Clark Investment Co. v. Cunningham
Clark Investment Co. v. Cunningham
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the court was delivered by
This is an action to foreclose two mortgages. The plaintiff recovered personal judgment against F. V. Watkins and judgment barring W. L. Cunningham, trustee in bankruptcy of Orrin Robertson, from any interest in the property after sale and sheriff’s deed. W. L. Cunningham, trustee, and F. V. Watkins appeal.
William C. Martin owned the real property situated in Logan county, and he and his wife conveyed it to the plaintiff, a Missouri corporation composed of William C. Martin, Ada C. Martin, and Fred A. Boxley. The corporation was organized for the convenience of William C. Martin in transacting a real-estate business in which he was engaged. The deed was never recorded and was finally destroyed.
J. W. Watkins was engaged in the real-estate business at Quenemo, Kan. F. V. Watkins was his daughter, and was his
A forfeiture of the corporate rights of the plaintiff was declared by the secretary of state of Missouri under the laws of that state on the 2d day of December, 1916, and that forfeiture was rescinded and the corporation restored to good standing by the secretary of state on the 20th day of September, 1917.
' “The defendant owner may redeem any real property sold under execution, special execution or order of sale, at the amount sold for, together with interest, costs, and taxes, as provided for in this act, at any time within eighteen months from the day of sale as herein provided, and shall in the meantime be entitled to the possession of the property; but where the court or judge shall find that the lands and tenements have been abandoned, or are not occupied in good faith, the period of redemption for defendant owner shall be six months from the date of sale, and all junior lien-holders shall be entitled to three months to redeem after the expiration of said six months.”
Even if the mortgages were not given for the purchase price of the land, there is nothing in the abstracts to show that there was not sufficient reason for fixing the period of redemption at six months.
“That there is due plaintiff from said defendant F. V. Watkins, on the notes and mortgages sued on in this action, the sum of $4,095.80, and that said sum draws interest at the rate of eight per cent per annum, and that said sum is a first and best lien on all of the real estate hereinafter described. The court further finds that the fee title to said land, to-wit— the northeast quarter (N. E. %) and the southeast quarter (S. E. %) of section one (1), in township thirteen (13) south, range thirty-two (32) west of the sixth principal meridian in Logan County, Kansas, is in the defendant, William L. Cunningham, trustee in bankruptcy of the estate of Orrin Robertson, bankrupt of Cowley County, Kansas, and that the defendant Orrin Robertson has no right, title or interest therein; that the two mortgages hereinbefore mentioned are valid and existing liens upon said premises, that no part of the debt secured thereby, or any part thereof, has been paid, that said mortgages are past due and in full force and effect, and that plaintiff is entitled to a decree foreclosing the same. And the court further finds that the defendant, W. C. Martin has no right, title or interest in and to said lands, or any part thereof.”
These were the ultimate facts. In Alexa v. Alexa, ante, p. 38, 193 Pac. 1083, this court ruled that—
“The special findings which the code directs the trial court to state in writing, at the request of a litigant, are those which deal with the ultimate facts upon which the rights of the parties directly depend and from which the correctness of the judgment can obviously and readily be ascertained, not the merely evidentiary facts upon which the ultimate facts in issue are established.” (Syl. ¶ 2.)
In Marquis v. Ireland, 86 Kan. 416, 121 Pac. 486, the second paragraph of the syllabus reads—
“The fact that in a trial without a jury the court refused to state in writing the conclusions of fact found separately from the conclusions of law, upon seasonable request, is not a ground for the reversal of the judgment, where it is not shown that the refusal resulted in any substantial prejudice to the losing party.”
(See, also, In re Appeal from Survey, 106 Kan. 222, 187 Pac. 677.)
Following the last two cases, it cannot be said that the defendants were prejudiced by the refusal of the court to make more specific findings of fact; and, following the Alexa case, it must be held that the findings of fact made by the court were the ultimate facts on which the rights of the parties depended and from which the correctness of the judgment can be ascertained. These findings compelled the judgment that was rendered.
The judgment is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Clark Investment Company v. W. L. Cunningham, Trustee, and Orrin Robertson
- Cited By
- 4 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- SYLLABUS BY THE COURT. 1. Foreign Corporation — Right to Bring Action to Foreclose Mortgage On Real Property in Kansas. A foreign corporation may bring an action in this state to foreclose a mortgage on real property, and the defendants cannot defeat the action by showing that the charter of the plaintiff had been revoked, if the plaintiff shows that the order of revocation was afterwards rescinded, although the defendants contend that the order of rescission was invalid because not authorized by law. 2. Deed — Assumption of Mortgage by Grantee — Estoppel to Deny Covenants in Deed. The clerk of a man engaged in the real-estate business is estopped to deny that he assumed and agreed to pay a mortgage described in a deed in which he is named as grantee and which recites that the grantee assumes and agrees to pay the mortgage, where he permits his employer to accept such conveyance and afterward executes a deed conveying the real property at the request of his prin,cipal, all without knowing and without inquiring concerning the nature of the transactions in which the conveyances were made. 3. Same. In an action' to foreclose a mortgage on real property, the grantee of the mortgagor and all subsequent grantees are estopped tc deny the validity of the mortgage, where the mortgagor’s grantee, in the deed to him, assumed and agreed to pay the mortgage, and all subsequent conveyances'of the land are quitclaim deeds or are made subject to the mortgage. 4. Same — Foreclosure of Mortgage — Six Months’ Period of Redemption. No error is shown in the judgment of the court fixing the period of redemption from sheriff’s sale at six months. 5. Same — Request for Special Findings. On a request for special findings of fact, the court found the ultimate facts on which the rights oí the parties depended and from which the correctness of the judgment could be obviously and readily ascertained. Held, that it was not reversible error to refuse to find the evidentiary facts requested by the parties. 6. Same. The request for special findings was made too late.