Hayward Lumber & Inv. Co. v. Construction Products Corp.

• Decision Date: 24 March 1952
• Citation: 241 P.2d 1054,110 Cal.App.2d 1
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: HAYWARD LUMBER & INVESTMENT CO. v. CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS CORP. Civ. 18870.

Page 1054

241 P.2d 1054

110 Cal.App.2d 1

HAYWARD LUMBER & INVESTMENT CO. v. CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTS CORP.

Civ. 18870.

District Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 3, California.

March 24, 1952.

Philip T. Lyons, Los Angeles, for appellant.

Larwill & Wolfe, Los Angeles, for respondent.

VALLEE, Justice.

Appeal by plaintiff from a judgment for defendant in an action for unlawful detainer.

The court found that: On November 1, 1948, plaintiff leased certain premises to defendant under the terms of a written lease; it is untrue that the lease expired on December 31, 1950, and it is untrue that defendant has unlawfully detained the property; on December 29, 1950, defendant 'was entitled to exercise the option hereinafter mentioned and that on or about said date defendant gave to plaintiff a written notice of the exercise of defendant's option to renew and extend the said lease agreement from and after December 31, 1950 and to and including December 31, 1951, said option having been given by plaintiff to defendant as one of the provisions of the said written lease'; the notice of the exercise of the option was a good and sufficient notice to renew and extend the lease, and by said written notice defendant did renew and extend the lease from January 1, 1951, to and including December 31, 1951, except as to the amount of monthly rental to be paid, which monthly rental was to be fixed and agreed upon by the parties as provided in the least. Judgment was for defendant.

The sole question presented is whether the finding that defendant was 'entitled to exercise the option' is a finding of fact or a conclusion of law. Appellant asserts it is a conclusion of law, that the court thus failed to make findings on a material issue presented by the evidence, to-wit, whether defendant had performed the necessary conditions precedent prior to exercising the option, and therefore, the findings do not support the judgment.

The distinction between an ultimate fact and a conclusion of fact on the one hand, and a conclusion of law on the other, is not an easy one to draw. The finding of an ultimate fact usually, if not always, involves one or more conclusions. The rule which requires findings of facts does not require the finding of evidentiary facts but only that ultimate facts be found; it does not exclude conclusions of facts but only conclusions of law. Cf. Estate of Bixler, 194 Cal. 585, 589-590, 229 P. 704; Lewis v. Beeks, 88 Cal.App.2d 511, 521, 199 P.2d 413; Green v. Darling, 73 Cal.App. 700, 703, 239 P. 70; Lester v. Beer, 74 Cal.App.2d Supp. 984, 989, 168 P.2d 998. Whether a finding is one of an ultimate fact or a conclusion of law depends on the nature of the evidence. 'If, from the facts in evidence, the result can be reached by that process of natural reasoning adopted in the investigation of truth, it becomes an ultimate fact, to be found as such. If, on the other hand, resort must be had to the artificial processes of the law, in order to reach a final determination, the result is a conclusion of law.' Levins v. Rovegno, 71 Cal. 273, 278, 12 P. 161, 164; Wendt v. Gates, 102 Cal.App. 342, 343-344, 283 P. 312; Palmer v. Fix, 104 Cal.App. 562, 567, 286 P. 498; Rhode v. Bartholomew, 94 Cal.App.2d 272, 279, 210 P.2d 768; 24 Cal.Jur. 927, § 177. 'Ultimate facts are the logical conclusions deduced from certain primary facts evidentiary in character.' Rhode v. Bartholomew, supra, 94 Cal.App. at page 279, 210 P.2d 773.

In Palmer v. Fix, supra, 104 Cal.App. 562, 286 P. 498, 499, the court held that a finding that defendants 'are not entitled to any commission on the sale of any goods, wares or merchandise of the plaintiffs' after the date the contract was cancelled, was a finding of fact and not a conclusion of law, and that it was not necessary for the court to give its reason for the...