Ranstead v. Allen

Citations

• 85 Md. 482
• 37 A. 15
• 1897 Md. LEXIS 46

Syllabus

<p>Cancellation of Lease Executed in Consequence of Misrepresentation — Proof of False Representation Must be Clear.</p> <p>The cancellation of an executed contract is an exertion of extraordinary power of a Court of Equity. The power ought not to be exercised except in a clearicase and never for alleged false representations unless it be certainly proved that they were made and were false and that the complainant has been thereby deceived and injured.</p> <p>Plaintiff leased a wharf from the defendant for three years by a written agreement and entered into possession. He afterwards abandoned the property and filed a bill asking for the cancellation of the lease and an injunction restraining the defendant from proceeding to collect the rent upon the ground that before the execution of the lease defendant falsely represented to plaintiff that there was a depth of seventeen feet of water at the wharf, whereas in fact there was so much less water there as to render the wharf unfit for plaintiff’s purposes, and that plaintiff executed the lease in consequence of his reliance upon the defendant’s representations. Held, upon the facts, that these allegations of the bill were not sustained by the evidence and that plaintiff was not entitled to the relief asked for.</p>