Opinion ID: 1371318
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Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Defendant Bound by Recitals in Deed.

Text: In the law of evidence there are certain presumptions of law which are sometimes conclusive, and an averment to the contrary will not be allowed (Code Section 38-114), such as `... recitals in deeds, except payment of purchase money, as against the grantor acting in his own right, and sui juris, and his privies in estate, blood and in law; ...' and it has been held that recitals in deeds bind the parties thereto and their privies in estate. ( Tift v. Golden Hardware Co., 204 Ga. 654 (5) and other cases). The deed by which defendant acquired his property has the following provisions: `... on the west by an alley dividing the property hereby conveyed from the property of Wheat (now, plaintiff Reynolds); and including all of the property, but only the property, within the aforesaid boundaries regardless of whether the dimensions thereof herein set out be more or less than the true dimensions of said property; and also including all of the rights and privileges of the said Lauradel P. Pilcher and Laura H. Parker (grantors) in and to the alley bounding the said property on the south and on the west...' This description expressly subordinates dimensions to boundaries, and that the alley separating this property from that of Reynolds (presently) is the western boundary line of the Gilbert property even if this might diminish the quantity of land defendant obtained under his deed, and it goes further and gives the defendant the right of use of said alley. Nothing could be clearer as to what constituted the western boundary line of the Gilbert tract, nor as to the status of the alley between this tract and that of the Wheat (now Reynolds) tract on the west. (See Johnson et al. v. Valdosta, Moultrie & Western R. Co. et al., 169 Ga. 559, 563 (150 SE 845)). An interesting case, showing the extent to which parties are bound by the recitals in their deeds is Williams v. Harris, Trustees, in 207 Ga. 576-579. This involved the location of an intersection of two streets, and it was held that the parties were bound by the description in their deeds that the intersecting point of Larkin and Maher Streets was 163 feet east of the intersection of Larkin and Roach Streets. The recitals in the deeds in this case were the controlling factor in determining location of intersection insofar as the parties were concerned. Under this deed of acquirement, we feel that defendant is bound by the recital that his western boundary line is the alley in question, and that his property in fee simple extends only to that boundary, and the recitals in his deed go even further, in apprising him of this fact, than simply reciting the alley as the western boundary. (See A B & A R Co. v. County of Coffee, 152 Ga. 432, 434 (110 SE 214), and Bale v. Todd, 123 Ga. 99 (2) (50 SE 990)).