Patalano v. Chabot

• Decision Date: 23 December 1952
• Court: Connecticut Supreme Court
• Parties: PATALANO v. CHABOT. Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut

Page 15

94 A.2d 15

139 Conn. 356

PATALANO v. CHABOT.

Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut.

Dec. 23, 1952.

Morris Robinson, South Norwalk, with whom, on the brief, was Alan H. Nevas, South Norwalk, for appellant (plaintiff).

Sidney Vogel, Norwalk, for appellee (defendant).

Before BROWN, C. J., and JENNINGS, BALDWIN, INGLIS and O'SULLIVAN, JJ.

O'SULLIVAN, Associate Justice.

The finding, as corrected, discloses the following facts: On December 20, 1946, the plaintiff owned a parcel of land on Wood Street, South Norwalk. Two buildings were then standing on the property, one known as 12 Wood Street and the other as 14 Wood Street. The latter was a three-and-one-half-story frame dwelling house with a store on the ground floor. The former was an unfinished two and one-half-story brick building. Attached to and forming an integral part of it was a section referred to in the finding as the 'one story boiler room.' It occupied the nine-foot space between the two main buildings. Its roof was substantially at the same level as the floor of the porch above the store in No. 14.

On the date mentioned above, the parties entered into a written contract whereby the plaintiff agreed to exchange the property known as No. 12 for a parcel owned by the defendant in another part of the city. In referring to what the plaintiff was to convey, the contract provided that the boiler room and the land on which it stands 'are not included in this sale,' and that 'the premises to be conveyed will be accurately surveyed * * * and the surveyor's description will be used in the deeds of conveyance.' Another provision was that the dimensions of No. 12, as stated in the contract, 'will be changed to conform to the surveyor's dimensions when found.' The parties selected an attorney to handle their respective interests in the transaction. He obtained from a civil engineer an accurate survey of the premises. The blueprint of this survey showed a single set of dimensions for No. 12 and the boiler room. The attorney, in drafting the proposed deed, based the description of the property on the blueprint, so that, contrary to the provision in the written contract, the land under the boiler room was included. There was also incorporated in the deed a provision reserving to the plaintiff the right to use the roof of the boiler room and a flight of stairs leading from it to the street as a means of getting to and from the porch of the building known as No. 14 as long as that building remained standing, but in no event for more than twenty years. Closing of title occurrred on February 24, 1947, at the office of the attorney. The blueprint and the deed were explained to both parties. Thereafter, the plaintiff executed the deed, as drafted, and delivered it to the defendant.

During the summer of 1950, the defendant, for the purpose of adding another story to the boiler-room section, began to erect a wall along the side adjoining No. 14. This blocked the right of way reserved in the deed. The plaintiff then instituted this action and obtained a temporary order restraining the defendant from proceeding with his plan. Some time thereafter the defendant reopened the wall and since then the occupants of the plaintiff's property have had an unobstructed right of way over the boiler room and down the flight of stairs to the sidewalk. The defendant, in erecting and in removing the wall, did not do any actual damage to the plaintiff's premises. The defendant installed a boiler in the boiler room, and from the time the parties exchanged properties he has used the room without objection by the plaintiff. Other facts which the plaintiff asks us to include in the finding cannot be added, since they are neither admitted nor undisputed, and his effort to strike various facts found must fail since they have reasonable support in the evidence.

The complaint is in two counts. The first sets up a cause of action for interfering with the plaintiff's right of way. It also alleges a cause of action for nuisance. The latter, however, has not been pursued and we shall not discuss it. The second count alleges that, through mutual mistake, the plaintiff conveyed, in addition to No. 12, the boiler room and the land on which it stands. The relief sought under the complaint is a permanent injunction, damages and reformation of the deed. The court concluded that the deed carried out the intention of the parties and that no basis appeared for reforming it. It further concluded that there was no need for a permanent injunction. It awarded no damages. From the judgment entered for the defendant, the plaintiff has appealed.

We first discuss the second count. Reformation of a deed can be ordered when it has been executed as the result of a mutual mistake and by reason thereof each party has done what neither intended. Milford Yacht Realty Co. v. Milford Yacht Club, Inc., 136 Conn. 544, 548, 72 A.2d 482. Reformation is also available as an equitable remedy when the deed 'does not express the true intent of the parties owing to mistake of one party coupled with fraud, actual or constructive, or inequitable conduct on the part of the other. 5 Pomeroy, Equity Jurisprudence (2d Ed.) § 2097'. Home Owners' Loan Corporation v. Stevens, 120 Conn. 6, 10, 179 A. 330, 331. The case at bar falls within neither of these principles. There is no finding of mutual mistake. Furthermore, if we assume that the complaint is broad enough to support a judgment based on a unilateral mistake, the finding is silent as to any fraud or inequitable conduct on the part of the defendant. Indeed, it is found that he acted throughout in good faith.

The function of a deed is merely to pass title to land, pursuant to the agreement of the parties. Preleski v. Farganiasz, 97 Conn. 345, 350, 116 A. 593; Anderson v. Colwell, 93 Conn. 61, 65, 104 A. 242. What the terms of the agreement were in the case at bar was a question of fact for the trier. Dwyer v. Hamre, 123 Conn. 137, 141, 193 A. 207; Fenner v. Bolema Construction Co., 330 Mich. 400, 402, 47 N.W.2d 662; 3 Corbin, Contracts, p. 119. In reaching a correct answer to that question, the court was required to consider and weigh various factors. On the one hand the contract of December 20, 1946, provided that the land under the boiler room was not to be...