Yanelli v. Littlejohn

137 N.W. 723, 172 Mich. 91, 1912 Mich. LEXIS 889
CourtMichigan Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 1, 1912
DocketDocket No. 67
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 137 N.W. 723 (Yanelli v. Littlejohn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Yanelli v. Littlejohn, 137 N.W. 723, 172 Mich. 91, 1912 Mich. LEXIS 889 (Mich. 1912).

Opinion

Stone, J.

This is an action brought to recover damages which the plaintiff claims he has sustained in the purchase of 40 acres of land from the defendant, by reason of the alleged false and fraudulent representations made by the defendant relating to the quality and value of the land for farming purposes, which representations the plaintiff claims he relied upon. The plaintiff recovered a verdict and judgment for $534, and the defendant has brought the case here upon writ of error. There are 51 assignments of error. The appellant has not complied with Rule 40 of this court by making a clear and concise statement of the facts of the case distinct from argument, and we have found it unsafe to follow counsel in his alleged statement of facts, as it appears to be based largely upon defendant’s testimony and theory. ' Counsel has also failed to comply with Rule 36, in that the pages of the record where exceptions may be found are not stated in the record, nor in the assignments of error. We have, however, with the aid of the briefs, been able, by much labor, to search out the errors relied upon. The court in its charge to the jury made a statement of the claims of the respective parties as furnished by them, from which wé glean the following: That in the early spring of 1908 the plaintiff came to Allegan, and made arrangements with the defendant, or with one Pirro and defendant to[94]*94gether, with reference to the purchase of the 40 acres of land in question. Plaintiff claims that defendant described this land to him, and represented that it was suitable for raising large crops of potatoes, corn, wheat, oats, rye, hay, and other farm crops, that it was a good quality of land, and was worth $15 per acre; that plaintiff is an Italian, had resided in Chicago, and was wholly ignorant of the value of land in this country, and that he relied upon what defendant and Pirro told him about the land. The plaintiff claims that Pirro was acting as the agent of the defendant; that some time after he had bought the land and obtained his deed he learned that Pirro claimed that he was buying the land of defendant and selling it to the plaintiff; that during the negotiations for the land he knew nothing about Pirro’s dealing with defendant in any way, except that he was selling the land for the defendant. Plaintiff claims: That he came to Allegan county and looked over the land, but relied upon the recommendations which defendant and Pirro made as to the quality of the land; that he paid $300 before he got his deed, and that afterwards he paid to defendant in Chicago $83. Defendant and his wife gave plaintiff a warranty deed of the land on April 28, 1908, the consideration of which was $600. That he gave back to defendant a mortgage on the land for $300, payable $50 April 1, 1909, and $50 on or before April 1st of each year thereafter, until the amount was wholly paid with interest at 7 per cent, per annum. The $83 appears to have been paid to defendant on the mortgage in the spring of 1909. Plaintiff claims that in the deal he was defrauded; that he was deceived by defendant and his said agent in the condition and quality of the land; that the land is not fit for growing crops; and that a living could not be made by him on the farm. Plaintiff claims that the land is valueless for farming purposes, and claims damages by reason of the failure of the land to come up to the recommendations which were made by the defendant and his agent.

The defendant pleaded the general issue, and claims [95]*95that he did not sell the land; that he sold it to the man Pirro, and that the latter sold it to plaintiff, and that he, the defendant, had nothing to do with the sale; that he made no recommendation as to the quality of the land; that he never saw the plaintiff until he had been on the land, and until he came to defendant’s office and paid the money and got his deed. Defendant further claims that he made an agreement with Pirro in the forepart of April, 1908, to sell him the south half of section 18 (which included this land), excepting the west 40 acres thereof, for $7 an acre, if he paid up on all of it, and $7.50 per acre if he paid up only part of it, and that he would deliver deeds to Pirro, or any one named by him, of parcels of not less than 20 acres, upon being paid thereon one-half the purchase price, and take back a mortgage for the balance; that about April 11th Pirro, with five Italians, including the plaintiff, came to Allegan; that Pirro took them out to look at the property, and that plaintiff saw the 40 in question; that in January prior to this visit Pirro had been shown the premises by defendant’s agent; that while on the premises in April, the plaintiff and the other four selected parcels of land and paid to Pirro $20 apiece, taking a receipt for the same to apply on the purchase price agreed upon of $15 an acre; that they returned to Allegan and came into defendant’s office and were introduced to him, but that no conversation was carried on between defendant and them; that next morning they returned to Chicago, and employed a lawyer there to come to Allegan and investigate the land and title; that the lawyer did so and reported to them that the land was poor, and that he could furnish them as good land for $5 an acre, and warned them to look out for Pirro, as he could not be trusted; that on May 2d the said five Italians (including the plaintiff) with four others, came to Allegan, and went out to the property and looked it over thoroughly; that at that time the plaintiff saw this 40, and on the low land thereof water was standing; that one of the Italians brought with him his brother-in-law, who declared that [96]*96the land was not worth $15 an acre, and induced him not to bu.y the land, and that this fact was then known to the plaintiff; that they returned to Allegan, and plaintiff and one Russo paid to Pirro $280 and $180, respectively, and that Pirro paid over the money to defendant, with enough added thereto to make a payment of $300 for plaintiff; that plaintiff and his wife had executed a mortgage in Chicago for the balance of the purchase price of $300, which was delivered to defendant; that two of the parties who had decided not to buy, returned to Chicago, and the others, with the plaintiff, returned to the land to help survey it; that on May 5th Russo came to Allegan, and obtained the deed to himself for his purchase, and a deed to the plaintiff for the 40 acres in question, and had them recorded, and a day or two thereafter the parties returned to Chicago; that two of the parties decided to purchase each a 40 acres, but were unable to raise the payment of $200, as required, and at the request of Pirro had promises from defendant to give them quitclaim deeds, until they or Pirro should pay on such first payment as much as $200 apiece, and accept a smaller payment to start with; that at the time plaintiff paid the money these two parties gave defendant a check for $560, which represented a payment of $300 for each; that defendant immediately banked this check, and, when Pirro came for the deeds on May 5th, the check had been protested and returned, and defendant called Pirro’s attention to this fact, and he said that he expected to take care of that by the sale of enough parcels of land to enable him to protect the check for the parties, and to give them longer time and smaller payments, and that he expected to sell enough to others to do so. It is a fact that he failed to do so. It came to the knowledge of the plaintiff later that Pirro bought the land from the defendant for $7 to $7.50 per acre, and he brought pressure to bear on Pirro, who finally assigned his interest in the contract to defendant.

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Bluebook (online)
137 N.W. 723, 172 Mich. 91, 1912 Mich. LEXIS 889, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/yanelli-v-littlejohn-mich-1912.