Andrés Alvarado, demandante y recurrido v. Antonio Bonilla, demandado y recurrente

Summary

The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico affirmed, with a modification, a judgment awarding Andrés Alvarado $17,000 from Antonio Bonilla as the true price of improvements Alvarado had made on a Río Piedras finca. The court held that extrinsic evidence was admissible to show that the deed reciting a $5,000 sale of improvements to Comulada and a waiver of the purchase option was a simulation, and that the real transaction was Bonilla's purchase of the property for $33,000, of which $17,000 corresponded to Alvarado. It further held that Bonilla's breach of a later accord to settle for $14,500 allowed Alvarado to rescind that settlement and sue on the original obligation, and that Bonilla, having not paid the price, could not demand delivery of the improvements under Art. 1335 of the Civil Code. However, the court held that the award of prejudgment interest was error because Alvarado, the seller, continued to enjoy the property without delivering it, so Bonilla was not in mora; and it rejected Bonilla's counterclaim for rent because he never paid the price and no evidence established the reasonable value of the use of the land excluding the improvements.