Vavra v. Claridge

199 N.W. 834, 112 Neb. 553, 1924 Neb. LEXIS 200
CourtNebraska Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 31, 1924
DocketNo. 23162
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 199 N.W. 834 (Vavra v. Claridge) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Nebraska Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vavra v. Claridge, 199 N.W. 834, 112 Neb. 553, 1924 Neb. LEXIS 200 (Neb. 1924).

Opinion

Day, J.

' On May 29, 1920, Adolph Vavra and Ruzena A. Vavra, his wife, brought this action against Fred • H. Claridgé to rescind an exchange of lands made between the parties, upon the ground of misrepresentation on the part of Claridge and his agent in procuring the exchange. Other parties who had acquired an interest in the lands traded by plaintiffs were made defendants. The plaintiffs tendered back to Claridge a deed to the lands received by them, and prayed that the lands conveyed by them be restored; that a certain note and mortgage for $68,610 executed by them as a- part of the transaction be canceled and set aside; and for other equitable relief. Claridge answered denying that there was any misrepresentation in procuring the exchange of the lands. Anton Policky and his wife answered that they in good faith had purchased from Claridge 166 acres of the lands received by him in the transaction; that they paid Claridge $3,760 in cash, and executed and delivered to him two notes for $10,000 and $15,000, respectively, secured by mortgages upon the lands purchased and also upon other lands. They prayed to be dismissed. Pending the litigation the Banking House of A. Castetter, of which Claridge was president, failed, and James E. Hart was appointed receiver of the bank. On April 27, 1921, Hart, as receiver, filed a petition of intervention claiming that the bank in due course of business received from Claridge certain deeds and assignments which conveyed to the' bank -the following property in controversy in this action: 340 acres of land in Seward county, Nebraska; 160 acres in South Dakota; a note and mortgage for $68,610 executed by plaintiffs; and two notes aggregating $25,000 executed by Policky and wife to Claridge as a part of the purchase price of 166 acres of the land sold by Claridge. The receiver denied that there was any fraud in the transaction between the plaintiffs and Claridge. The plaintiffs tendered issue with the receiver as to the bank’s good faith ownership of the lands, as well as the notes, and also claimed that the $3,760 in cash paid by them was .deposited in the bank by Claridge; that in equity this sum was held by the [555]*555bank in trust for the plaintiffs; and they asked that this sum should be paid to them as a depositor in the bank. Other pleadings were filed by other parties which seem unnecessary to be considered.

Upon the issues thus tendered the trial court found generally in favor of the plaintiffs, and entered a decree restoring to the plaintiff Adolph Vavra the title to the 340 acres in Seward county held by the bank, which it had received from Claridge, and canceled the note and mortgage for $68,610 executed by plaintiffs to Claridge. The court also found that Anton Policky and his wife were good faith purchasers of the 166 acres from Claridge, the title to which was in Ruzena A. Vavra before the trade was made, and decreed that the two notes aggregating $25,000 executed by Policky and wife be transferred by the bank to Ruzena A. Vavra; that the bank also transfer the title to the 160 acres in South Dakota to Ruzena A. Vavra, and that she recover a judgment against the bank for $1,531.33, the balance due upon an accounting of the $3,760 deposited in the bank by Claridge. From this decree Hart, as receiver, has appealed.

It appears that in August, 1919, Claridge was the owner of a tract of land in Burt county, consisting of 680 acres, upon which there was a mortgage of $68,000. He had purchased this land a few months before for $150 an acre, paying $34,000 in cash, and executing a mortgage for the balance of $68,000 due in 10 years. He listed the. lands for sale for $300 an acre with certain real estate agents, among them being the defendant James M. Dixon. Vavra was the owner of 340 acres of land in Seward county, and his wife was the owner of 166 acres in Seward county and also held the title to 160 acres in Lyman county, South Dakota. The Seward county farms were subject to a mortgage of $35,000. After some negotiations between the plaintiffs and the agent, Dixon, a contract of exchange of lands was entered into between Claridge and the plaintiffs. In making the exchange Claridge’s land was considered worth $300 an acre, or a total of $204,000, Claridge’s equity in the land [556]*556being $136,000. The value of the three tracts of land owned by the plaintiffs was considered to be $102,390, the plaintiffs’ equity in their land being $67,390. The difference in the values of the respective tracts was $68,610, in favor of Claridge. The difference was to be secured by a note and mortgage executed by the plaintiffs upon the Claridge tract. A contract embodying these terms was signed by the respective parties on August 26, 1919, and later, on May 15, 1920, the deeds and mortgages of the respective parties were formally delivered. In the fall of 1919 the plaintiffs entered upon a part of the land and did some fall plowing. On March 1, 1920, the plaintiff and his family moved upon the Burt county land. The plaintiff testified that after the deeds had been delivered he discovered for the first time that the land was so near level that it would not drain. He also discovered that the land was not such as it was represented to be, and on May 31, 1920, he tendered back to Claridge a deed to the Burt county land, and demanded a rescission of the contract.

It is the theory of the plaintiffs that they were induced to enter into the contract of exchange of the lands upon certain representations of the defendant Claridge and his agent, upon which they relied, concerning the value, character of soil, slope and drainage of the Claridge land, and that the representations were not in fact true. It seems unnecessary to set out in any considerable detail the evidence, which covers 836 pages of the bill of exceptions. Some of the alleged statements made by the agent Dixon were mere matters of opinion, and would form no basis for a rescission of the contract on the ground of misrepresentation. We think, however, the evidence shows that misstatements were made with respect to the land being of sufficient slope to drain the surface water, which could not be discovered by the plaintiffs upon a reasonable examination of the land. Also, some statements were made with respect to the character of the soil, especially that part covered by grass, which was not apparent until an attempt was made to cultivate it. Among other things, Dixon stated that he [557]*557was well acquainted with the character of the soil of the entire valley; that the uncultivated lands were exactly of the same quality as that portion which was cultivated; that it was a black rich loam, no gumbo, that there was a fall of from 4 to 7 feet to the mile; that there was no trouble by water standing on it; that the water readily drained off; and no tiling was necessary. About 280 acres of the land was in cultivation, the balance being in grass. It appears that during the light rains in the early spring the soil readily absorbed the surface water' falling upon the land, and farming could be carried on without serious inconvenience. After heavy rains which occurred in the middle of May, the water would not drain oft the land at all. It was shown that, instead of having a fall of from 4 to 7 feet to the mile, the general average was from 1 Í-2 to 2 feet to the mile; that the uncultivated land was what is known as “gumbo,” and required tiling before it could be successfully cultivated.

The appellant contends that the evidence shows that the land did have a slope of from 4 to 7 feet to the mile. This is true if the calculation is made from the highest point on the land. It appears that there was a.

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Bluebook (online)
199 N.W. 834, 112 Neb. 553, 1924 Neb. LEXIS 200, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vavra-v-claridge-neb-1924.