Parry v. Miller

Citations

• 247 Pa. 45
• 93 A. 30
• 1915 Pa. LEXIS 780

Syllabus

<p>Real property — Title to land — Equitable ejectment — Parol sale— Part performance — Evidence—Sufficiency—Relevancy.</p> <p>1. A parol contract in respect to land, although within the statute of frauds, will sometimes be specifically enforced and this is especially true if the contract has been partly executed.</p> <p>2. Where one enters into possession under a parol contract to purchase land and follows that possession by making valuable improvements thereon, cultivates the soil as his own and performs other acts which under the law are deemed to be the indicia of ownership, there may be such part performance as to take the case out of the statute.</p> <p>3. In an action of equitable ejectment to determine title to land of which plaintiffs were the record owners, the case was for the jury where defendant’s evidence tended to show that plaintiffs’ grantor had agreed by parol to sell the land to defendant, that defendant had paid a part of the purchase-price, in cash and securities, and that the balance had been satisfied, by the rentals of oil and gas leases made by plaintiffs’ grantor under an agreement with defendant that the rentals should be received on account of the purchase-price, that defendant had entered under the contract, and held possession as owner, not as tenant, and had paid taxes, cultivated the soil and made improvements.</p> <p>4. In such case, evidence of the payment of rentals to plaintiff and the amount thereof was relevant, as tending to show that the agreed purchase-price had been paid, there being evidence that when the conveyance to plaintiff was made she was chargeable with knowledge of her grantor’s contract with defendant for the conveyance of the land and the application of the rentals.</p>