Neal v. Davis
Neal v. Davis
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court:
The 26th section of the Revised Statutes, title Real Estate, page 543, does not absolutely destroy the vendor’s lien for the unpaid purchase money if the amount be not stated in the deed, but was intended to operate in favor of subsequent purchasers, by relieving them from the necessity of inquiry, and from the presumption of notice, which had been held to arise from a general statement in the deed implying that all of the purchase money had not been paid. The lien still exists upon equitable principles against the vendee, who must know if the price is not paid, and against volunteers under him, who can occupy no better position than he does himself. Testing the judgment in this case bjr these principles, neither William Neal, the original purchaser, nor James Neal, who received the title without valuable consideration, has any right to complain of the appropriation of a part of the purchase money for the same land, due to James Neal from his vendee, Rudolph, towards the payment of so much of the price due to Davis, for which the land being bound in the hands
Wherefore, the judgment is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.