Hartzell v. Doolittle

CURTIS, J.

This appeal is from a judgment in favor of plaintiff and against defendants. The defendant Doolittle alone has appealed, and filed a brief in support of his contention that the judgment is erroneous. No appearance herein has been made by the respondent, and we have not been favored by any brief or points and authorities in her behalf.

The sole contention of appellant is that the evidence is not sufficient to support the findings. Appellant makes a number of assignments as to the insufficiency of the evidence to support the findings. The first of these is that there is no evidence that “the real property was not of the reasonable value of the price paid by respondent.” Under representations made by the appellant to the respondent regarding certain real property, the respondent decided to purchase the same, and there was executed and delivered to her an assignment of a certain writing which she was informed was an agreement of sale of said real property. "What she in fact received for the money paid out by her under the representations of appellant was an agreement of sale made by one Barlow to Mrs. E. H. Tomlinson. This agreement had been assigned by Mrs. Tomlinson, and

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through various subsequent assignments became the property of S. H. Roberts, from whom the respondent, under the advice of appellant, purchased the same, and received from said Roberts and wife a written assignment of said agreement. The property described therein was described as real property situated in the county of Los Angeles, state of California, and particularly described as “Lot 51 as of the map hereto attached and made a part of this agreement.” It appears that this map had never been filed for record in the office of the county recorder of said county, and that said agreement further provided that the agreement itself should never be filed for record, and in ease it was so filed it should become null and void. By an act of the legislature of this state it is provided that no person shall sell or offer for sale any lot or parcel of land by reference to any map or plat unless the map or plat has been filed for record in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the land is situated, and that any violation of the provisions of said act is made a misdemeanor (Stats. 1907, p. 290, and amendments thereto). The effect of the provisions of this act upon the agreement assigned to respondent was to render said agreement unenforceable ,and void