Sprague v. Vogt
Sprague v. Vogt
Opinion of the Court
This action is by the Trustee in Bankruptcy of the Baltimore Investment Company to set aside alleged transfers of the bankrupt’s property and claimed to have been made by it without consideration and in fraud of its creditors. The case has been before the Circuit Court of Appeals on an appeal from a summary judgment of, dismissal (8 Cir., 150 F.2d 795), and upon being reversed in part was tried here on the merits. The facts are involved and as they are recited in some detail in the Circuit Court’s opinion and also in Vogt v. Ganlisle Holding Co., 217 Minn. 601, 15 N.W.2d 91, as to another phase of the case, they will be restated here only in outline form.
For the purposes of this case, the principal asset of the Baltimore Investment Company was an old, large apartment building in St. Paul known as the “Piedmont”. In 1938 a controlling interest in this company was acquired by defendant Vogt, who thereafter acted as an officer of the company and manager of the apartment building. It is a fair inference from the evidence that at that time the apartment was not a successful business venture. The building was run down and its furnishings were worn and old. Its assessed valuation was $75,000. The building was not fully tenanted and apparently not all the apartments were habitable. There were $38,000 delinquent taxes, unpaid gas, water and light bills, unpaid insurance premiums and numerous other debts. There was also a mortgage in the face amount of $8,000 to a Mrs. Burns, which was long overdue. This mortgage was foreclosed January 22, 1940 and the Piedmont sold at foreclosure sale to the mortgagee for about $11,000. It is the title subsequently acquired through this foreclosure that is under attack here and the real issue in this case is whether the Baltimore Investment Company ever redeemed from this foreclosure sale. (It is unimportant here but the evidence shows that there was a receivership proceeding in state court as well as a prior bankruptcy, both of which were dismissed).
In the meantime the defendant Vogt was seeking ways and means to salvage something from the financial wreckage and on December 31, 1940 entered into a contract with the Ganlisle Holding Company which has been designated Exhibit “A” (The Ganlisle Holding Company was a family corporation dominated by J. L. Jesmer, as was the Jesmer Company, who are all named as defendants. There is no issue on this and
Ganlisle entered into an option agreement with Burns on January 9, 1941, for the purchase of the sheriff’s certificate. On January 22, 1941, the date when the year of redemption would expire, the parties executed a contract for deed which contained this significant language: “It is understood and agreed between the parties hereto that one of the Vendors, Dorothy A. P. Burns, is the owner of a sheriff’s certificate of foreclosure sale of said premises, and that her interest in and to said premises is derived from said certificate; that the time for redeeming from said foreclosure will expire on ■ the date hereof, but that said time of redemption may be extended by the giving of a notice of intention to redeem by subsequent lienors, and it is expressly understood and agreed that this contract shall not be effective until the time for redemption from the foreclosure shall expire as to all parties who have the right to redeem therefrom. If no redemption shall be made from said . foreclosure by any person having a right to redeem therefrom, then this contract shall be in full force and effect, and the Vendee shall be entitled to the possession of said premises from and after the time of the expiration of redemption as to all parties .in interest.” It is apparent from the above quoted language that the contract between Burns and Ganlisle recognized the right of redemption that either the Baltimore Investment Company or its creditors had.
On February 26, 1941, an order was entered by the District Court of Ramsey County pursuant to an application of Mrs. Burns for a new certificate of title. This order recites that the Baltimore Investment Company and many of its creditors were served with notice of the hearing, that there was no objection to the application, that the Burns mortgage was duly and legally foreclosed, that the time for redemption had expired and there had been no redemption nor no notice of an intention to redeem and a certificate of title was issued to Mrs. Burns subject to the contract for deed to Ganlisle above referred to. At the least, this order is evidence that the creditors of the bankrupt, for whose ultimate benefit this action is brought, had an opportunity to redeem from the foreclosure or to object to transfer of title and did not do so.
