Gonzalez v. Hirose

SHENK, J.

This is an appeal by the defendants from an adverse judgment in a quiet title action. The principal parties are Thomas P. Gonzales and Mather Masako Hirose who will be referred to respectively as plaintiff and defendant.

In July, 1936, the defendant entered into a contract of conditional purchase and sale with The Federal Land Bank of Berkeley covering 171 acres near the San Luis Rey Mission in San Diego County for the price of $21,000, upon which a down payment of $4,200 was made, the bank to retain title until all installments of principal and interest were paid. On August 1, 1938, the unpaid balance of principal and interest was $15,247.70, and a new contract with some changes regarding payments was executed covering that amount.

The defendant is an American citizen of Japanese ancestry. The purchase money for the land was furnished by two cousins, known as the Yoshimura brothers, who were Japanese ineligible to citizenship.

The land under contract was devoted to truck gardening. Improvements were added to the extent of $26,700, including installation of a dehydrator, a pump and irrigating system, orange groves, grading, leveling and building construction. The plaintiff had frequent business dealings with the Japanese as a buyer of their garden produce.

Pursuant to the Japanese Exclusion Orders the defendant and the other Japanese were required in 1942 to leave the place and proceed to relocation centers. In their absence the plaintiff undertook to manage the property and additional leased acreage and to pay the proceeds derived therefrom to the bank on the contract. In 1943, the plaintiff offered to buy the property from the Japanese owners for the sum of $25,000. Although they were greatly in need of funds the offer was rejected as inadequate. Defaults under the contract occurred including an installment due December 1, 1943, and interest and taxes due in June, 1944. However, the record

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shows that insufficient and irregular payments were credited on the contract to and including October 4, 1944, when the balance of principal and interest unpaid amounted to approximately $12,000.

In November, 1944, the State of California commenced a proceeding to declare an escheat of the property naming as defendants The Federal Land Bank of Berkeley, the Japanese persons here involved, Thomas P. Gonzales, plaintiff herein, and others. With knowledge of that proceeding the plaintiff on December 16, 1944, paid to The Federal Land Bank of Berkeley the balance due and received a grant deed subject to the agreement and the escheat proceeding. On December 18, 1944, the plaintiff, already in possession pursuant to his management agreement, served by mail upon the defendant a notice of declaration of forfeiture and his right to possession.