Williams v. Harris

• Decision Date: 13 February 1951
• Docket Number: No. 17315,17315
• Citation: Williams v. Harris, 207 Ga. 576, 63 S.E.2d 386 (Ga. 1951)
• Parties: WILLIAMS v. HARRIS et al.
• Court: Georgia Supreme Court

Page 386

63 S.E.2d 386

207 Ga. 576

WILLIAMS v. HARRIS et al.

No. 17315.

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Feb. 13, 1951.

John H. Hudson, J. Walter LeCraw, Atlanta, for plaintiff in error.

Grant Wiggins, Grizzard & Smith, Wm. G. Grant, and James C. Grizzard, all of Atlanta, for defendants in error.

Syllabus Opinion by the Court

CANDLER, Justice.

The Providence Baptist Church, an unincorporated religious society, by and through Oscar Harris, Robert Hicks, Bennie Porter, and A. H. Walker, its trustees, filed an equitable suit in the Superior Court of Fulton County against John W. Williams, alleging that he had entered upon and was continually committing wilful, wrongful, and malicious acts of trespass on its described land. An injunction, damages, attorney's fees, and general relief were prayed for. The petition was not demurred to. As shown by the record, the defendant John W. Williams, on May 10, 1948, sold and conveyed to the plaintiff by warranty deed 'all that tract or parcel of land lying and being in the City of Atlanta, in land lot 109 of the 14th District of Fulton County, Georgia, and more particularly described as follows: Beginning at the northeast corner of Larkin Street and Maher Street, as now located; thence north along the east side of Maher Street 100 feet to a stake; thence east a distance of 63 feet to a stake; thence south a distance of 98 feet to a stake on the north side of Larkin Street; thence west along the north side of Larkin Street a distance of 63 feet to the corner of Larkin Street and Maher Street, the point of beginning; being a part of the property conveyed by W. L. Randall to Chris D. Matrangos on April 9, 1930 (Deed Book 1307, page 204), and conveyed by C. F. Morris to John W. Williams April 28, 1937 (Deed Book 1660, page 437).' The plaintiff immediately after its purchase from the defendant Williams, had a survey and plat of its tract made by a competent surveyor, and the four corners of its land were at that time marked by stakes set in the ground, and the stake at the southwest corner of its land--the corner at the intersection of Larking and Maher Streets, was set at a point 163 feet east of the intersection of Larkin and Roach Streets. The defendant now owns the adjacent land north and east of the Church's property. The land involved in this litigation is a strip 6 feet wide and 98 feet long. The plaintiff contends that it is a part of its boundary, and was conveyed to it by the defendant. The defendant insists that it is a part of his land, and that the descriptive averments of his deed to the Church do not embrace it. The controversy actually arises from a dispute between the parties concerning the true location of the beginning point of the church property at the intersection of Larkin and Maher Streets. The plaintiff contends that it is at a point six feet east from the street curbing, and that 63 feet east along the north side of Larkin Street, when measured from that point, will include the disputed area within its boundary. On the other hand, the defendant insists that it is at the street curbing, and that 63 feet east along the north side of Larkin Street, when measured from that point, will excluded the disputed area from the plaintiff's boundary. The plaintiff contends that the defendant Williams is claiming the property in question in bad faith, had repeatedly removed the stakes which mark the established corners of its property, has taken actual possession of the disputed area, and has deprived it os the right to occupy, use, and enjoy its property by the erection and maintenance of a permanent barricade constructed of 2 X 4 timbers; and that the defendant's wilful, wrongful, and malicious acts constitute a continuing trespass which can not be adequately compensated for by an award of damages. The plaintiff has incurred an expense of $25 in having a surveyor reset its corner stakes, and an additional expense of $250 as attorney's fees for the preparation and filing of this action, and also an obligation to pay further reasonable attorney's fees for subsequent legal services in prosecuting this suit. The defendant contends that the land in dispute belongs to him; that the plaintiff is undertaking wilfully, maliciously, unlawfully, and without just compensation to take a portion of his land; and that he has in good faith, and not otherwise, undertaken to protect his property against an unjust claim. On the trial, and after both sides had introduced their evidence, the trial judge directed the jury to find that the defendant was guilty of a trespass, and that the plaintiff was entitled to a permanent injunction, as prayed for; also to nominal damages. He submitted to the jury the amount of nominal damages to be assessed for the trespass. He also fully charged on section 20-1404 of the Code relating to the allowance of attorney's fees as an expense of litigation. The jury found that the plaintiff was entitled to recover $300 as nominal damages and $500 was attorney's fees. A motion for new trial, based on the usual general grounds, was filed and later amended by adding several special grounds. Before the motion for new trial was passed on, the plaintiff voluntarily wrote off of the verdict and judgment for nominal damages the sum of $285, leaving $15 therefor. The amended motion for new trial was then overruled and the exception is that judgment. Held:

1. Recitals in deeds bind not only the parties thereto, but their privies in estate. Code, § 38-114; Wyley Loose Leaf Co. v. Bird, 159 Ga. 246(3), 125 S.E. 496; Mitchell v. Hunt, 185 Ga. 835, 196 S.E. 711. In other words, the parties to a deed, and those claiming under it, are estopped by its recitals; and from an application of that rule it necessarily follows that one cannot...