Vendor v. Purchaser: Rescission of Land Sale Contract Based on Resolutory Condition

A vendor sold land to a purchaser under a contract that stipulated payment in installments over a period, with a clause specifying that, in case of default on any installment, the sale would be automatically rescinded, with the vendor retaining the installments already paid as damages. When the purchaser failed to make subsequent payments after making several, the vendor invoked the rescission clause. The court upheld the rescission, reasoning that although a penal clause might require judicial modification if manifestly disproportionate to the damage suffered, the clause here was a resolutory condition agreed upon by the parties to the sale, which, upon its execution due to the purchaser's failure to perform their primary obligation, validly terminated the contract, making the retention of prior payments a legitimate consequence of the agreed-upon termination rather than an abusive penalty.