Court Opinion

ID: 9531402
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:10:34.329833+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:26.458641
License: Public Domain

PHELPS, Chief Justice
(dissenting).
I cannot agree with the majority opinion. Appellants claim the judgment of the Court is not supported either by the evidence or the law and that the Court was without jurisdiction to establish a common boundary line between the McNeils and the Mackeys (successors in interest to the Attaways). I agree that the Court was without authority under the pleadings to establish a boundary line between the Mc-Neils and the Mackeys. But I think its findings of fact herein set out haec verba and its judgment otherwise were amply justified by the evidence, and I do not think *113the majority members have given said evidence the' legal effect to which it is entitled; nor that they have fully stated the pertinent facts in the case.
The Court made the following findings of fact which were assigned as error claiming that it was not supported by either the evidence or the law.
“ * * * All of the persons in that area purchased based upon visual inspection including existing fence lines and property pointed out as being the property then being purchased.
“ * * * Mr. Carney, the common grantor of the parties to this action, bought his land in 1948 based upon a visual inspection and bought using the same fence as his westerly boundary. He so informed his realtor and the realtor so informed the plaintiffs and the defendants and so sold to the plaintiffs and the defendants and the plaintiffs and the defendants so purchased and so occupied. All of the sales from Mr. Carney were on the same basis.
“All of the purchasers purchased relying upon visual inspection and without reference to the descriptions contained in the deeds, which descriptions were compiled in the escrow office of the Title Company where the property was being escrowed.
“Each person buying from Mr. Car- ■ ney in fact secured the land that he bargained for, the frontage that he bargained for and the land which said purchaser anticipated receiving.”
The issues presented therefore must be determined from a review of all the evidence in the case which must be construed in a light most favorable to sustaining the judgment of the trial court. It is my purpose therefore to fully state the pertinent facts in the case in order, if possible, to make my position clear.
The facts are that Frank A. Carney, et ux, early in 1948 acquired title to a 20-acre tract of land described according to government survey, which is correctly stated in the majority opinion. However, the evidence is that Mr. Carney at the time he purchased said tract of land had pointed out to him by the real estate agent, the old fence line on the west side thereof with the statement that this was the west boundary line of the property he purchased; that he believed he was purchasing property bounded on the west by the old fence line and by fences then on the north and east thereof, and by the railroad right-of-way on the south. He received the deed thereto later and did not know at anytime either before or after receiving the deed that the legal description therein did not correspond with the fence lines on the west, east and north sides of said property and had no reason to believe otherwise.
Mr. Carney decided to sell said property in five-acre strips of 165 feet frontage on *114the Tempe-Mesa Highway and instructed Mr. Dean, an agent of the real estate firm through which he had purchased the property, to sell it in that manner and to first sell the 165 feet strip along the west side of said property. The original contract between Carney and the purchasers and the real estate firm called for 165 feet frontage by 1,320 feet in depth. This is true of all tracts thus sold except the last one which was sold to the Attaways. Carney had learned by measuring it that the area between the east and west fences was a little over 660 feet. He therefore instructed the real estate agent that the deed to the Attaways should provide for 165 feet frontage more or less. None of the original descriptions of the land were followed by the Title Company. Carney further testified that he intended to sell the land between the east and west fences and that he taped it off from the marker (iron pipe) on the northwest corner of the property which was fairly close to the west line fence. He said he intended to sell to the Attaways all the remainder of the land after deducting 165 feet on the east and 330 feet on the west which he had sold to the McNeils. He stated he didn’t want any land left upon which to pay taxes and that is the reason for the instruction that the deed to the Attaways should read 165 feet, more or less, in width.
The undisputed evidence is that the fence on the west side of the property purchased by Carney was an old fence; that it was in the same location at least as far back as 1935. Mrs. Cota, daughter of Ramon S. Mendoza, who owned the 20-acre tract immediately west of the property purchased by the McNeils from Carney, testified that her father purchased the property in 1941 and received title thereto in 1944 and the property had been in the family ever since; that she was 31 years of age when her father purchased the property immediately west of the McNeils and the fence was then an old fence, and it had been there in the same location as far back as she could remember. This would justify the conclusion that it had been in that location many years before 1935. It had, during all of those years, been treated by the predecessors of Mendoza and the McNeils as the legal property line between the east and west 20-acre tracts in the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section 19, township one (1) north, range five (5) east G&SRB&M, Maricopa County, Arizona.
