English v. Sanborn
English v. Sanborn
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The plaintiff sued to have a certain mortgage declared a first lien on the land involved herein and to have such land sold and his indebtedness paid out of the proceeds. A demurrer to his evidence was sustained and he appeals.
The plaintiff owned a farm in Rice county on which the defendants, Sanborn and wife, were tenants. In February, 1913, Sanborn, having contracted to purchase a farm in Greenwood county, had a settlement with the plaintiff by which it appeared that he owed him $1300, for which he was to give a note due in two years, secured by chattel mortgage on all the horses and mules then owned by Sanborn, which was to be ex
August 14, 1913, English filed his petition in this action and service of summons was made on the defendants the next day. A deed conveying the Greenwood county land from Sanborn and wife, bearing date of August 12, 1913, its acknowledgment bearing the same date, to O. W. Hall and E. J. Nelson, was filed for record on the 19th day of September, 1913. It is claimed that in exchange for this Greenwood county land owned by Sanborn, Hall was to purchase a tract of land from one Sutton, about fifteen acres, and also a quarter-section, and convey to one Bradley for the land, which Hall was to have Bradley convey to Sanborn’s wife. Also that before August 12, 1913, Hall had made the arrangement with Bradley to have his deed left in a bank at Fort Scott; that Hall’s deed to Sutton was not acknowledged until August 15, 1913, the day after the petition in this case was filed, and that the deeds to Hall and Bradley were delivered on September 10, 1913.
It is urged that even if Nelson and Hall purchased without notice of the claim of English they did not record their deed until after the pendency of this suit and therefore can not be heard to deny his rights.
The answer of the defendants, Sanborn and wife, was a general denial; that of Nelson and Hall an assertion of the title and denial of notice. The demurrer was sustained as to Nelson and Hall, also as to Sanborn and wife, the court finding that the debt was not yet due, and the action was dismissed as to them without prejudice. While as between English and the Sanborns the former did not literally furnish a part of the purchase price of the Greenwood county land, still by their conduct in using as a basis of credit the property which had already been mortgaged and agreed to be mortgaged to him they deprived him of recourse thereto to secure his debt, and certainly under the pleadings so far as Sanborn is concerned the mortgage signed by him is binding upon him. (Foster v. Bank, 71 Kan. 158, 80 Pac. 49; Charpie v. Stout, 88 Kan. 318, 128 Pac. 396; Bisby v. Quinby, 92 Kan. 86, 140 Pac. 635; Markham et al. v. Wallace, 147 Ala. 243, 41 South. 304; King v. Williams, 66 Ark. 333, 50 S. W. 695; Carter v. Holman et al., 60 Mo. 498; Martin v. Nixon, 92 Mo. 26, 4 S. W. 503; Dulaney v. Willis, 95 Va. 606, 29 S. E. 324, 64 Am. St. Rep. 815; 27 Cyc. 976; 1 Jones on Mortgages, §§ 162-166; 8 M. A. L. 300.)
The question of Nelson, and Hall being purchasers pendente lite as suggested is worthy of very careful consideration when all the evidence shall have been received, but under the present state of the record it is not deemed necessary or proper for determination now.
The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for further proceedings.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.