Court Opinion

ID: 9632581
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 11:19:46.802554+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:07:23.438709
License: Public Domain

HOWE, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent.
I believe this case is governed by the rule of law stated in the majority opinion that a provision in a deed specifying or limiting the use to which property is to be put does not by itself create a condition subsequent. That is exactly what we have here. There was no provision in the deed giving the grantor the right of re-entry and revesting title in her. Moreover, with regard to the use to be put to the property, all we have here is one terse sentence: “This property is conveyed to be used as and for a church or residence purposes only.” No words appear which would make a condition subsequent such as “on condition that,” “provided that,” or “upon express condition that.” In the absence of language providing for re-entry and the absence of words which create a condition subsequent, I find no clear showing of intent of the grantor to make the estate which was conveyed conditional.
The majority opinion reaches out to make the condition specified here pertaining to fencing and surveying apply also to the provision in the following paragraph that the property is to be used for a church or residence only. I am unable to make that jump. The majority opinion notes that “if the conditions specified here were only those pertaining to fencing and surveying, we would be loath to find a condition subsequent, especially in the absence of an express provision for reentry or revesting.” Yet, the opinion has no hesitancy in applying the condition to a later separate paragraph regarding use, to which it is doubtful that it was ever meant to apply. Having made that jump, the majority then reasons that the grantor would have the right of re-entry.
After concluding that the condition applies not just to fencing and surveying but to the use of the property as well, the majority then holds that when property is conveyed on condition that it be used only for a particular type of building, the grantee has an obligation to build the build*1072ing within a reasonable time, failing which the grantor has a power of termination. The majority cites in support thereof Salt Lake City v. State, 101 Utah 543, 125 P.2d 790 (1942) and two cases cited and discussed therein, Trustees of Union College v. City of New York, 173 N.Y. 38, 65 N.E. 853 (1903) and Norton v. Valentine, 151 App.Div. 392, 195 N.Y.S. 1084 (1912). However, in each of those cases there was contained in the deed an express provision that if the land were used for any purpose other than that stated in the deed (Governor’s residence, tabernacle and pastor’s residence and City Hall), the land would revert to the grantor. In those cases the intent of the grantor is clear and manifest. I have no quarrel with the law which revests title in the grantor when the property is not so used within a reasonable time. However, in the instant case all we have is the naked statement that the property conveyed is to be used as and for a church or residence purposes only. This could be nothing more than an attempt on the part of the grantor to prevent the property from being used for commercial or industrial purposes which would interfere with her enjoyment in residing on her remaining property. It does not appear to affirmatively require that a church or residence ever be built.
No condition having been clearly expressed, and recognizing the fact that conditions controlling the use of deeded property are strictly construed against the grant- or, and that forfeitures are not favored, I am led to conclude that the judgment below should be reversed.
STEWART, J., concurs in the dissenting opinion of HOWE, J.