Chronologically, the next important events occurred in May, 1941. Ganlisle had be.en in possession of the Piedmont since January 21st and was operating it. On May 22, 1941, Ganlisle entered into another or a supplemental contract with “E. C. Vogt, Agent”, which has been designated Exhibit “D”. This is a lengthy document but generally it changed the agreement of December 31, 1940 between the same parties (Exhibit “A”) by reciting that certain conditions had changed in that Ganlisle could not acquire the Piedmont for the price originally contemplated but could acquire it for an increased price and therefore the price at which Ganlisle agreed to sell to Vogt was increased. This contract was the subject of the lawsuit culminating in Vogt v. Gan
Contemporaneously with the execution of Exhibit “D”, Burns deeded to Ganlisle and took back a mortgage for $11,000 on the real and personal property in favor of Mrs. Burns and A. B. Christofferson, an attorney, which became a second mortgage on the premises. The first mortgage was held by the Minnesota Federal Savings and Loan Association for the $25,000 loan above referred to and also covered the personal as well as the real property. When this suit was commenced Mrs. Burns and the Minnesota Federal Loan & Savings Association were named as codefendants. All the defendants moved for summary judgment and dismissal. The motion to dismiss was sustained and the motion for summary judgment was denied. Upon appeal the Circuit Court affirmed in part and reversed in part saying:
“A majority of this court is of the opinion that the claim of the plaintiff that he has rights in the real property in suit superior to the rights of the defendants Minnesota Federal Savings and Loan Association and Mrs. Burns under their respective mortgages is without substance, and that in so far as the summary judgment disposes of that claim the judgment is not erroneous. * * *
“The judgment appealed from is affirmed in so far as it determines that the mortgage liens of the defendants Minnesota Federal Savings and Loan Association' and Mrs. Burns upon the real property in suit are as asserted by those defendants in their answers. The judgment is reversed in so far as it disposes of other issues, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.” (150 F.2d page 801).
It should be noted that the Circuit Court’s decision is limited to the sustaining of the validity and priority of these mortgages only in so far as they are liens on the real property. Their status as to being liens on the personal property must be decided here although neither Mrs. Burns nor the Minnesota Federal Savings and Loan Association appeared in the trial of this case. Although the facts involving the real and personal property (which consisted largely of the furnishings in the apartment) are interwined, separate issues are presented and will be discussed separately.
From what has been recited it is plain that Ganlisle holds a prima facie clear record title to the realty through a deed from the purchaser at a foreclosure sale of a valid mortgage. In fact the validity of the original mortgage is not questioned. Plaintiff recognizes this and his attack on the transactions is on the theory that the Baltimore Investment Company actually redeemed from the Burns mortgage although the record shows otherwise. Plaintiff relies principally on the contracts between Ganlisle and Vogt (Exhibits “A” and “D”) and the option contract from Burns to Ganlisle executed January 9, 1941, before the year of redemption had expired, to acquire the sheriff’s certificate after the time for redemption had passed.
As to Exhibits “A” and “D” it is not at all clear that these contracts were entered into by or for the benefit of the Baltimore Investment Company. They are signed by “E. C. Vogt, Agent”. In a previous proceeding in state court defendant Vogt testified that he executed these contracts as agent for the Baltimore Investment Company. But there was also a corporation “E. C. Vogt, Inc.” and Vogt personally, all having interests in the Piedmont Apartments. If the contracts Exhibits “A” and “D” had been performed and Vogt “as agent” had been able to purchase the apartment from Ganlisle it is only a matter of speculation whether and to what extent the Baltimore Investment Company would have benefited. If these contracts were actually made for and by the Investment Company, why they were not executed in their names has never been explained.
To support its claim that there was, in equity, a redemption from the foreclosure sale plaintiff relies on the fact that Vogt controlled the corporation and
In the case at bar the Minnesota Supreme Court has already held the contract between Ganlisle and Vogt to be an option contract. There is no justification here for holding otherwise and it is my conclusion that Ganlisle holds the legal title to the realty involved through its purchase of the Burns certificate and that there was no redemption by or on behalf of the Baltimore Investment Company.
It is my conclusion that plaintiff has failed to sustain his burden of proving that the transfers of either the real or the personal property were conveyances in defraud of creditors.
Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law will be filed in keeping with this memorandum which will become a part thereof.
