Glenn Woodbury and Pearl Woodbury v. Alfred Clermont and Marguerite L. Clermont

On May 2, 1953, at Stevensville, Montana, appellants, Glenn Woodbury and Pearl Woodbury, husband and wife, citizens of Montana, and appellees, Alfred Clermont and Marguerite I. Clermont, husband and wife, citizens of Canada, made and executed an agreement whereby appellants agreed to sell and appellees agreed to purchase certain real property in Montana on the terms and conditions stated in the agreement, and appellants acknowledged receipt of $5,000 from ap-pellees as a deposit and earnest money in part payment of the purchase price of the property. The terms and conditions stated in the agreement were, in part, as follows:

The $5,000 mentioned in the agreement was paid by appellees to appellants on May 2, 1953. No other payment was made by appellees. Appellants retained the $5,000. However, instead of furnishing appellees the abstract or the policy required by paragraph 1 of the agreement, appellants, on June 18, 1953, furnished appellees an abstract showing that title to the property was vested in Bernhard Jannsen and Anna Jannsen and was subject to a lien in favor of the United States arising out of a contract between the United States and the Bitter Root Irrigation District.…