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45 Ga. 162

Mitchell v. Butt

Supreme Court of Georgia

Decided January 15, 1872

Supreme Court of Georgia · decided 1872-01-15

Vendor and purchaser. Estoppel. Before Judge Hopkins. Fulton Superior Court. April Term, 1871. Mitchell’s bill against Butt and his wife made this case: In 1862, Butt and his wife had purchased of one Rogers certain described land, he agreeing to make them a title to the same when they paid the price .of it to him. They had paid no part of the price, and could not.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1872-01-15

How this case has been cited

Cited by 5 later decisions — most recently October 1915

5 state decisions

2018721880189019001910decided

Later decisions citing this case, by decade. The current decade is in progress, and our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so the latest bars are undercounted — not a real decline.

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McCay, Judge.

¶1It would be a gross fraud to permit these parties to repudiate their solemn agreement, under their hands and seals, to the effect that, in the payment of this money for their benefit, the complainant should stand in the place of the original vendor of the land. Under the agreement they got the money, the vendor made them a deed, and they solemnly agreed that the money they owed the complainant was the purchase-money of the land. Whether this be in fact, true or not, they are estopped by their written and sealed paper from denying it. This is an estoppel by deed. But they are also estopped from denying the lien because they have gotten the plaintiff’s money on that idea.

¶2This question, as it stands, is a simple question between the parties, no third person’s rights are in the way, and the equity in favor of the complainant is very strong. The lien of the vendor is founded on the equitable principle that, as he has sold his land, taking no other security, it is fair to presume that he looked to the land for his protection; and *164that it is only right that the land shall stand charged with the debt contracted for its purchase. Much more is all this true here. These parties have gotten this land with complainant’s money, and they have agreed that they so hold it. We think, therefore, that by the principles of equity, this bill is not demurrable.

¶3Judgment reversed.

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