Ruble v. Phillips Petroleum Company

1963 OK 173, 385 P.2d 116, 1963 Okla. LEXIS 461
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedJuly 16, 1963
DocketNo. 39810
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1963 OK 173 (Ruble v. Phillips Petroleum Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ruble v. Phillips Petroleum Company, 1963 OK 173, 385 P.2d 116, 1963 Okla. LEXIS 461 (Okla. 1963).

Opinion

JACKSON, Justice.

In the trial court, Phillips Petroleum Company, as plaintiff, sued defendant Lula E. Ruble for specific performance of an option to purchase real estate contained in a lease agreement between the parties. Judgment was for Phillips and Mrs. Ruble appeals.

The sole issue before the trial court was whether an option to purchase admittedly contained in a 1929 lease contract had been cancelled or nullified by later amendments and modifications of the lease.

The record shows in pertinent part that in 1929 Phillips leased a vacant lot from Mr. Ruble with a view towards building and operating a filling station thereon. The lease was for a term of fifteen years with no express provisions for renewal or extension; the agreed rental was $60.00 per month. Under paragraph 13 of the lease, Phillips had the right to remove its equipment within 30 days after termination, and the option of removing any buildings it had erected, or of leaving them on the premises. Under paragraph 14, for a separately stated consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is not questioned, Phillips had an option to purchase the property “at any time during the term of this lease or any renewal or extension thereof” for a specified sum. The phrase “ * * * term of [117]*117this lease or any renewal or extension thereof * * * ”, appears in one form or another a total of seven times in the lease.

On June 17, 1941, the parties executed an instrument titled “Amendment to Lease”, the opening paragraph of which is as follows :

“Phillips Petroleum Company contemplates the expenditure of a substantial sum in the erection of new improvements on the property hereinafter described and it is unwilling to make this expenditure unless it can be assured of the right to extend its lease under favorable terms, and whereas, Lessor is desirous of encouraging the erection of said additional improvements because they will increase the chances of Phillips Petroleum Company continuing to rent the premises; in consideration of all of which the undersigned parties hereby agree that: * * .” (emphasis supplied).

Under the 1941 amendment, it was agreed that “that certain lease dated December 2, 1929 * * * is hereby by mutual agreement amended to this extent * * * There followed an agreement by Phillips to erect on the premises improvements of a value of not less than $3500.00 “which improvements and improvements now on the property (equipment excluded) are to become the property of lessor at the expiration of the lease”. There was also an agreement that Phillips should have an option “to renew or extend said lease” for a total of 15 years at a rental during such period of $50.00 per month. Another paragraph of said “Amendment to Lease” is as follows:

“It is understood and agreed that all of the remainder of said lease and all of the provisions and terms thereof shall remain in full force and effect.”

Under the 1941 amendment, Phillips quite plainly gave up its option to remove- the buildings from the premises, and at the end of the lease they were to become the property of Mrs. Ruble, the same as the land upon which they were built. However, it did not give up its option to purchase, acquired for a separately stated consideration, and under the paragraph last quoted above, it remained in full force and effect.

On September 30, 1942, and again one year later, the parties executed instruments titled “Modification of Lease” in which Mrs. Ruble voluntarily agreed to accept only $50.00 per month as rental for periods of one year only in each case, instead of the $60.00 per month to which she was entitled for the first fifteen years under the 1929 lease. Both of these instruments provide that “In consideration of the mutual advantages to be derived therefrom, it is hereby agreed that the certain lease * * * dated December 2, 1929 * * * ” as amended “ * * * is hereby amended and supplemented to the following extent * * * ” (to provide for a rental of $50.00 per month for one year). Both instruments further provided that “It is further understood that at the expiration of said lease hereinabove referred to, all of the buildings and improvements * * * shall become the property of Ruble; all equipment * * * shall remain the property of Phillips * * ”. There was no reference in either instrument to the option to purchase. Both instruments include the sentence, “As here modified, said lease is confirmed”.

In her brief on appeal, Mrs. Ruble presents six propositions, each of which consists of a well recognized rule for the construction and interpretation of contracts. Under these propositions, she discusses the particular lease contract involved, with its amendments and modifications, and certain letters between the parties which were introduced in evidence by stipulation, subject to objection by Phillips as to their admissibility. She then concludes that under the facts and circumstances shown, and in view of the language of the instruments, the option to purchase which Phillips admittedly had under the terms of the original instrument was cancelled or nullified by the later amendment and modifications.

While the question presented is not entirely free from difficulty, we cannot agree with this conclusion.

[118]*118She places special reliance upon the provisions in the amendment and the modifications .to the general effect that at the termination of the tenancy, the buildings and improvements should become the property of Mrs. Ruble. She contends, in effect, that unless these provisions are interpreted as cancelling the Phillips’ option to purchase, the 1941 amendment is without consideration and unenforcible. However, the opening paragraph of the 1941 amendment recites that the consideration moving to Mrs. Ruble is the increased likelihood of “ * * * Phillips Petroleum Company continuing to rent the premises * * * It is conceded that Phillips did exercise its option to rent the premises for the additional 15 years, at a total rental of about $9,000.-00.

She also suggests that since the agreed rental for the second 15 year period provided for in the 1941 amendment was $50.00 per month instead of $60.00, she actually suffered a detriment instead of a benefit, and such amendment is therefore without consideration and void. It is perhaps unnecessary to point out that without the 1941 amendment, and the 15 year option therein contained which Phillips exercised, she might have had no tenant at all for the second 15 year period.

We also find another consideration moving to Mrs. Ruble by virtue of the 1941 amendment. Under the 1929 lease, it was possible that Mrs. Ruble might be left, at its termination, exactly as she was at its beginning — with a vacant lot and nothing m,ore. Under the 1941 amendment, this possibility was removed. Since Phillips no longer had the option to remove the buildings, she was assured of having either (1) the lot with the improvements on it, or (2) the purchase price agreed upon in the option to purchase contained in the 1929 lease.

Mrs. Ruble also argues that the 1941 amendment was not a renewal or extension of the 1929 lease but constituted a new and separate contract, and that upon its execution, the 1929 lease with its option to purchase became inoperative. In view of the language used by the parties, and their conduct, this argument cannot be sustained.

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Related

Drink, Inc. v. Martinez
556 P.2d 348 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1976)
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1972 OK 156 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1972)
Ferguson v. Hilborn
1965 OK 84 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1965)

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Bluebook (online)
1963 OK 173, 385 P.2d 116, 1963 Okla. LEXIS 461, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ruble-v-phillips-petroleum-company-okla-1963.