Clark v. Steele

Citations

• 255 Pa. 330
• 99 A. 1001
• 1917 Pa. LEXIS 455

Syllabus

<p>Deeds — Covenants — Breach of covenant — Actions — Form of action — Act of May 28, 1715, 1 Smith’s Laws, 94 — Damages— Measure of damages — Cross-examination.</p> <p>1. Where a deed conveying real estate conveyed also three acres of coal surrounding and underneath the farm buildings erected on the premises and contained the words “grant, bargain, sell,” and a covenant of general warranty, a failure to deliver the coal constituted a breach of the covenants of the deed under Section 6 of the Act of May 28, 1715, 1 Smith’s Laws, 94, providing that the words “grant, bargain, sell, shall be adjudged an express covenant to the grantee that the grantor was seised of an indefeasible estate in fee simple......as also for quiet enjoyment against the grantor, his heirs and assigns,” for which assumpsit is the proper remedy.</p> <p>2. In such case the measure of damages is the relative value of the coal which the grantor failed to deliver, as compared with the value of the entire tract described in the deed estimated with regard to the price fixed by the parties for the entire purchase.</p> <p>3. Where, in such case, it appeared that the coal which the grantor intended to convey had been removed by the lessee of adjoining coal, without the grantor’s knowledge, it was competent for the plaintiff to prove the relative value of the part to which title had failed by the testimony of persons familiar with land and mineral values, in the neighborhood, and the effect of the removal of the coal upon the value of the remainder including the buildings, and plaintiff was not limited to proving the market value of the coal removed, measured by the royalties received thereon.</p> <p>4. Where in such case it appeared that the parties lived in a mining section and were familiar with the general effect of the removal of underlying coal upon buildings, springs and streams, it was to be presumed that they had these things in mind when they contracted for the sale of the land with the coal in