Kelly v. Riley

Citations

• 22 W. Va. 247
• 1883 W. Va. LEXIS 55

Syllabus

<p>1. A court of equity has jurisdiction to decree compensation for a deficiency in the quantity of land sold, although the land has been convoyed by deed with general warranty and the purchase-money has all been paid. (p. 248.)</p> <p>2. Where by reason of fraud of the vendor in misrepresenting the quantity of land sold, the vendee is entitled to compensation, or abatement from the purchase-money, on account of deficiency 'in the quantity of land, courts of equity and courts of common law have concurrent jurisdiction to grant relief, (p. 250.)</p> <p>3. Where a person has made a sale of land in gross, at a specified price, upon an unqualified statement that it contains a definite quantity or specified number of acres, it will be held prima facie that the vendee was influenced to pay or agree to pay the price specified because of such statement; and if it is afterwards established that there is a deficiency in the quantity in excess of what may be rightfully attributed to the usual inaccuracies in surveying, the vendor, in the absence of all other proof, will be presumed to have committed a fraud on the rights of the vendee by such statement of the quantity, and a court of equity will for this reason grant relief to the vendee for such deficiency, (p. 251.)</p> <p>4.. The general rule in such cases is, that the compensation allowed for the deficiency in quantity, shall be at the rate of the average price paid or agreed to be paid for the entire tract purchased, (p. 251.)</p>