Farr v. Lachman
Farr v. Lachman
Opinion of the Court
The record bears out the following statement of facts, taken from the brief of the petitioner for writ of assistance:
That upon receipt of the same, and on July 31, 1900, said defendant and appellant Adam Lachman, by his solicitors, Turner & Turner, filed in said circuit court a petition setting up the rendition of said decree; the assignment of the same by said complainant, Farr, to said defendant Adam Lachman; the advertisement and sale of said premises by the commissioner “at the instigation of said Adam Lachman,” and the bidding off of the same to said Fitzgerald; the execution of said deed, and the fil
Said petition was heard before the judge of said court, and Jerome Turner, Esq., one of the solicitors of said Adam and Henry Lachman, appellants, appeared, and “ in open court waived all objections to said sale and the prayer of said petition, except the prayer asking that said deed might be made and stand subject to six months’ redemption.” The prayer of said petition was denied. Afterwards an order to show cause why said petition should not be granted, and the order denying same be set aside, was issued by this court upon petition of said Adam Lachman, and answer was made thereto by said circuit judge, and the writ of mandamus prayed for was denied by this court, and said sale held to be absolute and without redemption. See Lachman v. Ottawa Circuit Judge, 125 Mich. 27 (83 N. W. 1025). It appeared before the circuit court upon the hearing of the said petition, and also in this court in said mandamus proceeding upon the face of said petition, that the foreclosure decree was assigned by George A. Earr on the 30th of August, 1899, to Adam Lachman, and that the sale had been made “at the instigation of said Adam Lachman” and his solicitors. This was the first time that the assignment of the decree had been brought to the notice of the court.
Upon the filing of applicant’s petition for a writ of assistance in the circuit court, and service of order to show cause issued thereon, the defendants and appellants, Henry Lachman and Adam Lachman, filed an answer and cross-petition thereto by Turner & Turner, their solicitors. In effect, said answer admitted all of the allegations of said petition, and the foregoing facts, except that it is therein claimed that the foreclosure sale of said premises made by said commissioner “was a mere sham, was not regular', and was void,” and that the order entered confirming the report and sale of said commissioner “was merely a sham, and not of any binding force whatever, and was entered without the authority of Adam Lachman or his solicitors,” and it “denies that said sale now stands in all respects confirmed and absolute for the reasons hereinafter set- forth. ” Said Henry Lachman further denied that his right, title, and interest to said premises, and his right of possession, were extinguished by said foreclosure sale and deed. The defendants joined to said answer a cross-petition setting up, in substance, that on April 29, 1897, said defendant Henry Lachman was the owner in fee of the said premises, and then executed a mortgage to said Farr thereon, to foreclose which said Farr filed a bill
Counsel for appellants make two claims:
“1. That the order entered in this cause confirming the sale made was void, for the reason that it was entered without any authority from the real complainant or assignee or his solicitors.
“2. That the circuit judge erred in not allowing us to introduce proof under our cross-petition, filed at the time this petition was heard, and in not setting aside said sale for the reasons therein given.” ’
There are several reasons why the action of the circuit judge should be sustained:
First. Because after Mr. Fitzgerald purchased the land, upon a hearing in which Mr. Lachman asked to have the sale set aside, the solicitor for Mr. Lachman, with full knowledge of how the sale had been made, in open court—
“Waived all claim of relief except that prayed for as follows: ‘ That a decree be entered providing for redemption according to the terms of Act No. 200, Pub. Acts 1899, and for any further or different relief in the premises that shall be according to equity and good conscience;’ and the specific relief asked for was an order of court providing for six months’ redemption under said sale, and that the indorsement of the circuit court commissioner upon the deed be allowed to stand.”
This court held the claim could not be sustained. Lachman v. Ottawa Circuit Judge, 125 Mich. 27 (83 N. W. 1025). Mr. Tatem is the grantee of Mr. Fitzgerald, and the case is res adjudicata.
Second. After a decree was obtained by Mr. Farr, it was assigned by him to Mr. Lachman, and, without call
“Whatever the effect of the assignment of the note and mortgage by the mortgagee and complainant, after he had commenced proceedings for the foreclosure of his mortgage, might have been if brought to the attention of the court, it is sufficient to say that until known they could have no effect whatever. Although known to the parties, yet the assignment did not appear of record, and was not brought to the knowledge of the court. The case proceeded regularly to a decree, sale, and confirmation of the same, and the effect of such, assignment is sought to be used in this case for .the first time. It cannot be so used. The decree made and sale thereunder were valid, and cannot thus collaterally be attacked. Were it otherwise, rights acquired by parties under judicial sales could never be safe from attack.”
Mr. Adam Lachman not only allowed the sale to proceed, but he received and retained the proceeds of the sale, and still has them. For these reasons he is estopped from questioning the regularity of the sale. Wilber v. Goodrich, 34 Mich. 84, and the many cases cited in the note; 2 Herm. Estop. §§ 1059-1069, 1189-1191, 1194, 1199.
Mr. Henry Lachman’s interest in the property was cut off by the sheriff’s deed.
The case is affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.