Keller v. Lewis
California Supreme Court
Appeal from the District Court of the Seventeenth Judicial District, County of Los Angeles. The complaint alleges that on March 25th, 1872, the plaintiff being seized in fee and possessed of the Rancho Topango Malibu, agreed, in writing, to sell the same to the defendant Carrie for the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars, of which she agreed to pay one-third upon delivery of the agreement, and the balance on or before the 26th day of June, 1872, with interest on the deferred…
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Appeal from the District Court of the Seventeenth Judicial District, County of Los Angeles. The complaint alleges that on March 25th, 1872, the plaintiff being seized in fee and possessed of the Rancho Topango Malibu, agreed, in writing, to sell the same to the defendant Carrie for the sum of thirty-five thousand dollars, of which she agreed to pay one-third upon delivery of the agreement, and the balance on or before the 26th day of June, 1872, with interest on the deferred payment at the rate of ten per cent, per annum; that the said defendant paid eleven thousand six hundred and sixty-six…
1Opinion of the Court
By the Court, McKinstry, J.:
The decree declares the money already paid on the contract ■—and all right of defendants in and to the lands—forfeited.
It is a universal rule in equity never to enforce either a penalty or forfeiture. (2 Story’s Eq., 1319, and cases cited.) On •the contrary, equity frequently interposes to prevent the enforcement of a forfeiture at law. In the view of a Court of Equity, in cases like the present, the legal title is retained by the vendor as security for the balance of the purchase money, and if the vendor obtains his money and interest he gets all he expected when…
2Cited by19 opinions
- Skendzel v. MarshallIndiana Supreme Court · 1973
- People v. WitzermanCalifornia Court of Appeal · 1972
- Petersen v. RidenourCalifornia Court of Appeal · 1955
- Gonzalez v. HiroseCalifornia Supreme Court · 1948
- Cross v. MayoCalifornia Supreme Court · 1914
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