(DOWNLOAD) "Jones v. Nickell" by Supreme Court of Minnesota ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Jones v. Nickell
- Author : Supreme Court of Minnesota
- Release Date : January 21, 1944
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 48 KB
Description
REES, Justice. The appellant, Custer Jones, brought this equity action against Everett Nickell and Lona D. Nickell to recover $1,500 alleged to be due him under a partnership agreement between him and Everett Nickell. He alleged, in substance, that by the terms of the agreement he and Nickell were to purchase the office building known as the Lynn B. Wells Building in West Liberty, Kentucky, for $12,000, each to pay one-half, or $6,000. In order to enable Nickell to pay his one-half of the purchase price, Jones was to lend him $2,000, the loan to be secured by a mortgage on Nickells one-half interest in the property. The property was to be conveyed to Jones and Nickell or to Jones and Nickells wife, Lona D. Nickell, equally and jointly, and the deed was to be executed on Tuesday morning, March 16, 1943. Lynn B. Wells had agreed to sell the property for $12,000. He further alleged that in violation of the agreement Nickell, on March 15, 1943, had the property conveyed to his wife, Lona D. Nickell, and on the same day sold and conveyed it to Earl May for $14,000, though the property was worth $15,000. The petition contained an affidavit for an attachment, and the Commercial Bank of West Liberty was made a garnishee defendant. In an amended petition the plaintiff alleged that the Wells property was to be conveyed to him and Everett Nickell and was to be jointly owned, occupied, used, rented, enjoyed or disposed of by them as partners. The profit to which the plaintiff was entitled was fixed at $767.50, plus $500 damages because Nickell sold the property for $1,000 less than its value. The defendants filed a motion to require the plaintiff to elect whether he would prosecute the action for damages or to recover his alleged share of the profits growing out of the transaction set out in his petition, and the motion was sustained. The plaintiff elected to maintain the action for his share of the profits, and though he objected at the time to the courts ruling is not now pressing that point. He filed a second amended petition in which he alleged that the contract entered into between plaintiff and defendant was and is in nature a joint adventure agreement, governed by the rules and incidents of a partnership, for the purpose of jointly and equally purchasing, owning, renting, enjoying and disposing of the property above named for the mutual and equal benefit and liability of the plaintiff and defendant, Everett Nickell. He prayed judgment against the defendants in the sum of $764.92, one-half of the profits realized by Everett Nickell in the purchase and sale of the property. This amount was arrived at in the following manner: Amount received by Nickell from purchaser, $14,000; rents received by Nickell, $50; total $14,050. Nickell paid $12,000 for the building, $500 to Clifford Elam for the purpose hereinafter stated, and $20.15 expenses incident to execution of deed, leaving profit collected by him $1,529.85. The Nickells answered admitting the sale of the property by them for $14,000, but denying the averments of the petition as to the joint purchase agreement and pleading the statute of frauds as against the oral contract set forth in the petition. Upon submission of the case the court dismissed the petition as amended, and discharged the attachment which had been levied. The court evidently was of the opinion that the statute of frauds was applicable since the evidence overwhelmingly supported appellants theory of the case.