Towle v. Carmelo Land & Coal Co.

Citations

• 99 Cal. 397
• 33 P. 1126
• 1893 Cal. LEXIS 677

Syllabus

<p>Vendor and Purchaser—Contract of Sale—Description of Land—Extrinsic Evidence—Specific Performance The subject-matter of an agreement for the sale of land must all be included in the memorandum, and be described with sufficient exactness to render its identity certain upon the introduction of extrinsic evidence disclosing the situation of the parties; but if, upon reading the contract in the light of the facts shown by such extrinsic evidence, it appears clear what land the vendor intended to convey and the vendee intended to purchase, the description will be deemed sufficiently certain, and the contract will be specifically enforced.</p> <p>Id.—Description of Part of Rancho—Pleading—Evidence__The description in a contract for the sale of land, by which the grantors of the defendant agreed to convey to plaintiff all that portion of a rancho in his occupation and possession on a certain date, is sufficiently certain, and in an action for the specific performance of such agreement the plaintiff may allege and- prove the specific boundaries of the land thus generally described, and that no part of it was within the description of lands excepted from the agreement.</p> <p>Id. — Contract with Distinct Parties—Action for Speoifio Performance— Parties—Non-joinder__Where the contract which is the basis of an action for specific performance shows upon its face that it was as between defendant’s grantors and each of the other persons signing it, a separate and distinct contract, entitling each person to purchase that part of a rancho of which he was in possession at a specified date, it is not necessary for one in possession of a specific part to join the possessors of other parts as parties defendant in an action to enforce specific performance of the distinct contract with the plaintiff! or to join any other parties to the contract who do not appear to have an interest in the specific tract claimed by the plaintiff, and a demurrer for the nonjoinder of such parties should