Robinson v. Sanitarium

232 S.W. 590, 149 Ark. 355, 1921 Ark. LEXIS 264
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedJune 27, 1921
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 232 S.W. 590 (Robinson v. Sanitarium) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robinson v. Sanitarium, 232 S.W. 590, 149 Ark. 355, 1921 Ark. LEXIS 264 (Ark. 1921).

Opinion

Wood, J.

The appellee instituted this action against the appellant in the Jefferson Chancery Court, alleging that it was owner of a certain half block of land with the improvements thereon in the city of Pine Bluff, Arkansas; that it agreed to sell the land to appellant for the sum of thirty thousand dollars, as evidenced by a written bid or offer from the appellant to the appellee of that sum for the purchase of the property. With the offer was a certified check for $4,500 cash, and the balance to be paid in three years at eight per cent, per annum, payable semi-annually, with the privilege of paying the sum of $500 or any multiple therof at any interest-paying period. Appellee alleged that it accepted the proposition, and on August 26, 1920, it executed and delivered to the appellant its warranty deed conveying the property to him in accordance with the agreement; that appellant had stopped the payment of the check given to the appellee as earnest money and had refused to accept the deed which appellee tendered, and prayed that the appellant be required to specifically perform the contract.

The appellant answered, and, after denying all the material allegations of the complaint, set up that, if the offer alleged was made, it was made because of the representation of the president of the appellee, who assumed to represent it in conducting the negotiations for the sale of the property; that he represented that the proposed sale embraced everything: -in the building execept groceries,' one chair, and a few surgical instruments; that the appellee discovered, bef ore concluding the purchase, that there were many other valuable furnishings of the building which did not belong to the appellee, and which ap-pellee could or would not include in the conveyance; that these furnishings which did not belong to appellee were worth two or three thousand dollars or more; that, after making this discovery, anpellant notified the appellee that he would not purchase the property. Appellant further alleged that on or about the 7th of August, 1920, he did offer to the president of the company the sum of $29,000 for the property, including all the furnishings and contents ; that the president on the same day informed the appellant that another person had offered $30,000, and that it would require $30,000 to purchase it; that it was upon this representation that appellant delivered to the president of the appellee an offer to purchase the building and its contents for the sum of $30,000, but appellant learned that the appellee had not had an offer for $30,000 for the property, and he thereupon notified the appellee that he would not purchase. The appellant also alleged that he gave the appellee a check for the sum of $4,500, which had not been paid by the drawee bank, but was withheld from the appellant. He prayed that the appellee be required to surrender the check.

The appellee also instituted an action against the drawee bank to recover judgment for the amount of the check which the bank had refused to pay. The bank answered and alleged that, before the check was presented, the drawer of the check had notified it not to pay the same. It asked that Robinson, the drawer of the check, be made a party, and that, in order to avoid a multiplicity of suits the cause be transferred to the chancery court and consolidated with the suit of appellee against the appellant pending therein. The transfer and consolidation were made.

The appellee is a domestic corporation and owns the property in controversy on which it maintains and conducts, as its name indicates, a hospital or sanitarium. D. B. Niven testified that he was the president of the ap-pellee ; that the appellant delivered to him a written proposal to purchase the hospital, which he identified, and the same was introduced in evidence and is substantially as set forth in the complaint. He further testified substantially to the facts as they are alleged in appellee’s complaint. He testified that he told appellant that certain doctors had some surgical instruments in the hospital that were not the property of the appellee; that witness did not know anything about these instruments, but that the only personal property that the appellee could sell to the appellant was contained in an invoice that the appellee had obtained from Doctor Jordan, from whom it had purchased the property. Witness called appellant’s attention to this invoice. Witness told appellant that the appellee paid for the stuff on the inventory the sum of $10,000. Witness did not know anything about the surgical instruments, but did undertake to tell the appellant about the furniture. He told appellant that the furniture was worth $2,500; that he could realize as much out of the furniture as it would cost him to change the sanitarium into an apartment house as appellant contemplated doing. It had been furnished and was being operated as a hospital. The witness stated that the appellant, the day before the board of directors were to receive bids, came into witness ’ office, and, after they had gone over the value of each department in detail, appellant made a bid of $29,000. The next morning one of the directors, Doctor Jordan, asked witness if anybody had sent in any bids, and witness informed him that there had been a bid of $29,000; whereupon Doctor Jordan said that it was no good — that he had a better one. Witness felt interested in appellant, inasmuch as he had discussed the proposition in a confidential way with witness, and witness thought that he wanted to purchase the property. It wasn’t time for the board meeting. Witness went over to appellant’s office and told him that witness understood there would be a better bid than his and asked appellant to come to the meeting as he was a stockholder any way; that witness would be glad for him to come and protect his bid. Appellant asked witness to take care of his bid, and witness replied that he did not want to do that, and asked appellant to bid whatever he wanted to give. Appellant then asked witness for his bid and changed it from $29,000 to $30,000. When the board met witness presented appellant’s bid, and it was accepted. Witness notified appellant, and he did not make any objection to it at the time, and never had made any objection to witness. Witness did not know what the amount of the other bid was, and did not tell appellant that there would be a bid of $30,000. He told him that he had been informed that there was a better bid, and that appellant would have to raise his bid. The furniture had cost the appellee six or seven thousand dollars. Witness was sure that appellant was misled probably by the fact that witness told him that it had cost $10,000. He may have thought that witness told him it was worth that; witness knew that appellant could not get $10,000 for it because appellee had sold it to Howard for $7,000 and afterward bought it back. Witness had told the appellant that he thought $29,000 would buy the property, and, after Doctor Jordan told witness that he had a better bid, witness then informed the appellant of this fact and as already stated asked him to go to the board meeting. Witness told the directors he wished they would make the price $29,000 to the appellant because witness was the cause of appellant’s raising his bid. Witness told them that he felt a little guilty, but he was entirely innocent in it. It was witness’ unintentional misrepresentation that caused appellant to bid $30,000 for the property. Witness was sure that appellant would have got it for $29,000 and went to the board two or three times and tried to get them to take off the $1,000, but they wouldn’t do it.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
232 S.W. 590, 149 Ark. 355, 1921 Ark. LEXIS 264, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robinson-v-sanitarium-ark-1921.