Doyle v. Orr
Doyle v. Orr
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
It is insisted by the defendant, first, that the vendor’s lien was waived by personal security for the deferred payments ; second, that the setoff pleaded in the cross bill ought to have been allowed. If either of these defenses is sustained, the decree is erroneous.
The conveyance was made to the wife, the note for the purchase money was signed by husband and wife. It is now urged
In principle this is like the case of Upshur v. Hargrove, 6 S. & M., 291. There, the husband, by written contract, agreed to become the purchaser, but the deed was made to the wife. He was personally bound to the vendor for the price, the wife was a mere volunteer, incapable of incurring a binding obligation for the money. In effect it was like a conveyance to the husband by the vendor, and then a conveyance to the wife. She would be the recipient of the title, and as against the land the equity would still subsist. No person except a bona fide purchaser for value can successfully resist the vendor’s claim. See also Russell v. Watt, 41 Miss., 608; Halloway v. Ellis, 25 id., 103; Davis v. Pearson, 44 id., 510. We think that the vendor did not waive his lien.
The second question is: Can the defendants set up the note, mentioned in the cross bill, as a setoff against complainant’s demand ? The note has this origin. In 1855, one Carpenter as trustee sold the land for the benefit of J. P. Darden, when W. J. Orr became the purchaser for his wife, to whom the conveyance was made. For part of the purchase money, W. J. Orr, with one Montgomery, gave their note to Darden, for whose benefit the sale was made. Subsequently this note was taken up by the note of W. J. Orr and Temperance, his wife, payable to Darden. On the death of J. P. Darden, a distribution of choses in action and effects was made among his heirs and distributees by mutual consent. The note of Orr and wife was assigned by the distributee (who had received it in the division) to the defendants. In their cross bill they claim that this debt constituted a lien in equity on the land superior and elder to that asserted by the complainants. The facts do not sustain that pretension. Prior to the sale by the trustee, it was arranged between J. P. Darden and W. J. Orr that the latter should buy the land for his wife, and that part of the price should be secured by the note of W. J. Orr and Montgom
We think that this ground of defense was properly overruled by the chancery court. It follows that there is no error in the decree, and it is affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- John Doyle v. T. B. Orr
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- 1. Husband and Wife: Vendor's lien. Waiver of. Where a conveyance is made to tbe wife at tbe request of tbe busband, wbo is tbe vendee, tbe wife is but a recipient of the title, 9,nd, as against the land, the equity of tbe vendor would still subsist. No one but a Iona fide purchaser for value can successfully resist tbe vendor’s claim. 2. Same: Setoff: Gase in-judgment. C., as trustee for D., sold to O. a tract of land, taking in part payment, tbe note of 0., with M. as surety; the deed was made directly to the wife of O. at bis request. Afterwards tbe note of O. and wife was substituted for tbe note of O. and M. Subsequently Mrs. O. sold the land to D. and wife wbo, by assignment, were the owners of tbe note of O. and wife given to D. A bill was filed by Mrs. O. to foreclose tbe vendor’s lien against Mrs. D. and busband; they attempted to set up as an offset tbe note of O. and wife.' Held, that D., having elected to take personal security for the purchase of the land, lost his equity against the land; that the note of O. and wife created no liability upon Mrs. O.; that the conveyance to her by the trustee of D. created a separate estate in her; and that she having sold the land, the vendee could not set up, when sued for the purchase money, as an offset, the note of herself and husband.