Megraw v. Hamilton Trust Co.

Citations

• 241 Pa. 444
• 88 A. 686
• 1913 Pa. LEXIS 804

Syllabus

<p>G ontracis — G onsiruction — Breach—Damages—Evidence.</p> <p>An agreement by a trust company, holding mortgages on certain vacant lots, with a tiling company, that the equity of redemption in one of such lots, which was also controlled by the trust company, should be security for indebtedness to be incurred by a contractor who was to build houses on the lots for necessary tiling, and that should the contractor fail to pay such indebtedness, the trust company would convey or mortgage such lot to the tiling company, or would pay its bill from the proceeds of the sale thereof, contemplated that the lot would be improved and that the tiling company would derive benefit from such improvement, especially as the equity of redemption was worthless while the lot was unimproved because of heavy encumbrances thereon, and the default of the contractor while the lot was unimproved did not deprive the tiling company of possible advantages in case of the lot’s improvement, but merely fixed tbe amount of its claim against the lot. In an action of assumpsit by the tiling company to recover damages for the failure of the trust company to perform its agreement, the court erred in excluding evidence of the increase in value of the lot after the contractor’s default, due to the construction of a house thereon by defendant, which was ofEered for the purpose of showing the extent of plaintiff’s damages.</p>