Loomis v. National Supply Co.
Loomis v. National Supply Co.
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
A real-estate mortgage was foreclosed and the property was sold at sheriff’s sale, on June 16, 1913, for $5800, subject to redemption under the statute within eighteen months. On December 11, 1914, the representative of the holder of the right to redeem deposited with the clerk of the court for the purpose of effecting redemption the sum of $6302.66, in addition to the accrued costs. This, deposit was less than the required' amount because the interest was computed at six per cent instead of seven, which was the rate
1. In Stewart v. Park College, 68 Kan. 465, 75 Pac. 491, it was held that unsuccessful attempts to meet the holder of the certificate of sale, for the purpose of paying him the redemption money, did not amount to an .effort to comply with the statute, and were not sufficient to prevent the loss of the right to redeem with the expiration of the- eighteen months. While the mode of redemption is fixed by the statute, in exceptional cases the courts have relieved parties from strict compliance with the statutory rule, even to the extent of enlarging the time limit. (Quinton v. Adams, 87 Kan. 112, 123 Pac. 740.) Here the. attempt to redeem was made by one of the receivers of the owner of the right of redemption. He asked the clerk of the court to let him know the amount required to redeem. The clerk indicated that he was in doubt whether the interest should be figured at six or seven per cent, but after consideration and inquiry said he understood it should be six per cent,
“It is certainly true that plaintiff could redeem the land from the sale only by paying to the clerk the amount at which the county bought it in, with ten per cent interest thereon from the date of the sale to' the date of the redemption; and it will be conceded that it was his business to determine what that amount was, and that the clerk was not charged with the duty of ascertaining or determining it, in the sense that his determination of it would be conclusive, of the rights of the parties. It does not follow, however, that plaintiff is not entitled to relief against the mistake which occurred in the computation of the amount. The payment was required to be made to the clerk, and he is the custodian of the record of the sale. This record would ordinarily have to be examined in determining the amount which must be paid to effect a redemption.
“Plaintiff went to the clerk’s office for the purpose of ascertaining this amount and of paying it to the clerk. In accepting the statement of the clerk as to the amount he did simply what the majority of ordinarily prudent men would have done under like circumstances. He was guilty of no negligence in the matter. He paid the amount which he honestly' believed was sufficient to make the redemption. His intention was to redeem the property, and he left the office believing that he had effected a redemption, and he knew nothing to the contrary until after the expiration of the year within which, by the provisions of the statute, the right to redeem might be exercised. The right of redemption is a valuable one, and although statutory, it is favored by the law, and to hold that it was defeated by a trival mistake like the one in question would be to ignore the spirit of the statute which created it. We think the district court rightly held that under the facts of the case the redemption might be completed after the expiration of the year allowed by statute.” (p. 447.)
That decision has the greater force from the fact that it was rendered before the enactment of the Kansas redemption law, which was modeled upon that of Iowa. The following cases, although not directly in point, have some tendency in the same direction: Kofoed v. Gordon, 122 Cal. 314; Stephenson v. Kilpatrick, 166 Mo. 262; Kopper v. Dyer, 59 Vt. 477.
2. The contention is made that Lambert is protected as
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Charles A. Loomis v. The National Supply Company of Kansas
- Cited By
- 11 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS BY THE COURT. 1. Judicial Sale — Attempt to Redeem — Mistake in Computing Interest— Redemption Completed after Statutory Period. Where land has been sold at judicial sale, and an attempt in good faith is made to redeem within proper time by payment of the required amount to the 'clerk, who accepts a less sum than that due, by reason of computing interest at six per cent instead of at the contract rate of seven per cent (he and the redemptioner through a mistake as to the law supposing that to be sufficient), the court has the power, in furtherance of justice, to permit the redemption to be completed after' the expiration of the statutory period, by the payment of such additional sum as will bring the total up to the amount of the purchase price with interest at seven per cent, computed to the date of the final payment. 2. Same — Sheriff’s Deed■ — Redemption —Notice to Subsequent Purchasers. Where within the period allowed by the statute for redemption an attempt to redeem is made and by reason of an error in computation or in the rate of interest the clerk accepts a less sum than the amount due, and the sheriff executes a deed notwithstanding such payment, a buyer from the grantee in such deed is charged by the clerk’s entry of such payment with notice of the redemptioner’s rights.