Bank of South San Francisco v. Pike
Bank of South San Francisco v. Pike
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff commenced an action against the defendants to quiet its title to a tract of land in San Francisco. The trial court gave judgment, among other things, in favor of the defendants Henry S. and Carrie E. Bridge, and from that portion of the judgment the plaintiff has appealed, bringing up the judgment-roll without any bill of exceptions.
The facts material to a consideration of the case are as follows: On April 1, 1910, the American Steel Casting Company, a corporation, and Boaz D. Pike and Georgie S: Pike, executed to plaintiff a one-day note; on April 11, 1911, the plaintiff, commenced an action on the note against the makers; each and all of the defendants in that action defaulted and judgment was entered on the twenty-third day of May, 1912. On the same date that the action was commenced on the promissory note an attachment was taken out, served, recorded, and returned, under and by virtue of which plaintiff attached the real estate in San Francisco standing of record in the name of Boaz D. Pike, Georgie S. Pike, or Edna Laura Pike. On the twenty-second day of April, 1914, execution issued on said judgment and such proceedings were had that thereafter the sheriff duly and regularly delivered to the plaintiff on the twenty-ninth day of December, 1915, a sheriff’s deed to the property in dispute. On the seventh day of June, 1910, Boaz D. Pike and Georgie S. Pike executed to Edna Laura Pike, their daughter, a deed of gift purporting to transfer said property. On February 10, 1913, Edna Laura Pike executed to the defendant Carrie E. Bridge her promissory note in the sum of fifteen hundred dollars, and to secure the same she executed to Henry S. Bridge and Fred W. Bridge a trust deed covering the property in dispute. Besides the foregoing facts the trial court found that Boaz D. and Georgie S. Pike executed the deed to their daughter, Edna Laura Pike, voluntarily, without any valuable consideration, at a time when they were insolvent, and that they did so with the intent to hinder and delay and to defraud their existing creditors and this plaintiff of its judgment against them. The trial court also found that Fred W. Bridge died after the execution of the deed of trust and that Henry S. Bridge and Carrie E'. Bridge had no notice prior to the commence *526 ment of this suit of any claim by plaintiff of the invalidity of the title of the said defendant Edna Laura Pike to the said real estate.
The plaintiff claims that the deed from Boaz D. and Georgie S. Pike to their daughter, Edna Laura Pike, was void, and that it was void as to the defendants Henry S. and Carrie E. Bridge because they had notice of plaintiff’s claim. The defendants Henry S. and Carrie E. Bridge reply that they had no notice. The trial court found (Tr., fols. 94-114) that at the time plaintiff commenced its action on the promissory note, April 11, 1911, it regularly levied an attachment on the interest of Edna Laura Pike. It also found (Tr., fols. 216-218) that Henry S. and Carrie E. Bridge had no notice of the plaintiff’s claim. If it be said that these two findings are conflicting the case should be reversed (McElligott v. Krogh, 151 Cal. 126, [90 Pac. 823]). If it be said that the finding on the recording of the papers on attachment in the recorder’s office was a specific finding and that the other finding regarding no notice was a general finding, then the specific finding should control (McCormick v. National Surety Co., 134 Cal. 510, [66 Pac. 741]), and, for the reasons which we shall presently develop, the judgment should have been for the plaintiff and against the defendants.
The respondent cites Morrow v. Graves, 77 Cal. 218, [19 Pac. 489], and Casey v. Leggett, 125 Cal. 664, [58 Pac. 264]. The cases are not helpful. They were cases involv *529 ing unrecorded deeds. Assuming an unrecorded deed was made in good faith, it passed the title upon its delivery. After its delivery the lands were not “lands belonging to the defendant.” Such lands, therefore, were not subject to attachment. (Code Civ. Proc., sec. 542, subd. 2.) Furthermore, it will not be contended that an attaching creditor is a purchaser for value and he cannot, therefore, claim protection under the Civil Code, sections 1213-1218; Hoag v. Howard, 55 Cal. 564. And, again, it will not be contended that an attaching creditor can ever secure any greater estate in property than the debtor possessed at the date of the levy.
The briefs devoted some space to the issue as to whether the respondents had notice, actual or constructive. The respondents cite some language contained in Casey v. Leggett, supra, and Morrow v. Graves, supra, and in reply the appellant cites some language contained in Ritter v. Scannell, 11 Cal. 238, 249, [70 Am. Dec. 775]. The respondents might also have cited Aigeltinger v. Einstein, 143 Cal. 609, 616, [101 Am. St. Rep. 131, 77 Pac. 669]. The matter of notice or no notice, we believe, is a false issue under the facts of this ease. The real issue is lien or no lien. If the appellant gave all the notice that the statute required in taking out its attachment, and otherwise fully complied with the statute, it acquired a valid lien. If it acquired a valid lien, we have shown that such lien could not be diminished after' its creation except by a dissolution of the .attachment.
It follows that the appellant should have been given a judgment on the findings as made; that this judgment should be reversed, and the trial court should be directed" to enter judgment for the appellant on the findings, in accordance with what has been said above, and it is so ordered.
Langdon, P. J., and Nourse, J., concurred.
A petition to have the cause heard in the supreme court, after judgment in the district court of appeal, was denied by the supreme court on September 12, 1921.
All the Justices concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BANK OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO (A Corporation), Appellant, v. EDNA LAURA PIKE Et Al., Defendants; HENRY S. BRIDGE Et Al., Respondents
- Cited By
- 10 cases
- Status
- Published