KENNETH C. HAWKINS, PLAINTIFF IN ERROR,
v.
J. H. GARRISON, DEFENDANT IN ERROR

Fla. | 1929-02-13
Terrell, C. J., and Brown, J., concur., Whitfield, P. J., and Buford, J., concur in the opinion and judgment., Strum, J., absent on account of illness.
97 Fla. 156 Florida Supreme Court (1929) Positive Treatment
Cited by 4 cases

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Synopsis

Kenneth Hawkins sued J.H. Garrison for breach of a land sale contract after depositing $2,000 as earnest money. The Florida Supreme Court reversed the trial court's dismissal, holding that the complaint could proceed as an action for money had and received, even though it was framed as a breach of contract claim.


Holding

The court held that the complaint states a valid cause of action for money had and received, even though technically framed as a breach of contract claim. When a defendant receives money for something he cannot legally deliver or convey, the law imposes an obligation on the defendant to return the money.


Key Quotes

“The eighth amended count of the declaration does not sound in damages for the breach of a contract, although it is in form a special count upon an express contract in writing, it is rather an amplified common law count for money paid by the plaintiff to the use of the defendant.”

Establishes the court's recharacterization of the claim from breach of contract to money had and received.

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Facts & Procedural History

Hawkins paid Garrison $2,000 as earnest money on December 26, 1924, for the purchase of land in Dade County, Florida, with a total purchase price of $…

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Opinion of the Court
Ellis, J.

Ellis, J.

The plaintiff in error sued J. H.

Garrison in an action for breach of contract for the sale of lands.

The contract, which was made.a part of the declaration, is as follows: December 26th, 1924.

Received of Kenneth C.

Hawkins, Two Thousand ($2000.00) Dollars, earnest money deposit on the purchase of property known as: All the N. W. 1/4 of Section 27 and all of the S. W. 14 of Section 27 (except the 60 acres East of the F. E.

Coast Ry.) in Township 56, Range 39, East, in Dade County, Florida.

Price Sixty-seven Thousand Six Hundred ($67,-600.00) Dollars; Terms Two Thousand ($2000.00) Dollars, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, and Twenty Thousand Five Hundred Thirty-three ($20,533.00) Dollars on or before January 13th, 1925, provided a marketable abstract and Warranty Deed showing good title is delivered by owner. Balance in one, two and three years, with interest at 8% per annum, payable semi-annually. Commission to be paid Mr. A. Sclieuer and Kenneth C.

Hawkins, $2600.00, to be divided equally. J.

PI.

GARRISON, Owner. Ck for $2000.00 received.

Witness: Albert Scheuer. The declaration alleged that the defendant “fraudulently and deceitfully pretended to and advised the plaintiff that he, the said defendant, was the owner” of the land.

The defendant demurred to the declaration upon the grounds that it stated no cause of action; that it was vague and uncertain; that it alleged no breach by defendant of the instrument declared upon; that it alleged no performance or tender of performance by the plaintiff of the terms of the agreement; that no facts were alleged showing fraud; that no facts are alleged showing that the plaintiff relied upon the representations made by the defendant nor that the plaintiff believed them to be true and that no facts are alleged that the representations were false and known to be false.

The demurrer was sustained and judgment against plaintiff was entered on demurrer. The eighth amended count of the declaration does not sound in damages for the breach of a contract, although it is in form a special count upon an express contract in writing, it is rather an amplified common law count for money paid by the plaintiff to the use of the defendant.

It is in the nature of an action of assumpsit upon an implied agreement.

As the old common law lawyers said, such an action is in the nature of an equitable remedy, liberal in form and favored by the courts as a remedy.

The facts alleged in the amended eighth count would support a declaration for money paid to the use of the defendant, or money had and received by him for the use of the plaintiff.

It’s unnecessary verbiage and complexity of phrases does no more than to obscure and partially conceal the real purpose of the action which rests upon the proposition that as the defendant had received money from the plaintiff for something which he could not deliver nor has any legal right to convey, it is as if he had received it for the plaintiff’s use or that it had been paid to him by the plaintiff at the defendant’s request.

The law in such case casts upon the defendant the obligation to return the money.

We think the order sustaining the demurrer was erroneous, so the judgment is reversed.

Terrell, C. J., and Brown, J., concur. Whitfield, P. J., and Buford, J., concur in the opinion and judgment.

Strum, J., absent on account of illness.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • Love v. Brown Dev. Co. of Mich., 100 Fla. 1373 (Fla. 1930)
    …the money should have been returned. According to the facts brought out, plaintiff in error was entitled to a finding in her favor under the common count for money had and received by the defendant for the use of the plaintiff. Hawkins v. Garrison, 97 Fla. 156, 120 So. R. 209; Cox v. Grose, 97 Fla. 848, 122 So. R. 513; Peterson v. Howell, 99 Fla. 179, 126 So. R. 362; St. Johns Electric Co. v. St. Augustine, 81 Fla. 588, 88 So. R. 387; Cullen v. Seaboard Air Line R. Co., 63 Fla. 122, 58 So. R. 182; Bishop…
  • Peterson v. Howell, 99 Fla. 179 (Fla. 1930)
    …raged whenever the law affords no other remedy, and where a court of equity would compel a defendant to repay to the plaintiff a sum of money which the latter has been compelled to pay for his benefit.” [*186] In Hawkins v. Garrison, 120 So. R. 309, 97 Fla. 156, the same principle is expressed by Mr. Justice Ellis, speaking for the Court as follows: “Such an action (for money paid by the plaintiff to the use of the defendant) is in the nature of an equitable remedy, liberal in form and favored by the Cour…
  • Harris v. Requa, 105 Fla. 312 (Fla. 1932)
    …t antedated the contract for deed, which he holds—that is to say, the Piper-Emmons-Requa contracts for deeds. See Latin-American Bank v. Rogers, 87 Fla. 147, 99 So. 546; also Peterson v. Howell, et ux., 99 Fla. 179, 126 So. 362; Hawkins v. Garrison, 97 Fla. 156, 120 So. 309. While the above two last cases cited are law cases it will be observed that Commissioner Davis, speaking for the Court in Peterson v. Howell, states that “such an action (for money paid by the plaintiff to the use of the defendant) is…

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