Opinion of the Court
This action is by the Trustee in Bankruptcy of the Baltimore Investment Company to set aside alleged transfers of the bankrupt’s property and claimed to have been made by it without consideration and in fraud of its creditors. The case has been before the Circuit Court of Appeals on an appeal from a summary judgment of, dismissal (8 Cir., 150 F.2d 795), and upon being reversed in part was tried here on the merits. The facts are involved and as they are recited in some detail in the Circuit Court’s opinion and also in Vogt v. Ganlisle Holding Co., 217 Minn. 601, 15 N.W.2d 91, as to another phase of the case, they will be restated here only in outline form.
For the purposes of this case, the principal asset of the Baltimore Investment Company was an old, large apartment building in St. Paul known as the “Piedmont”. In 1938 a controlling interest in this company was acquired by defendant Vogt, who thereafter acted as an officer of the company and manager of the apartment building. It is a fair inference from the evidence that at that time the apartment was not a successful business venture. The building was run down and its furnishings were worn and old. Its assessed valuation was $75,000. The building was not fully tenanted and apparently not all the apartments were habitable. There were $38,000 delinquent taxes, unpaid gas, water and light bills, unpaid insurance premiums and numerous other debts. There was also a mortgage in the face amount of $8,000 to a Mrs. Burns, which was long overdue. This mortgage was foreclosed January 22, 1940 and the Piedmont sold at foreclosure sale to the mortgagee for about $11,000. It is the title subsequently acquired through this foreclosure that is under attack here and the real issue in this case is whether the Baltimore Investment Company ever redeemed from this foreclosure sale. (It is unimportant here but the evidence shows that there was a receivership proceeding in state court as well as a prior bankruptcy, both of which were dismissed).
In the meantime the defendant Vogt was seeking ways and means to salvage something from the financial wreckage and on December 31, 1940 entered into a contract with the Ganlisle Holding Company which has been designated Exhibit “A” (The Ganlisle Holding Company was a family corporation dominated by J. L. Jesmer, as was the Jesmer Company, who are all named as defendants. There is no issue on this and
Ganlisle entered into an option agreement with Burns on January 9, 1941, for the purchase of the sheriff’s certificate. On January 22, 1941, the date when the year of redemption would expire, the parties executed a contract for deed which contained this significant language: “It is understood and agreed between the parties hereto that one of the Vendors, Dorothy A. P. Burns, is the owner of a sheriff’s certificate of foreclosure sale of said premises, and that her interest in and to said premises is derived from said certificate; that the time for redeeming from said foreclosure will expire on ■ the date hereof, but that said time of redemption may be extended by the giving of a notice of intention to redeem by subsequent lienors, and it is expressly understood and agreed that this contract shall not be effective until the time for redemption from the foreclosure shall expire as to all parties who have the right to redeem therefrom. If no redemption shall be made from said . foreclosure by any person having a right to redeem therefrom, then this contract shall be in full force and effect, and the Vendee shall be entitled to the possession of said premises from and after the time of the expiration of redemption as to all parties .in interest.” It is apparent from the above quoted language that the contract between Burns and Ganlisle recognized the right of redemption that either the Baltimore Investment Company or its creditors had.
On February 26, 1941, an order was entered by the District Court of Ramsey County pursuant to an application of Mrs. Burns for a new certificate of title. This order recites that the Baltimore Investment Company and many of its creditors were served with notice of the hearing, that there was no objection to the application, that the Burns mortgage was duly and legally foreclosed, that the time for redemption had expired and there had been no redemption nor no notice of an intention to redeem and a certificate of title was issued to Mrs. Burns subject to the contract for deed to Ganlisle above referred to. At the least, this order is evidence that the creditors of the bankrupt, for whose ultimate benefit this action is brought, had an opportunity to redeem from the foreclosure or to object to transfer of title and did not do so.
