Jeffers v. Easton, Eldridge & Co.

Citations

• 113 Cal. 345
• 45 P. 680
• 1896 Cal. LEXIS 792

Syllabus

<p>Landlord and Tenant—Assignment of Lease—Sale—Unpaid Purchase Monet—Want of Title in Lessor—Failure of Consideration.— Where the whole o£ the term of a leasehold estate is assigned, there is no relation of landlord and tenant between the assignor and the assignee, but only that of seller and purchaser, and if the original lessor had no title when the lease was made, and the assignee is compelled to attorn to the holders of the legal title to prevent eviction, there is a failure of consideration for the assignment of the lease, and the assignor cannot recover any unpaid installments of purchase money.</p> <p>Id.—Estates 'for Years—Personal Property—Rules Governing Assignments. —An estate for years is personal property—a chattel real; and the rules which govern conveyances of real property do not apply to assignments of estates for years, but they are governed generally by the rules applicable to sales of personal property.</p> <p>Id.—Sales—Caveat Emptor—Implied Warranty of Title—Remedy of Purchaser for Failure of Title.—In sales of personal property, including assignments of estates for years, though the rule of caveat emptor applies to the quality of the thing sold, the seller impliedly warrants the title, without reference to the knowledge or want of knowledge of the vendor as to the real state of the title, or whether he did or did not make a distinct affirmation of his title; and, upon the total breach of a warranty of title, the purchaser may recover the purchase money paid, and has a good defense against an action by the seller to recover the purchase money.</p> <p>Id.—Surrender 'of Possession to Paramount Owner—Burden of Proof.—One who receives the possession of property upon a sale or other contract from a person who has no title to it, may yield it to the true owner on demand, without waiting for an eviction; but, in such case, he assumes the burden of proving that the one to whom he yielded the possession had a paramount title.</p> <p>Id.—Denial of Title—