Willis v. Capel
Willis v. Capel
Opinion of the Court
J. W. Capel brought an equitable petition against P. A. Willis, administrator of the estate of Mrs: Willie R. Morgan, and others, alleging in substance that on April 24, 1912, Mrs. Morgan borrowed a sum of money from American Investment & Loan Co., and exeeutéd her note and deed to described land as security; that that loan was subsequently foreclosed and reduced to judgment; that in July, 1919, Mrs. Morgan borrowed from the petitioner $2500 for the purpose of paying off that judgment; that it was understood and agreed between petitioner and Mrs. Morgan that if he advanced the money to pay off the first-mentioned loan, the security deed offered to him was to be a first lien on the property, and that petitioner was to be subrogated to all of the rights of the American Investment & Loan Co. He praj^ed for judgment for the unpaid balance due him on the note. By amendment it was alleged that the deed from Mrs. J. H. Morgan to J. H. Morgan, guardian, recorded in the clerk’s office of Pike County in deed book 10, page 35, was a voluntary deed without consideration, that petitioner had no knowledge of said deed at the time he made the loan; and that his said loan deed was superior to the voluntary conveyance. No mention was made in the petition of'the sale and reinvestment of the property of the defendants, then minors, by which defendants claim the remainder interest in the property here involved. The court overruled a demurrer to the petition as amended, and overruled a motion for new trial after verdict in favor of the plaintiff.
Headnotes 1 and 2 do not require elaboration.
One ground of the motion for new trial complains that the court erred in withholding from the jury material evidence as follows: Deed from J. H. Morgan as guardian of Harry, Ruth, Eloise, and Vincent Morgan, minors, to G. D. Dominick, dated July 22,.'1912, and recorded July 29, 1912, conveying a remainder interest of said minor children in fifty acres of land of land lot 193 in the 9th district of Pike County, Georgia, and being part of the Barker estate inherited by said minor children under the will of their grandfather ; said deed reciting that it was made pursuant to an order of the judge of the superior court of said county, dated October 28, 1911, authorizing a private sale of said land by J. H. Morgan as guardian, for the purpose of reinvestment in a two-acre tract of
The foregoing rulings dispose of the entire case, and it is unnecessary to rule on other assignments of error, some of which would not occur again if there should be another trial.
Judgment reversed.
Dissenting Opinion
dissenting. It appears that in 1912 and 1913, before any of the deeds referred to in the petition were put on record, Mrs. Willie E. Morgan procured a loan on the house and lot in the town of Moleña, and gave a security deed thereto to the American Investment & Loan Company. This loan being in default in 1915, the loan company brought suit against Mrs. Morgan, to the June term, 1915, of the city court of Zebulon and obtained a judgment. It appears from the evidence that Mrs. Morgan then applied to W. M. Jordan for assistance to prevent the sale of the house and lot. Mr. Jordan testified: “Mrs. Willie E. Morgan came to see me concerning this loan, prior to the time this deed to Capel was made;
It appears that Mrs. Morgan remained in possession of the fifty-acres of farm land as life-tenant, and also in possession of the house and lot, in Moleña, until her death. The defendants tendered a deed from J. H. Morgan, guardian, to G. D. Dominick, dated July 22, 1912, conveying the ’same fifty acres of farm land. The deed recited that it was made under an order of court granted in 1911, for the purpose of reinvestment. It appears that this deed was given as security for a debt, and that the debt has been paid, and that the deed was not an absolute conveyance. There is no evidence tending to show that the money borrowed from G-. D. Dominick on this deed of July, 1913, was intended to be or was used for the purpose of paying Mrs. Morgan as a consideration for her deed dated October 30, 1911, which was not recorded until March 34, 1915. The deed appears to be a voluntary deed. The Civil Code (1910), § 4110, provides that “Every voluntary deed or conveyance made by any person shall be void as against subsequent bona fide purchasers for value, without notice of such voluntary conveyance.” The plaintiff testified that he had no notice whatever of this voluntary conveyance. If the deed was a voluntary one, it was void as against subsequent bona fide purchasers for value without notice. In my opinion the court did not err in rejecting the deed to Dominick to the fifty acres of land, as irrelevant to the issues. The case is different in its facts from Federal Land Bank v. Barron, 173 Ga. 242 (160 S. E. 228), where a deed properly executed, for a valuable consideration, was on record at the time the loan was procured from the Federal Land Bank, and of course the bank took with notice of that deed; but in the instant case the deed on record was a voluntary deed as alleged, and so far as the evidence discloses to the contrary; and that being true, I think the section of the Code cited above is in point and controlling. Capel inquired of Mrs. Morgan, at the time of lending the money to her to take up the security deed in favor of the American Investment & Loan Company, whether there were any other claims against the property in question; and she replied that the title was absolutely clear, with the ex
Under the pleadings and evidence in the case I think that the plaintiff was entitled to be subrogated to the lien of the American Investment & Loan Company. In Mortgage Guarantee Co. v. Atlanta Commercial Bank, 166 Ga. 412, 419 (143 S. E. 562), Mr. Justice Gilbert said, quoting from Wilkins v. Gibson, 113 Ga. 31, 47 (38 S. E. 374, 84 Am. St. R. 204) : “We think the safer and better rule to be, and we therefore hold, that subrogation will arise only in those cases: [1] where the party claiming it advanced the money to pay a debt which, in the event of default by the debtor, he would be bound to pay; or [2] where he had some interest to protect; or [3] where he advanced the money under an agreement, express or implied, made either with the debtor or creditor, that he would be subrogated to the rights and remedies of the creditor.” In Wilkins v. Gibson, supra, it is said: “One who advances money to pay off an encumbrance upon realty, at the instance either of the owner of the property or the holder of the encumbrance, either upon the express understanding, or under circumstances from which an understanding will be implied, that the advance made is to be secured by a first lien on the property, is not a mere volunteer; and in the event the new security is for any reason not a first lien on the property, the holder of such security, if not chargeable with culpable and inexcusable neglect, will be subrogated to the rights of the prior encumbrancer under the security held by him, unless the superior or equal equities of others would be prejudiced thereby; and to this end equity will set aside a cancellation of such security and revive the same for his benefit.” In Thomas v. Lester, 166 Ga. 274 (3) (142 S. E. 870), it was held: “Where security given for the loan of money which is used to pay off an encumbrance
Reference
- Full Case Name
- WILLIS, administrator v. CAPEL
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- Published