Caullett v. Stanley Stilwell & Sons, Inc.
New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division
170 A.2d 52 (1961)
Facts
Stanley Stillwell & Sons, Inc. (Stanley) (defendant) sold an acre of land to Caullett (plaintiff) for $4,000. The warranty deed to Caullett included a provision reserving Stanley’s right to be the contractor to build a home for Caullett on the property. The deed included this provision under “covenants running with the land.” When negotiations for building the home failed, Caullett sued to quiet title to the property. Caullett argued that no contract between the parties to construct a home ever existed. Stanley countered that the most important consideration in fixing the price of the property was the understanding that Stanley would act as the general contractor to build a home on the property. The trial court held that the home-building provision in the deed was unenforceable and found for Caullett. Stanley appealed. On appeal, Stanley argued that the provision was an ordinary property restriction. The trial court denied the landlord's motion to dismiss. The appellate division affirmed. The landlord appealed to the New York Court of Appeals.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Freund, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 710,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 44,600 briefs, keyed to 983 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
