Court Opinion

ID: 9622926
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 06:25:17.254561+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:43:49.211476
License: Public Domain

HERNANDEZ, J., specially concurring. HERNANDEZ, Judge (Specially Concurring). The pertinent parts of the real estate contract which forms the basis of this suit are the following: “1. That the said Owner, in consideration of the covenants and agreements on the part of the said Purchaser, hereinafter contained, agrees to sell and convey unto the said Purchaser the following real estate situate, lying and being in the County of Bernalillo and State of New Mexico, to wit: “SUBJECT ALSO TO that certain real estate mortgage to Albuquerque Federal Savings and Loan Association recorded on September 11, 1972 in Book MD 9A, pages 476 through 478 of the records of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Loan No. 3-51226-8 which mortgage the purchaser herein assumes and agrees to pay according to its terms. “3. In consideration of the premises, the said Purchaser agrees to buy said real estate and to pay said Owner therefor the sum of Forty six thousand dollars ($46,-000) lawful money of the United States of America, which sum is to be paid as follows, to-wit: Seven thousand dollars ($7,000.00), cash in hand paid, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, and the balance of $39,000.00 shall be payable as follows, to-wit: $26,182.73 by assuming and paying the mortgage set out above in monthly payments, presently in the amount of 242.00 which payments include principal, interest, taxes and insurance beginning with the payment due on November 1, 1975, and $242.00, or more, if Trust Fund assessments are increased, on or before the first day of each succeeding month until fully paid. Payments include interest at the rate of 73A per annum. $12,817.27 balance of Owner’s equity, which Purchaser will pay as follows: $118.00, or more, beginning on December 15, 1975 and $118.00, or more, on or before the fifteenth day of each succeeding month. Interest at the rate of 8V2 per annum, is included in said monthly payments. In addition to the monthly instalments of $118.00, the Purchaser shall pay to the Owner an additional $2,000.00, or more, before January 1, 1976. Escrow Agent hereinafter named shall collect the full amount of $360.00, or more, and disburse as ordered in Escrow Letter herein. “8. It is mutually agreed that time is the essence of this contract. Should the Purchaser fail to make any of the said payments at the respective times herein specified, or fail or refuse to repay any sums advanced by the Owner under the provisions of the foregoing paragraph, or fail or refuse to pay said taxes, assessments or other charges against said real estate and continue in default for fifteen (15) days after written demand for such payments of taxes, or payment of assessments or other charges against said real estate, or repayment of sums advanced under provisions of the foregoing paragraph has been mailed to the Purchaser addressed to them at 3817 Mt. Rainier Dr., N.E. Albuquerque, N. M., or such other address as may be furnished in writing, then the Owner may, at his option, either declare the whole amount remaining unpaid to be then due, and proceed to enforce the payment of the same; or he may terminate this contract and retain all sums theretofore paid hereunder as rental to that date for the use of said premises, and all rights of the Purchaser in the premises herein described shall thereupon cease and terminate and they shall thereafter be deemed a tenant holding over after the expiration of their term without permission. An affidavit made by said Owner or his agent showing such default and forfeiture and recorded in the County Clerk’s office shall be conclusive proof, in favor of any subsequent bonafide purchaser or encumbrancer for value, of such default and forfeiture; and the Purchaser hereby irrevocably authorizes the Owner or his agent to thus declare and record such default and forfeiture, and agrees to be bound by such declarations as their free act and deed. “We also hereby appoint you Escrow Agent hereunder, and direct you as such Escrow Agent to collect the payments provided for in the above contract and place the money so collected to the credit of Owner, disburse $242.00, or more, in payment of mortgage set out herein to Albuquerque Federal Savings and Loan Assn., of Albuquerque, N.M., and the balance to be disbursed to Owner.” Starting with the proposition that the parties are presumed to have intended what the language of their contract clearly expresses, we look to the contract in this instance. See Woodson v. Lee, 73 N.M. 425, 389 P.2d 196 (1963). As can be seen from these excerpts purchasers were given credit toward the purchase price for the $7,000.00 cash paid and for the sum of $26,182.73 by assuming the Albuquerque Federal Savings and Loan Association mortgage. The remainder of the contract deals with the balance of the purchase price due the sellers, except the instructions to the escrow agent as to the disbursement of payments. The only payment due under the contract for the month of February, 1976, was due on the 15th in the amount of $118.00. Therefore sellers demand letter of February 3, 1976 was premature and of no effect. Granted that purchasers were in default on the mortgage payment due February 1, 1976, there is nothing in the contract giving the sellers the right to rescind for that reason. The payments referred to in paragraph 8 are the monthly payments of $118.00 due to the sellers. The fact that the mortgage payments were to be made through the escrow agent does not, in my opinion, make them payments due under the contract. The sellers could easily have provided in the contract that failure to make the mortgage payments on the due dates would give the sellers the right to rescind under the provisions of paragraph 8.. They did not. For these reasons I would reverse and remand with instructions to the trial court to vacate its judgment in favor of plaintiffs and reinstate this cause on its calendar for a hearing on defendants counterclaim.