Hadlock v. Showcase Real Estate, Inc., 18613
| Citation | 680 P.2d 395 |
| Decision Date | 15 March 1984 |
| Docket Number | No. 18613,18613 |
| Parties | Stanley V. HADLOCK, et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. SHOWCASE REAL ESTATE, INC., Morris Myers, et al., Defendants and Appellants. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Utah |
Morris Meyers, pro se.
Heber Grant Ivins, American Fork, for plaintiffs and respondents.
The defendant Morris Myers appeals from a decree quieting title to certain real property in Utah County in the plaintiffs and adjudging that he had no right, title or interest therein.
The plaintiffs, owners of the subject property, sold it to Showcase Real Estate, Inc., on a uniform real estate contract. Subsequently, the buyer's interest was assigned to Alvin R. Smith, who assigned it to Marcy G. Myers who, in turn, assigned it to the defendant Morris Myers. Although notice of the assignment to the defendant was never given to the plaintiffs, the defendant recorded in the office of the Recorder of Utah County a warranty deed which he had received from Marcy G. Myers in which she conveyed to him all of her interest in the subject property.
In July 1981 several monthly installments and the property taxes for 1979 and 1980 were delinquent. Pursuant to paragraph 16A of the contract, the plaintiffs notified the original buyer and all of the assignees of the buyer's interest that those delinquent amounts must be paid within five days or the plaintiffs would terminate the contract, retake possession of the property and retain all payments made on the contract as liquidated damages. A copy of the notice was mailed by certified mail to the defendant Myers with return receipt requested, but the letter was returned to the plaintiffs by the post office with the notation that it had been unclaimed. When no one responded to the notice, the plaintiffs instituted this action to obtain a decree declaring a forfeiture of the interest of the buyers and all subsequent assignees, and quieting title to the property in the plaintiffs. Myers was the only party who appeared to oppose the plaintiffs' complaint. After a brief trial at which he contended that he had not received the notice because it had been mailed by the plaintiffs to an incorrect address, the trial court found against him and awarded the plaintiffs the relief sought in their complaint together with $1,290 in attorney's fees and costs of the action.
Myers assails the judgment against him on the ground that as an assignee of the buyer's interest in the contract, he was entitled to be given the requisite five-day notice prescribed in paragraph 16A before the seller could proceed to forfeit his interest in the contract and property. We agree. The contract was unconditionally assignable by either sellers or the original buyer. The last paragraph of the contract, paragraph 22, provides "it is understood that the stipulations aforesaid are to apply to and bind the heirs, executors, administrators, successors and assigns of the respective parties hereto." That being so, each reference in the contract to the buyer must perforce include the buyer's assignee where an assignment has been made. By virtue of paragraph 22 the assignee is bound to the obligations of the contract, and he is also entitled to the rights, benefits and privileges accorded to the buyer. One of those rights is that his interest will not be extinguished without proper written notice and demand being...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Butler v. Wilkinson
...v. Citizens Finance Co., 7 Utah 106, 319 P.2d 858 (1958), or sell the interest by way of an assignment. See Hadlock v. Showcase Real Estate, Inc., 680 P.2d 395 (Utah 1984). By retaining the legal title, the vendor retains an important right in the land. The doctrine of equitable conversion ......
-
First Sec. Bank of Utah N.A. v. Banberry Development Corp.
...Jack B. Parson Cos., 751 P.2d at 1133; Wiscombe v. Lockhart Co., 608 P.2d 236, 238 (Utah 1980). But cf. Hadlock v. Showcase Real Estate, Inc., 680 P.2d 395, 397 (Utah 1984) (buyer's assignee entitled to notice prescribed in real estate contract not assigned for security 47 Cf. Horman, 744 P......
-
Johnston v. Austin
...by paragraph 16C of the contract needed to be given only to the Austins and not to the subpurchasers. Cf. Hadlock v. Showcase Real Estate, Inc., 680 P.2d 395 (Utah 1984). I am also of the opinion that if, as asserted by defendants, plaintiffs have habitually accepted late payments on the co......
-
Yu v. Paperchase Partnership
...Two cases recognizing the rights of the assignee are Roberts v. Morin, 198 Mont. 233, 645 P.2d 423 (1982), and Hadlock v. Showcase Real Estate, Inc., 680 P.2d 395 (Utah 1984). In Roberts, the contract provided that notice of default be sent to the "buyer" at a certain address. The court Mor......