Mr. McNeil testified that he had been acquainted with the land for many years in that he had passed by it many times but had never had any intentions of buying it until shortly before he and his wife did purchase it. This being true the fact could not have escaped even a casual observation by him that the fence had been in the same location for years. Dean, the real estate agent, pointed out to the McNeils the northwest corner stake from which they measured their 330 feet frontage along the *115Mesa-Tempe Highway. Mr. McNeil testified as follows in response to questions propounded on cross-examination:
“Q. At the time you purchased, Mr. McNeil did you know this property was located in Section 19, Township 1 North, Range 5 East? A. I only knew it after I got my deed.
“Q. Did you know that this property was located in the east half of the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of said Section 19? A. When I bought it ?
“Q. Yes, sir? A. No sir, I didn’t know it until I got my deed.
“Q. In other words, then at the time you purchased this property you did not know the legal description of the property ? A. I did not.
“Q. And you did not buy on the basis of the wordage in your deed that described the property, did you ? A. No, I just bought a piece of property and they give me a deed to it.
“Q. That is right. In other words, let’s get this straight. You went out there and saw a piece of property on the ground, Mr. Dean, the real estate man, pointed it out to you, its general location, and you then and there purchased 165 feet and then purchased a few months later another 165 feet immediately east to it ? * * * A. Yes,
The above testimony of Mr. McNeil thoroughly establishes the fact that he relied entirely upon his visual inspection of said property for the purpose of identifying it as the exact property he intended to purchase, and the fact that he measured it from the iron stake on the northwest corner of said 20 acres which is fairly in line with the old fence line, establishes definitely the fact that he not only intended to buy the 330 feet frontage measured from said iron stake but that he did buy it. By the above measurement the McNeils received the 10 acres purchased by them. It seems to me these facts are so completely established that they cannot be refuted. It is equally clear that the McNeils have since treated the old fence line immediately west of them as the established property line between the two 20-acre tracts in the northwest quarter of the southeast quarter of said section 19. The fact that the McNeils went into possession and have occupied and used all of the property purchased right up to the old fence line irrefutably confirms their intent and their understanding as to the actual property they intended to purchase.
The reference in the majority opinion to a 4-year adverse possession is misleading. The west fence line had been established by operation of law as the boundary line between the McNeils and Mendoza and Cota by adverse possession for more than 20 years. Today it constitutes the legal *116boundary line between the McNeils and Mendoza and Cota, the government survey to the contrary notwithstanding. Carney was not required to have it established by a judgment of a court until someone claimed otherwise. Manor v. Stevens, 61 Ariz. 511, 152 P.2d 133; Ford v. Clendenin, 215 N.Y. 10, 109 N.E. 124, 126, Ann.Cas.1917A, 658. The Mackeys were not in a position to interpose such a defense in the instant case and the McNeils, the only parties to the litigation who could raise it, did not do so, and for the purpose of this litigation is impliedly opposing it.
The majority say we are not concerned in this case with the west boundary line of McNeils’ property; that we are only concerned with their east boundaryjine between them and the Mackeys. They ignore the fact that the McNeils originally established their east boundary line by measuring 330 feet from the iron pipe on the northwest corner of the property substantially in line with the west line fence. According to Manor v. Stevens, supra, the old fence line on the west of their property was then and is now actually the legal west property line.
It is clear to me that the McNeils now own and possess the identical 10 acres of land they intended to buy and did buy from Carney. The case of Berger v. Bhend, 79 Ariz. 173, 285 P.2d 751, and the cases therein cited fully sustain this view. There is a marked similarity in the facts of the Berger case and this one. We said in the Berger case, supra, that there being np privity between Berger and Bhend (as there is no privity between the McNeils and the appellees here) that there was no question of a mutual mistake involved in that case.
