WILLIAM P. TUCKER, BURTON B. BAILEY AND E. S. MACKENZIE, PLAINTIFFS IN ERROR,
v.
OTTO C. BUTTERWECK AND LIZZIE BUTTERWECK, DEFENDANTS IN ERROR

Fla. | 1905-06-01
Taylor, Hocker, Cockrell and Whitfield, JJ., con-curt., Shackleford G. J., and Parkhill, J., disqualified.
50 Fla. 442 Florida Supreme Court (1905) Positive Treatment
Cited by 3 cases

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Synopsis

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed a judgment in favor of Otto C. and Lizzie Butterweck in an action for breach of warranty of title. The court rejected the defendants' plea that the deed was executed without consideration, holding that consideration existed because it adjusted an indebtedness owed by one of the grantors to the Butterweeks.


Holding

The court held that the plea was properly demurred to because it was internally inconsistent. The court further held that even accepting the plea's averments, there was adequate consideration for the warranty because the deed adjusted a valuable indebtedness owed by Bailey to the Butterweeks, and it is immaterial that Tucker and MacKenzie received nothing personally.


Key Quotes

“And the said parties of the first part do hereby bind themselves and their heirs, executors and administrators to warrant and forever defend the title to said premises unto the said parties of the second part, their heirs and assigns against the said parties of the first part and their heirs, executors and administrators, and against all persons whomsoever lawfully or equitably claiming or to claim the same.”

The covenant of warranty contained in the deed that was the basis for the breach of warranty action.

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Facts & Procedural History

The defendants executed a deed to Otto C. Butterweck for lands in Hernando County containing a covenant of warranty for $280.00. The Butterweeks took …

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Opinion of the Court
Per Curiam.

Per Curiam.

This was in an action in the Circuit Court in and for Hernando county, by Otto C. Butterweck and Lizzie Butterweck against William P. Tucker, Burton B. Bailey, E. S. MacKenzie and Eliza B. Mac Kenzie, upon a covenant of warranty contained in a deed executed by the defendants to Otto O. Butterweek for certain lands situated in Hernando county. The deed contained the following covenant of warranty: “And the said parties of the first part do hereby bind themselves and their heirs, executors and administrators to warrant and forever defend the title to said premises unto the said parties of the second part, their heirs and assigns against the said parties of the first part and their heirs, executors and administrators, and against all persons whomsoever lawfully or equitably claiming or to claim the same.”

The consideration expressed in the deed was $280.00.

The breach alleged was that plaintiffs went into possession of the land under this deed, and that one Daniel A. Finlayson instituted an action of ejectment against them in the Circuit Court in and for Hernando county, and therein recovered said lands from them on an older and better title, and that the Supreme Court on an appeal taken in said cause affirmed the judgment of the lower court, thereby ousting the plaintiffs out of possession of the aforesaid premises and still lawfully holding them out of the same. The damages were laid at $1000.00. The trial resulted in a judgment for the plaintiffs, from which the defendants have sued out writ of error here.

On the 11th day of April, 1904, by leave of the court the defendants W. P. Tucker and Edward S'. MacKenzie by their attorney filed an amended plea of the declaration as follows: “That the alleged deed containing the covenants sued on was executed in the adjustment of an indebtedness due by B. B. Bailey to the said plaintiffs O. C. Butterweek as attorney in a case wherein James G. Guthrie was plaintiff and the same B. B. Bailey and W. J. Bailey were defendant; and the said deed was ex-cuted at the request and for the accommodation of the said Butter weeks, and the defendants received no compensation, which fact was well known to the said plaintiffs at the date of its execution.”

The action of the trial court in sustaining a demurrer to this plea is assigned as error. The averments of this plea are inconsistent and repugnant. While the plea alleges that the deed was executed without any consideration to the defendants Tucker and MacKenzie, other facts are alleged which show that there was consideration. 'On the averments of the plea, that the deed was executed in the adjustment of an indebtedness due to Butterweck by B. B. Bailey, one of the grantors in the deed, a valuable consideration passed to the defendants Tucker and. MacKenzie for the warranty of themselves and Bailey, and it is of no consequence that Tucker and MacKenzie received nothing personally in that behalf. Barnett v. Hughey, 54 Ark. 195, 15 S. W. Rep. 464; Sterling v. Peet, 14 Conn. 245; Bloom v. Wolfe, 50 Iowa 286. 1 Page on Contracts Sec. 276.

There being no error in the ruling of the court sustaining the demurrer to this amended plea the judgment is affirmed at the cost of the plaintiffs in error. Taylor, Hocker, Cockrell and Whitfield, JJ., con-curt.

Shackleford G. J., and Parkhill, J., disqualified.


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Citator

Cited By

  • Nordberg v. Green, 638 So. 2d 91 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
    …who cosigns or guarantees another’s note to secure the underlying loan, the fact that one of the grantors of a warranty deed received no consideration herself for the property does not affect her liability to the grantees. See Tucker v. Butterweck, 50 Fla. 442, 39 So. 480 (1905); 28 Fla.Jur.2d Guaranty and Surety-ship §§ 18-19 (1981). Secondly, it was improper for the trial court to base its decision on its own view that it would be “grossly inequitable” to enter judgment against Mrs. Green under these c…

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