Wilshire Oil Co. v. Star Petroleum Co.

NOURSE, J.

Plaintiff: sued to recover possession of land, claiming a forfeiture of a condition subsequent contained in the deed of conveyance. The cause was tried before the court sitting without a jury and resulted in a judgment for the defendant, from which the plaintiff appeals upon a typewritten record.

The condition which it was claimed had been breached was atttached by the common grantor of a large number of lots situated in what was known as the Athens Tract in Los Angeles County. It was expressly declared to be a covenant running with the land inuring to the benefit of all other lot owners in the tract and included in the deeds of conveyance of these other lots. It provided for a reversion to the common grantor if the premises conveyed or any part of them should be used for the purpose of prospecting for oil or other hydro-carbon products. The premises in

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controversy were deeded by the common grantor to the defendant Shoemaker on June 17, 1913. Thereafter the common grantor leased other portions of the tract for oil development purposes and solicited other lot owners in the tract to join in said leases. Other lot owners of the tract entered into oil leases and their properties were also being exploited for the production of oil. After this had been done and after oil operations were commenced on various portions of the tract the common grantor conveyed to the plaintiff herein by quitclaim deed its reversionary interest to lot 4 of block 53 of the tract, one of the lots owned by the defendant Shoemaker. Prior to the commencement of the action the plaintiff had acquired lot 3 immediately adjoining lot 4 (the lot here in controversy) and lot 6 of the same block and had commenced operations for the drilling of oil upon both lots either through its own efforts or through leases granted by it.

On this appeal the appellant concedes the foregoing facts and stipulates that the character of land in the tract involved by reason of actual oil development has changed from that of residential land to that of oil-producing land; that the object of plaintiff in purchasing the reversionary interest in the lands in question was to develop the same for oil; that the plaintiff itself procured oil development to be prosecuted upon lands adjoining the lands in question; and that the common grantor had made a practice of selling, for substantial valuable considerations, surrenders of its estate in reversion based upon this condition subsequent in order that the land might be used for oil-development purposes. Among other defenses raised by the defendants was that the common grantor by its own act in granting oil leases upon other lots in the tract had waived the right to enforce the condition subsequent and that because of these acts and the acts of other lot owners the character of land in the tract had so changed that it was no longer equitable to enforce the condition which had been inserted in the deeds for the purpose of reserving the land for residential purposes.