Deich v. Reeves

Decision Date13 May 1948
Docket Number16151.
Citation48 S.E.2d 373,203 Ga. 596
PartiesDEICH v. REEVES.
CourtGeorgia Supreme Court

Syllabus by the Court.

1. For reasons hereinafter set forth in the first division of the opinion, the petition as amended, in the instant action for specific performance of a written option to purchase certain realty, was not subject to general demurrer on the ground that said option did not identify the property with the required degree of certainty.

2. The petition was not subject to special demurrer on the ground of multifariousness, in that the action was brought in one count but contained prayers for specific performance of an option to purchase, and also an alternative prayer for damages, representing the difference between the purchase-price agreed upon in said option and the reasonable market value at the time of the breach of said contract, in the event specific performance should become impossible of enforcement. Boney v. Cheshire, 147 Ga. 30(1), 92 S.E. 636; Code, § 37-807.

3. After amendment in response to special demurrer, the allegations of the petition with respect to itemized expenditures for specific improvements, placed upon the property occupied by the plaintiff under a lease and option to purchase, are sufficiently detailed to give the defendant notice of the nature and amount of expenses incurred in placing such improvements upon the property, and therefore the trial court properly overruled renewed special demurrers calling for a still more detailed account of such expenditures.

(a) Since the demurrer, on the ground that certain of the alleged expenditures were made for improvements upon the property which might, under the terms of the lease be considered 'fixtures' and thereby have required the written consent of the lessor, does not show which of the improvements should be thus classified, nor that such expenditures were made without the consent of the lessor, it fails to set forth a meritorious attack.

4. The above rulings control, adversely to the plaintiff in error, all assignments of error upon which any insistance is made.

Statement of facts by JENKINS, Chief Justice.

In an action for specific performance of a written option for the purchase of certain real estate, the petition as amended alleged: The defendant Deich leased to the plaintiff Reeves a house and lot identified in the lease as 'Certain premises in the State and county aforesaid, described as follows: Beach Cottage, known as 1310 Butler Ave., and located on section 3 of Beach Lot 83, Savannah Beach, Chatham County, Georgia.' On the back of said lease, under the head and title, 'Special additional provisions,' appears the following agreement: 'An option to purchase the within described property at price of Seventeen Thousand Five Hundred and no/100 ($17,500) cash at any time prior to May 15, 1947, is hereby granted tenant.' The petition describes the property thus leased by metes and bounds, and as being more fully shown on a designated map of said subdivision recorded in the Clerk's office Superior Court, Chatham County, Georgia, in Map Book 2, Folio 292, and it is thus made to appear that lot 3, of subdivision of Beach Lot 83 is 80 feet wide on the ocean front and 398 feet deep. The petition further alleged: that, in pursuance of said lease and option, the plaintiff, with the knowledge and consent of the defendant, entered into possession of the described cottage and said Lot 3 of subdivision of Beach Lot 83, and with the intent of purchasing same had proceeded to convert the dwelling into a boarding house and inn for tourists, and in doing so had expended itemized sums of money for specified permanent improvements on said house and on the lot upon which it was located in the amount of $4115; and that thereafter, having elected to exercise the right of option, the full purchase-price agreed upon, which was alleged to be the fair market value of the property when leased, was tendered by the plaintiff and refused by the defendant. The prayers were for specific performance, and also 'that, if the remedy of specific performance be adjudged to be inapplicable or impossible of enforcement, then damages be assessed and awarded your petitioner against the defendant for breach of his contract of purchase and sale in an...

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8 cases
  • Abernathy v. Rylee
    • United States
    • Georgia Supreme Court
    • 2 septembre 1952
    ...231, 140 S.E. 497; Belle Isle v. Moore, 190 Ga. 881, 885, 10 S.E.2d 923; Grant v. Hart, 192 Ga. 153, 14 S.E.2d 860; Deich v. Reeves, 203 Ga. 596, 597(2), 48 S.E.2d 373. In Belle Isle v. Moore, supra [190 Ga. 881, 10 S.E.2d 926] it was said that, where 'a creditor of a corporation proceeds i......
  • Farm Supply Co. of Albany, Inc. v. Cook
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • 16 novembre 1967
    ...this State stating it in these very words. However, it was applied by the Supreme Court in Epping v. Devanny, 28 Ga. 422; Deich v. Reeves, 203 Ga. 596, 48 S.E.2d 373, and by this court in Williams v. Bernath, 61 Ga.App. 350, 6 S.E.2d 184; Shiflett v. Anchor Rome Mills, 78 Ga.App. 428, 50 S.......
  • Trust Co. of Ga. v. S. & W. Cafeteria
    • United States
    • Georgia Court of Appeals
    • 5 mars 1958
    ...conveyed an estate for years and not a mere usufruct, depends the sufficiency of count 1. In a comparatively recent case, Deich v. Reeves, 203 Ga. 596, 599, 48 S.E. 373, the word 'premises' is defined, but the court makes it clear that the definition is not inflexible and that word must be ......
  • Irwin v. Dailey, 21135
    • United States
    • Georgia Supreme Court
    • 9 février 1961
    ...therein and made valuable improvements. This it is contended cured defects in the description. Reliance is made on Deich v. Reeves, 203 Ga. 596, 48 S.E.2d 373. The fatal fallacy of such contention is two-fold: (1) the description here is perfect and is in no wise uncertain; and (2) in the c......
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