Jones v. Midland Valley R. Co.

• Decision Date: 19 June 1939
• Docket Number: No. 1830.,1830.
• Citation: 105 F.2d 322
• Parties: JONES v. MIDLAND VALLEY R. CO.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Tenth Circuit

105 F.2d 322 (1939)

JONES v. MIDLAND VALLEY R. CO.

No. 1830.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

June 19, 1939.

C. A. Ambrister, of Muskogee, Okl., for appellant.

Charles P. Gotwals, of Muskogee, Okl. (Wm. A. Killey and James D. Gibson, both of Muskogee, Okl., on the brief), for appellee.

Before PHILLIPS and BRATTON, Circuit Judges, and KENNAMER, District Judge.

PHILLIPS, Circuit Judge.

By a written lease, dated July 1, 1929, the Title Guaranty Trust Company leased to the Midland Valley Railroad Company the second, third, and fourth floors and certain space on the fifth floor of the Railway Exchange Building in Muskogee, Oklahoma, for the term beginning July 1, 1929, and ending July 1, 1934, at a rental of $925 per month, payable monthly in advance. Thereafter, the title to the Railway Exchange Building passed to Josephine C. Jones. The Railroad Company refused to pay the rent for the month of December, 1931. On January 6, 1932, Mrs. Jones brought an action against the Railroad Company in the district court of Muskogee County, Oklahoma, to recover the sum of $925 rent for the month of December, 1931.

On February 22, 1932, Zeb P. Jackson, acting as agent for Mrs. Jones, and the Railroad Company entered into an oral agreement under the terms of which the accrued rental for December, 1931, and January and February, 1932, was to be reduced to $772.50 per month, and the rental for the month of March, 1932, and thereafter was to be reduced to $620 per month. The Railroad Company was to surrender the third floor and part of the fifth floor and was to be furnished space for its paymaster on the first floor and the operation of one elevator was to be discontinued.

In accordance with the oral agreement, the Railroad Company surrendered the space on the third floor and part of the fifth floor and went into possession of space for its paymaster on the first floor and the service of one elevator was discontinued.

On February 22, 1932, the Railroad Company submitted to Jackson a proposed draft of a new lease of the space stipulated in the oral agreement. It was for a term beginning January 1, 1932, and ending July 1, 1934, and stipulated a rental of $620 per month, payable monthly in advance. Jackson forwarded the draft to Mrs. Jones. She refused to execute it.

On February 29, 1932, the Railroad Company delivered to Jackson its check payable to Mrs. Jones in the sum of $2,937.50. The check contained the following recitals:

"In full of office rent for second, third, fourth and part of fifth floors of Railway Exchange Building, Muskogee, Okla., up to and including the 29th day of February, 1932, as agreed with Zeb P. Jackson, Agent, February 22, 1932, $2317.50. Rent in advance for the month of March, 1932, for second, fourth and parts of first and fifth floors as agreed with Zeb P. Jackson, Agent, February 22, 1932, $620.00, total $2937.50. * * * This voucher is endorsed as an acknowledgment of the receipt of payment in full of account as stated within."

With the approval of Mrs. Jones, Jackson accepted, endorsed in her name, and cashed the check.

Thereafter, the Railroad Company delivered to Jackson its checks payable to Mrs. Jones for the rental on the basis of $620 per month for the months of April to December, 1932, inclusive, and January, February, and March, 1933. Each check contained on its face the following recital:

"For rent of second, fourth, and parts of first and fifth floors of the Railway Exchange Bldg., Muskogee, Oklahoma, for the month of (here was inserted the appropriate month)."

Jackson, as agent for Mrs. Jones, accepted, endorsed, and cashed the checks.

In February, 1933, the Railroad Company notified Mrs. Jones that it would vacate the premises on or about April 1, 1933.

The Railroad Company continued to occupy the space in the Railway Exchange Building in accordance with the oral agreement until April 30, 1933. It vacated the leased premises on that date and forwarded to Mrs. Jones its check for the rental for April, 1933, bearing the following recital:

"In full payment and discharge of all obligations for or on account of office space in the Railway Exchange Building, Muskogee, Oklahoma, having completely vacated as of April 30th, 1933, $620.00."

Mrs. Jones refused to accept the check and on December 7, 1933, brought this action against the Railroad Company to recover on the original lease rental from December 1, 1931, to the end of the term on the basis of the rental provision of the original lease, less the payments made by the Railroad Company.

In its answer the Railroad Company pleaded the oral agreement and alleged "that no term of occupancy was fixed thereby," that it paid the rentals pursuant to the oral agreement to and including the month of March, 1933, and that pursuant to notice given in February, 1933, it vacated the premises on March 31, 1933.

At the close of the evidence counsel for Mrs. Jones requested the court to find that the original lease was modified by the oral agreement with respect to the space to be occupied by the Railroad Company, the rental to be paid, and the elevator service.

The trial court found the facts substantially as above stated. It concluded that the written lease was abrogated and discharged by the oral agreement and that by virtue of the oral agreement the parties entered into a new agreement for the rental of different space on a month-to-month basis at a rental of $620 per month.

From a judgment for the Railroad Company, Mrs. Jones has appealed.

Section 9502, O.S.1931, 15 Okl.St.Ann. § 237, reads as follows:

"A contract in writing may be altered by a contract in writing, or by an executed oral agreement, and not otherwise."

The supreme court of Oklahoma has many times construed this statute to mean that a contract in writing may be modified only by a contract in writing or an executed oral agreement. Fenner v. Sparks, 170 Okl....