated selling the estate’s property in order to pay its debts and cost of administration. The bank was a creditor of the estate in the sum of $735.14 and of Eveland in the sum of $302.04, and the latter and Peterson, as cashier of the bank, were endeavoring to effect a sale of the property. Their efforts resulted in the plaintiff and Eveland entering into and executing the instrument of August 15, 1934. To assist the plaintiff in raising the $3,650 required as the balance of the agreed purchase price of $3,700, the loan committee of the bank authorized a loan of $2,000 on a note to be secured by the plaintiff’s mortgage on the land in question, and also a loan of $500 on his unsecured note. By September 29, 1934, he had arranged, and it was understood between him and Peterson and Eveland, that the bank considered him entitled to a credit of $3,679.44 at the bank on account of the following amounts for use in making his payment of the purchase price balance of $3,650, to wit, $2,000 on his note, and mortgage and $500 on his unsecured note to [273]*273the bank; $1,089.44 on deposit in his checking account; $25 on a bank deposit by the Eveland estate; and $65 on a trustee’s certificate issued to that estate for its interest in securities segregated under the bank’s stabilization agreement. The last two items were considered part of the estate’s personal property which the plaintiff was to acquire under the agreement of August 15, 1934. Consequently, Peterson, on September 29, 1934, informed the plaintiff that he could then settle for the purchase price under that agreement, and Peterson wrote a check for $3,650, payable to the order of the bank, with a notation thereon “Bal. in full on purchase of 160 A. Eveland,” and had the plaintiff sign and deliver it to the bank, which accepted it for use, together with the $50 escrow payment, in the payment of the agreed purchase price. Then Peterson told the plaintiff, “That is all for you now. Now it is up to Jesse (meaning the defendant Jesse Eveland) to deliver an abstract showing clear title;” and plaintiff asked whether Eveland could furnish an abstract within sixty days. Thereupon Peterson showed the plaintiff a warranty deed to the land, which was executed and left at the bank by Jesse Eveland and wife on September 19, 1934.

Pursuant to an understanding on August 15, 1934, between Eveland and the plaintiff that the latter could fill the silo on the land with the estate’s share of the corn growing thereon, as soon as Eveland had obtained deeds from the other heirs of the estate, and a statement by Eveland to the plaintiff on September 15, 1934, that “the farm is yours, and you can go ahead and do anything you want to,” the latter filled the silo and did some plowing, sowing, repairing of fences, and was otherwise in possession of a part of the fields until October 16, 1934. Meanwhile, on October 5, 1934, Eveland and Peterson called on Henry C. Oakey, an attorney and abstractor, with an abstract of title and also deeds from all of the estate’s heirs, which had been received at the bank, [274]*274and the instrument of August IS, 1934. Peterson and Eve-land informed Oakey that it had been agreed that when the abstract was extended to date the deal with the plaintiff could be closed by the bank cashing his check for $3,650, out of which it should hold $200 to obtain the discharge of a judgment against Jesse Eveland and $30' for the abstract extension, and send the Eveland heirs their shares the next day.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
272 N.W. 11, 224 Wis. 267, 1937 Wisc. LEXIS 103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/peper-v-eveland-wis-1937.