Straney v. Smith

• Decision Date: 16 January 1953
• Citation: 255 S.W.2d 653
• Parties: STRANEY v. SMITH et al.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky

Page 653

255 S.W.2d 653

STRANEY v. SMITH et al.

Court of Appeals of Kentucky.

Jan. 16, 1953.

Rehearing Denied March 27, 1953.

Blakey Helm, Louisville, for appellant.

J. L. Richardson, Jr., Louisville, for appellees.

STANLEY, Commissioner.

The action is by Mrs. Ruby J. Straney against Mrs. Betty Smith and her son, Samuel S. Smith, for damages for breach of contract to buy the furnishings of a rooming house. The verdict was for the defendants under instructions to find for the plaintiff if the jury believed the defendants' written offer was accepted by her within the time stipulated therein, unless it had been agreed that the contract was not to be effective unless and until the defendants had secured a satisfactory lease of the building and they were unable to secure such a lease. The plaintiff, as appellant, primarily contends that she was entitled to a directed verdict and that the instructions submitted irrelevant issues.

In response to an advertisement by an agency that the furnishings and the business of conducting the rooming house were for sale, the defendants inspected the property on the morning of Friday, January 7, 1949. The plaintiff testified the defendants then and there made a definite offer to buy the property for $5,000 and she then accepted it. Miles, the sales agent, testified the defendants decided at the time to buy the furnishings and that there was an agreement 'that is, as to the price.' His memory, as he indicated, was not clear for the transaction occurred more than a year before the trial. He testified the contract was prepared and signed by the defendants in Mrs. Straney's living room. He is undoubtedly mistaken in this. The writing is a completed blank form of an offer addressed to the sales agent with the provision, 'Unless accepted by 6 P. M. on the 7th day of January, 1949, this proposition is null and void.' It bears the signatures of Mrs. Smith and her son. The instrument also carries this statement, 'The above proposition is accepted at 3 P. M. this 7th day of January, 1949' and to it is appended the signatures of Mrs. Straney 'by J. B. Miles, Agent' and also 'Approved, Ruby J. Straney.'

On the contrary, the defendants testified that the first thing they asked about when they went to see the furniture was the lease on the building, because, as they told Mrs. Straney, they would have to know about that before considering anything. They say the plaintiff advised them she did not have a copy of the lease. They are quite positive in their testimony that no offer was made while the parties were at the house and are corroborated by Mrs. Sam Smith. It is apparent, however, that the parties then agreed upon the price of $5,000.

Early that afternoon the parties met at Miles' office. After some discussion, they went to the office of the Louisville Trust Company, which was the rental agent of the owner of the building, to see about the lease. There is contradiction as to whether the Smiths signed the offer above described before leaving Miles' office or after they returned there. The bill of sale was signed and acknowledged by Mrs. Straney before they left Miles' office. It is insisted that all these papers were prepared in advance of the departure or during the absence of the parties in order to save time. The defendants insist very positively that they signed the offer reluctantly upon the assurance of Miles that there would be no trouble about obtaining a transfer of the lease of the property and that it would be held until everything was straightened out. During these transactions, Mrs. Smith signed checks for $4,500 payable to Mrs. Straney and $500 payable to the sales agent and delivered them to Miles. He held all these papers. That is certain. Miles and Mrs. Straney testify that after the return of the parties to his office Miles signed the acceptance as her agent and she signed the approval a few minutes later. There is some evidence, however, to the effect that they did not do so until a day or so later, notwithstanding the statement written into the form that it was done at 3 o'clock that afternoon, thereby bringing the acceptance within the stipulated time.

There is confusion as to the transaction with Branham, the representative of the Louisville Trust Company handling the building. The defendants' testimony is very positive that they stated to him, as they had to the plaintiff, that they would not accept a lease containing provisions (1) limiting it to a month-to-month rental instead of a year, (2) that cooking could be done in only one kitchen, and (3) that the lessees had to live on the premises. It was contemplated that Samuel Smith would move into the house at once and that Mrs. Smith would occupy another apartment when her term as County Court Clerk of Hart County expired about a year later. The response of Branham was that he could not change the terms of the lease but that there would be no trouble,...