Chronologically, the next important events occurred in May, 1941. Ganlisle had be.en in possession of the Piedmont since January 21st and was operating it. On May 22, 1941, Ganlisle entered into another or a supplemental contract with “E. C. Vogt, Agent”, which has been designated Exhibit “D”. This is a lengthy document but generally it changed the agreement of December 31, 1940 between the same parties (Exhibit “A”) by reciting that certain conditions had changed in that Ganlisle could not acquire the Piedmont for the price originally contemplated but could acquire it for an increased price and therefore the price at which Ganlisle agreed to sell to Vogt was increased. This contract was the subject of the lawsuit culminating in Vogt v. Gan
Contemporaneously with the execution of Exhibit “D”, Burns deeded to Ganlisle and took back a mortgage for $11,000 on the real and personal property in favor of Mrs. Burns and A. B. Christofferson, an attorney, which became a second mortgage on the premises. The first mortgage was held by the Minnesota Federal Savings and Loan Association for the $25,000 loan above referred to and also covered the personal as well as the real property. When this suit was commenced Mrs. Burns and the Minnesota Federal Loan & Savings Association were named as codefendants. All the defendants moved for summary judgment and dismissal. The motion to dismiss was sustained and the motion for summary judgment was denied. Upon appeal the Circuit Court affirmed in part and reversed in part saying:
“A majority of this court is of the opinion that the claim of the plaintiff that he has rights in the real property in suit superior to the rights of the defendants Minnesota Federal Savings and Loan Association and Mrs. Burns under their respective mortgages is without substance, and that in so far as the summary judgment disposes of that claim the judgment is not erroneous. * * *
“The judgment appealed from is affirmed in so far as it determines that the mortgage liens of the defendants Minnesota Federal Savings and Loan Association' and Mrs. Burns upon the real property in suit are as asserted by those defendants in their answers. The judgment is reversed in so far as it disposes of other issues, and the case is remanded for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.” (150 F.2d page 801).
It should be noted that the Circuit Court’s decision is limited to the sustaining of the validity and priority of these mortgages only in so far as they are liens on the real property. Their status as to being liens on the personal property must be decided here although neither Mrs. Burns nor the Minnesota Federal Savings and Loan Association appeared in the trial of this case. Although the facts involving the real and personal property (which consisted largely of the furnishings in the apartment) are interwined, separate issues are presented and will be discussed separately.
From what has been recited it is plain that Ganlisle holds a prima facie clear record title to the realty through a deed from the purchaser at a foreclosure sale of a valid mortgage. In fact the validity of the original mortgage is not questioned. Plaintiff recognizes this and his attack on the transactions is on the theory that the Baltimore Investment Company actually redeemed from the Burns mortgage although the record shows otherwise. Plaintiff relies principally on the contracts between Ganlisle and Vogt (Exhibits “A” and “D”) and the option contract from Burns to Ganlisle executed January 9, 1941, before the year of redemption had expired, to acquire the sheriff’s certificate after the time for redemption had passed.
As to Exhibits “A” and “D” it is not at all clear that these contracts were entered into by or for the benefit of the Baltimore Investment Company. They are signed by “E. C. Vogt, Agent”. In a previous proceeding in state court defendant Vogt testified that he executed these contracts as agent for the Baltimore Investment Company. But there was also a corporation “E. C. Vogt, Inc.” and Vogt personally, all having interests in the Piedmont Apartments. If the contracts Exhibits “A” and “D” had been performed and Vogt “as agent” had been able to purchase the apartment from Ganlisle it is only a matter of speculation whether and to what extent the Baltimore Investment Company would have benefited. If these contracts were actually made for and by the Investment Company, why they were not executed in their names has never been explained.
To support its claim that there was, in equity, a redemption from the foreclosure sale plaintiff relies on the fact that Vogt controlled the corporation and
In the case at bar the Minnesota Supreme Court has already held the contract between Ganlisle and Vogt to be an option contract. There is no justification here for holding otherwise and it is my conclusion that Ganlisle holds the legal title to the realty involved through its purchase of the Burns certificate and that there was no redemption by or on behalf of the Baltimore Investment Company.
It is my conclusion that plaintiff has failed to sustain his burden of proving that the transfers of either the real or the personal property were conveyances in defraud of creditors.
Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law will be filed in keeping with this memorandum which will become a part thereof.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- SPRAGUE v. VOGT
- Status
- Published