Myers v. Snider

• Decision Date: 29 October 1956
• Docket Number: No. 5-1055,5-1055
• Citation: 226 Ark. 849,294 S.W.2d 495
• Parties: George E. MYERS et ux., Appellants, v. Elijah SNIDER, Appellee.
• Court: Arkansas Supreme Court

Page 495

294 S.W.2d 495

226 Ark. 849

George E. MYERS et ux., Appellants, v. Elijah SNIDER, Appellee.

No. 5-1055.

Supreme Court of Arkansas.

Oct. 29, 1956.

Alonzo D. Camp, Little Rock, for appellants.

Wood & Smith, Little Rock, for appellee.

McFADDIN, Justice.

In seeking a reversal the appellant contends that: (a) the Chancellor's findings are against the preponderance of the evidence; and (b) the findings are inconsistent. ¹

We give the salient facts: appellee, Snider, had owned for many years a tract of about two acres fronting on the basin cut-off of White River at DeValls Bluff. He was willing to allow some of his friends to have cottages on his land. Accordingly, on May 1, 1950, Snider gave appellant Myers an instrument reading:

'I agree to lease to Mr. George Meyers part of my ground at DeValls Bluff, Ark. to put a small house on for 5 years at 25 Dollars per year. I agree that Mr. Myers may move his building at any time from my ground that he may want to. This lease is not transferrable. This lease in carbon copy. Signed: Elijah Snider.'

Myers moved a cottage, 16 X 24 feet, on the Snider land and paid the required annual rent. Later Myers placed of record a 'contract of sale and rent', ² dated June 13, 1950, wherein Snider purported to sell to Myers the entire two acres for payments of $25 per year for 99 years. When he learned that Myers was claiming more than what was specified in the lease of May 1, 1950, Snider brought the present suit, alleging that the purported 'contract of sale and rent' was a forgery; and, if not a forgery, then the contract was void for uncertainty and material alterations. The prayer of the complaint was that the recorded 'contract of sale and rent' should be declared void and cancelled of record.

Myers asserted the complete validity of the 'contract of sale and rent' and, by cross complaint, sought the full enforcement of that contract. ³ At the trial Myers admitted that certain parts of the 'contract of sale and rent' were never agreed to. We list his admissions:

(a) The 'contract of sale and rent' definitely recited that if Myers paid $25 per year for 99 years and fulfilled all the other provisions of the contract then, at the expiration of the 99 years, Snider was to execute to Myers a warranty deed conveying the premises. Myers admitted that Snider never agreed to deed him the property, even though such language was plainly contained in the printed contract.

(b) The 'contract of sale and rent' stated that Myers was to pay all taxes on the land, and upon failure to pay the taxes promptly when due, all of Myers' claims under the contract would be ipso facto forfeited. Myers claimed that there was no agreement requiring him to pay the taxes, even though the contract so provided.

(c) The 'contract of sale and rent' described the property in Prairie County in this language: 'That parcel of land and appurtenances thereon now owned by Elija Snider of De Valls Bluff, Arkansas, as per record title of said lands, and known as 'Snider's Fish Dock". Following said description someone attached to the instrument a paper, of sixteen typewritten lines, containing a definite description of certain property in metes and bounds. Myers admitted that such typewritten addenda had never been a part of the contract; and there was no satisfactory explanation of this addenda. Myers did not pray for reformation of the uncertain description in the original contract and the proof failed to establish that Snider owned 'Snider's Fish Dock'.

In the light of the admissions by Myers, and in consideration of other evidence in the record, the Chancery Court...