Mulligan v. School District

Citations

• 241 Pa. 204
• 88 A. 362
• 1913 Pa. LEXIS 761

Syllabus

<p>School district — Powers—Statutes—Land acquired by eminent domain — Sale of land — Covenant of general warranty.</p> <p>1. School districts are creatures of the statutes and have only such powers as are thereby given to them; and a school district has no statutory power either express or implied to convey in fee property acquired by it in the exercise of the power of eminent domain or in such a case to enter into a covenant of general warranty With the vendee.</p> <p>Assumpsit — Covenants—Deed—General warranty — School district — Land acquired by eminent domain.</p> <p>2. In an action against a school district upon a general warranty contained in a deed from defendant to plaintiff, it appeared that the land in question had been acquired in the exercise of the power of eminent domain by the defendant from its original owners, who subsequently conveyed all their right, title and interest therein to another; that later the property was permanently abandoned for school purposes and sold to plaintiff by a deed of general warranty; and that the successors in title to the original owner had evicted the plaintiff by an action of ejectment. Recovery was resisted on the ground that the contract was ultra vires both as to the officers who executed the deed on behalf of the district and as to the district itself. Plaintiff was unable to produce the minutes of the board and there was no proof justifying a finding that the officers who signed the deed were formally authorized to bind the district by such a covenant. Held, that the plaintiff was not entitled to recover.</p>