Schuerer v. Crockett

1925 OK 335, 236 P. 30, 108 Okla. 218, 1925 Okla. LEXIS 142
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 28, 1925
Docket13047
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 1925 OK 335 (Schuerer v. Crockett) 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
Schuerer v. Crockett, 1925 OK 335, 236 P. 30, 108 Okla. 218, 1925 Okla. LEXIS 142 (Okla. 1925).

Opinion

PHELPS, J.

This cause comes here on appeal from the district co-art of Jackson county, Okla., and the facts as disclosed by the record are substantially as follows: Henry W. Schuerer, plaintiff in error, who was plaintiff below, being the owner of a farm in, Jackson county and desiring toj sell the same, entered into negotiations with Will H. Crockett, one «af the defendants herein, resulting in a verbal agreement on or about September 13, 1920, between Schu-erer and Crockett, by the terms of which Schuerer was to sell the farm in question to Crockett for a consideration of $10,000. The land was occupied by a tenant who had a lease thereon which did not expire until January 1, 1921, and it was agreed between them that a warranty deed should be executed by Schuerer and deposited in _ the Farmers State Bank of Olustee, and at the same time Crockett should deposit the sum of $2,000 in said bank as a part of the purchase price, said $2,000 to be paid to Schuerer by said bank on January 1, 1921, and the deed to the land delivered to Crockett and the balance of the purchase price paid by him on January 1, 1921. The deed Was executed by Schuerer, to which some objections were made by Crockett, but the corrections suggested by him were made and the deed and $2,000 deposited in said bank according to the agreement. Before the 1st day of January, 1921, defendant Crockett and defendant McCormick entered into some sort of an agreement between themselves, whereby MicCormiek furnished Crockett a part of the purchase price and became interested in the contract. The record discloses that Crockett put a price upon said land with a view to selling the ■same, but it appears that land values started going down and finances became more stringent and no buyer was found for the land, but the same was leased for agricultural purposes by defendants for the yeiar 1921, Defendants ¡also bough(t certain personal property, a granary and garage located upon the premises, giving their joint note in payment therefor. No complaint was made on the part of either party to th.e contract, but the deed and deposit were not exchanged on January 1, 1921, as contemplated by the agreement between the parties, and on January 3, 1921, Crockett wrote Schuerer, who was then in the state of Illinois, the following letter:

“Olustee, Okla.
“Jan. 3, 1921.
“Mr. H. W. Schuerer,
“Nashville, Illinois.
“Dear Sir;
“Am writing yon in regard to the land deal which we have on hand. Will say that on account of money conditions it is impossible at present for me to meet the payment. Therefore, I have twTo propositions to make you. One is that you give me until July 1st to pay balance due, provided you clear the title which upon examination of the abstract proved to be at fault, or I am willing to pay you $500 damages and cancel the contract. I want to do what is right and just, but conditions being such as they are don’t feel that I am entitled to lose any more than $500. If either proposition doesn’t suit you, and you demand payment now, or full amount of forfeit, you will have to collect it by law, and as there isn’t any forfeit law in Oklahoma you may have quite a hard time doing that. I hope you will consider this in a friendly way and I would like to come to some peaceable settlement without any ill will or hard feelings.
“Respectfully yours,
“W. H. Crockett,
“Olustee, Oklahoma.”

This was followed by negotiations between Schuerer and Crockett with reference to an extension of time for the payment of the balance of the purchase price, but failed of consummation and on February 9, 19211', Schuerer filed his action in the district court of Jackson county, setting up the facts and circumstances surrounding the transaction, praying judgment for specific performance against Crockett and McCormick, and further praying that he be given a specific lien upon the $2,009 in the bank and a lien against the land for the balance of the purchase price. The bank filed its answer disclaiming any interest other than a mere escrow holder, offering to conform to any judgment the court, might render regarding its duty as an escrow holder. The defendants Crockett and McCormick answered by general denial, also setting up as their defense the statute of frauds. The case was tried to the court without the intervention of a jury and judgment rendered in favor of defendants, from which judgment and the court’s order overruling his motion for new trial plaintiff appeals to this court.

There is practically no dispute between the parties to this action as to the facts, *220 and the real gist of the action is whether ■ the facts pleaded and proved regarding the verbal contract for the sale of real estate-take the case out of the application, of the statute of frauds. The rule seems to have-been well settled by this • court that when the portion of a contract, within the statute of frauds, has been fully performed and the remaining duty consists only in the1 payment of money in pursuance of such contract, the defense that the contract comes within the statute of frauds cannot prevail.

In Rose v. First National Bank, 93 Okla. 120, 219 Pac. 715, this court announced the following rule:

“The provisions of the statute of frauds, of uses and trusts, have no application where the agreement has been completely performed as to the part thereof which comes within the statute, and the part remaining to be performed is merely a payment of the money, the promise to do which is not required to be in writing.” Citing Logan v. Brown, 20 Okla. 334, 95 Pac. 441; Purcell v. Corder, 33 Okla. 68, 124 Pac. 457; Shippey v. Bearman, 57 Okla. 603, 157 Pas. 302.

In Arnett v. Westcott, 193 Pac. 377, the Supreme Court of Kansas, in discussing a similar proposition, makes use- of the following language:

“Since an undelivered deed may constitute a sufficient memorandum, it is of no importance which party has the instrtiment in its possession, or where it comes from. If the memorandum or writing ‘signed by the party to be bound thereby’ is not in possession of either party, if it be found discarded and abandoned in some ash-heap, or floating upon the streets, and is produced at the trial and shown to have been signed by the parties sought to be bound, and otherwise answers the requirements of the statute, it is sufficient.”

In the case of Jenkins v. Harrison, 66 Ala. 345, the court in discussing a similar question said:

“A deed drawn and executed with knowledge of both parties, with the view to consummation of the contract of sale, which, in itself and of itself, embodies the substance, though not the details or particulars, of the contract, naming the parties, expressing the consideration and describing the lands, though not delivered, and its delivery postponed until the happening of a future event, is a note or memorandum sufficient to satisfy the words, spirit, and purpose of the statute of frauds.”

The very recent case of Akers v. Brooks, 103 Okla. 98, 229 Pac. 544, in our judgment, completely settles the rule laid uown by this court anplic-able to the facts in the case at bar, wherein this court made use of the following language:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1925 OK 335, 236 P. 30, 108 Okla. 218, 1925 Okla. LEXIS 142, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schuerer-v-crockett-okla-1925.