In the Berger case, a Mr. Wiehl conveyed by legal description according to government survey, the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter (exactly 40 acres) to Berger, and the east half of the northwest quarter to Mr. Shepard (exactly 80 acres). The evidence however showed that they treated an irrigation ditch running north and south near the center line of the northwest quarter of the section involved as the boundary line between the east and west half of said quarter section, and it had been so considered as such for 40 years. As a matter of fact the irrigation ditch was considerably east of the actual center line thereof resulting in a loss of 4% acres to the east half of the northwest quarter of that section. Berger knew this but apparently Wiehl and Shepard did not. The record is silent on that point. In the instant case the west fence line was treated by all the parties after a visual inspection of the property as the western boundary line of the property purchased by the McNeils and had been so considered as such for 20 years or more. The discrepancy amounts to between one-quarter and one-half acres. However, the McNeils got a full ten acres and now seek to move the eastern boundary *117line of their property I&/2 feet to the east while occupying, using and claiming the west I6J/2 feet right up to the old fence line. This would give them 16(4 feet additional frontage on their north end making a total of 346(4 feet instead of 330 feet actually sold to them, while the property of the Mackeys (successors in interest to the property actually conveyed by Carney to the Attaways) would be reduced by 16(4 feet frontage on the Tempe-Mesa Highway, resulting in great damage to .them because of its necessity to their business. This amounts to the unjust enrichment of the McNeils and several thousand dollars damage to the Mackeys because of the location of their service station and the other improvements thereon.
In the Berger case Wiehl was the common grantor. In the instant case Carney was the common grantor. In the Berger case the ditch had been in existence and treated as the property line for 40 years. In'the instant case the western fence line had been in existence and treated as the property line for at least 20 years and probably much longer. In the Berger case the 80 acres conveyed to Shepard by Wiehl and by Shepard to Bhend was enclosed by the four- fences surrounding it. The buyers understood this and it was intended that the purchasers were buying the particular land within the fences. Wiehl testified he intended to sell up to and including the ditch and Berger testified he intended to buy that particular property. In the instant case Carney testified he intended to buy and to sell the property within the fences, and Mr. McNeil said he intended to buy the property shown them without any reference to the wordage in the deed of conveyance to them. In the Berger case the land was conveyed according to government survey identically as the land in the instant case was conveyed.
The McNeils come into this Court on the strength of their own title and not on the weakness of the title to the Attaways and their successors as was the case in Berger v. Bhend, supra. The evidence is clear that Mr. Carney intended to sell the particular property which the McNeils purchased and the McNeils intended to purchase the particular property which they did purchase, measured from the old fence line (the legal property line) between Carney and his predecessors and Mendoza. The attempt to distinguish this case from the Berger case cannot be sustained on the facts. If the majority opinion in this case is right — the Berger opinion was wrong. The only distinction between the two cases is that the pleadings in the Berger case had all parties before it necessary for a reformation of the deeds to speak the truth. In the instant case the proper parties were not before the court for reformation of the deeds. The unjust enrichment of the McNeils and consequent loss to the *118Mackeys is unconscionable and should be redressed as hereinafter recommended.
The case of Wheeler v. Wells, 245 Ala. 336, 16 So.2d 695, 697, is similar. The factual situation to the same effect is found in Birchett v. Anderson, 160 Miss. 144, 133 So. 129, and especially, Phillips v. Cope, Mo.Sup., 111 S.W.2d 81. These cases, together with others, are cited in Berger v. Bhend.
The judgment of the trial court should be affirmed against the McNeils and in favor of the Mackeys except as to the portion thereof attempting to establish the property line between the McNeils and the Mackeys. And as to that portion it should be reversed and the cause remanded to the trial court with instruction to permit an amendment of the Mackeys’ cross-complaint to include necessary parties as cross-defendants to legally reform the deeds to conform with the evidence concerning the property the Mc-Neils intended to purchase and which they actually did purchase.