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76 N.Y. 141

Scott v. . McMillan

New York Court of Appeals

Decided January 28, 1879

New York Court of Appeals · decided 1879-01-28

The action was brought to recover one-half of the value of a party wall erected by the plaintiff upon premises in the city of New York. The complaint states that the plaintiff was the owner of a certain lot of land, and John- McMillan in his life-time the owner of an adjoining lot. He died, leaving a widow, Margaret McMillan and two children, John and Elizabeth, who as his heirs-at-law, became seized of said lot.

Good law ✅— No negative treatment on recordhow we know

Decided 1879-01-28

How this case has been cited

Cited by 21 later decisions — most recently June 1972

21 state decisions

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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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Danforth, J.

¶1 I think the judgment should be affirmed. I am unable to distinguish this case from Cole v. Hughes (54 N. Y., 444), where, upon an agreement similar to the one above referred to, it ivas held that the covenant to contribute for the construction of a party-wall did not run with the land and was not enforceable against a grantee of premises, whose former owner had entered into the covenant “ for himself his heirs or assigns.” The learned counsel for the appellant however claims that in deciding Cole v. Hughes the court overlooked the earlier case of Brown v. Pentz (1 Abb. Ct. App. Dec., 227), and refused to follow it in the case oí Brown v. McKee (57 N. Y., 684) afterwards decided. It will be seen however, first, that the former case was decided by an equally divided court and the judgment below affirmed under the statute; and second, that by the deed under which the defendant then held, it ivas provided that one-half of the wall should be paid for by him. This ivas a promise which the grantor had an undoubted right to make, and to its performance the grantee became liable when he accepted the deed, but shell promise is not to be found in the conveyance under which the respondent in this case makes title. In the latter case (Brown v. McKee) the plaintiff’s rights were not considered, the court ‘holding that Avhatevcr they might be, no cause of action had accrued.

¶2 In the case before us the defendant accepted a deed of the McMillan lot, “ subject to the aforesaid agreement,” but it is Avell settled that such a stipulation imposes no personal liability on the grantee, and that in the absence of an express *145 agreement to assume, or pay, or perform, no agreement will be implied and no action involving a personal liability can be maintained against him.

¶3 The judgment should be affirmed, with costs.

¶4 All concur.

¶5 Judgment affirmed.

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