Reports of Cases Determined in the Supreme Court of the State of California (Volume 187) (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1922 Excerpt: ... SLOANE, J.--The plaintiff in this action brought suit to recover the sum of $20,797.17, paid to defendant as part of the purchase price of real estate under a contract which was rescinded by plaintiff, the purchaser, because of failure of title in the defendant, the vendor. Judgment was for plaintiff and defendant appeals. The finding of the trial court that the defendant had no title to the land at any time and failed to convey title upon demand and tender of full performance of the contract by plaintiff is amply supported by the evidence. The original contract of purchase and sale called for a conveyance of all of the defendant's "holdings on the shore of Clear Lake in Lake County, Calif., being about 350 acres and embracing about 13 miles of lake shore land." 1 The evidence disclosed that the lands referred to consisted of a strip of waterfront along the borders of the lake lying between the meander line as established by the United States survey and the actual water line of the lake. According to the calls of the United States field-notes, it is shown that this meander line does not cor form to the actual waterline of the lake, but that the meander line is a sufficient distance from the actual border of the lake to inclose between such line and the water line of the lake the quantity of land called for by the contract between plaintiff and defendant. Defendant's claim of title was evidenced by patents from the state of California purporting to convey by courses and distances the land between the meander line and the lake "under an act of the legislature of the state of California entitled an act regulating the sale of the lands uncovered by the recession or drainage of the waters of inland lakes and unsegregated swamp and overflow lands, and validating ...