Riverside Land Co. v. Pietsch

Citations

• 35 Wash. 210
• 77 P. 195
• 1904 Wash. LEXIS 438

Syllabus

<p>Ejectment — Defenses—Estoppel—Entry and Improvements Under Oral Representations of Owner — Material Averments Respecting the Estoppel — Oral Agreement to Take Case Out of Statute of Frauds — Pleading and Proof. In an action of ejectment, in which the defendants pleaded affirmatively an equitable estoppel, in that the land in question, being a hillside and valueless, the plaintiff induced the defendants to enter thereon and inclose, irrigate, and improve the same at great expense, under the oral representation that after ten years’ possession the defendants would have title thereto, which improvement enhanced the value of plaintiff’s other lands in the vicinity, the defendants can recover only on the theory of the equitable estoppel as alleged, and the allegations that the land was valueless when the defendants entered, and that its improvement enhanced the value of plaintiffs adjoining property, are material allegations, necessary to be shown as part of the oral contract for the sale of the property, by clear and satisfactory evidence, in order to take the case out of the statute of frauds.</p> <p>Same — Instructions. Accordingly, in such a case, it is error to instruct that the only question for the jury is whether the plaintiff put the defendants in possession with the understanding aforesaid, thereby eliminating the said allegations as to non-value and enhancing the value of other lands, and requires a reversal and a new trial.</p> <p>Appeal — Review. A case is to be determined upon appeal on the same theory on which it was tried in the court below.</p>