Manhattan Life Ins. v. Wright

Citations

• 126 F. 82
• 61 C.C.A. 138
• 1903 U.S. App. LEXIS 4285

Syllabus

<p>1. Equity — Jurisdiction—Bill to Redeem.</p> <p>A court of equity has jurisdiction of a suit to redeem property from a mortgage after default in the payment of the mortgage debt, and the mortgagor has no adequate remedy at law.</p> <p>2. Insurance — Forfeiture—Failure to Pay Premium — Time Essence' of Agreement.</p> <p>The time of payment of a premium for insurance is, in the nature of the agreement, of the essence of the contract. A stipulation in the policy, in a note for the premium, or in any other instrument which evidences the contract of insurance or a part of it, that the insurance shall be void if the premium is not paid on the agreed day, is eonscionable, valid, and enforceable.</p> <p>3. Loan — Forfeiture for Delay — Contract for a Penalty.</p> <p>Time is not ordinarily of the essence of a contract to repay money borrowed. An agreement to forfeit or to lose money or property much in excess of interest during the delay on account of a failure to repay a loan on the stipulated day is a contract for a penalty for a failure to pay money, and is void, because compensation is the basic rule for the measure of damages, and interest during the delay gives full compensation.</p> <p>4. Equity — Decree Presumptively Correct.</p> <p>The finding and decree of a court of equity are presumptively right, and they should not be disturbed or modified by an appellate court unless an obvious error has intervened in the application of the law or some grave mistake has been made in the consideration of the facts.</p> <p>5. Abandonment — Test is Intent to Abandon.</p> <p>The test of abandonment of one’s rights is the existence or nonexistence of the intent to abandon them. The presumption is that the owner intends to preserve them. Acts indicating abandonment are not necessarily sufficient to establish it, but are generally only material as they tend to prove the intent to abandon.</p> <p>If 2. See Insurance, vol. 28, Cent. Dig. § 891.</p> <p>6. Contracts — Construction—Prac