Gabbert v. Wallace

Mississippi Supreme Court
Gabbert v. Wallace, 66 Miss. 618 (Miss. 1889)
Cooper

Gabbert v. Wallace

Opinion of the Court

Cooper, J.,

delivered the opinion of the court, in reply to suggestion of error by counsel for appellee.

In considering this case originally, we did not overlook the fact,, to which our attention is now called, that the instrument executed by Buffin to secure his debts to Wallace, were deeds in trust, and not mortgages. But since the principles governing our decision were-alike applicable to either instrument, and since the complainant had treated the instruments as mortgages (the trustees not having been made parties to her bill), we dealt with them as such. ,

The question involved is, whether the right which Wallace, the beneficiary in the deeds of trust, had to recover against those who had converted the property conveyed passed by his assignment of' the debt secured, the conversions having occurred before the assignment.

It cannot be doubted, that whether Wallace was a mortgagee of' the property, or a beneficiary in a deed of trust by which it was conveyed to secure the debts due him, the liability of the defendants to'respond to him for its conversion sprang from hiS' ownership of, or right to go against the property itself.

It is equally certain that a transfer by the owner of property does not invest the purchaser with a right of action against those who have previously injured or converted it. It is not believed that any case can be found in which an assignee of a mortgage has been permitted to occupy a higher ground than the purchaser of property, or to sue where he could not have sued, being a purchaser. It is settled in this state that in an action by the trustee in a deed of trust, the damages recoverable are measured by the interest of the beneficiary. Bates v. Snider, 59 Miss. 497.

It is true that in this case the legal title to the property converted Avas in a trustee, but the recovery by him would have been for the use of the beneficiary in the deed ; the real injury Avas to him, and in the case of conversion with the assent of the grantor,, he might release the claim for damages. We fail to perceive any *625satisfactory ground upon which it can be held, that the right to recover for past trespasses to the property shall be held to be incidentally assigned by a mere assignment of the debt secured, in cases where the assignor is the beneficiary in a deed of trust, it being well settled that no such fight would pass if the assignor was a mortgagee.

The fact that our statute confers the right to assign causes of action arising from torts does not affect the question involved, which is whether the right to sue is a part of the security which passes by assignment of the debt. We have been referred to no case in which such rule has been declared on clear analogies to well settled principles, it must be denied.

We adhere to the decision as announced, and deny a re-argument of the cause.

Reference

Full Case Name
J. T. Gabbert v. Sallie G. Wallace
Cited By
11 cases
Status
Published
Syllabus
1. Mortgage. Right of assignee. Cannot sue for previous conversion of property. The assignment of a debt secured by trust-deed, carries with it as an incident the security; but where there is no transfer of the right to sue for a conversion, the assignee of the debt and trust-deed cannot sue third persons for the conversion of personal property embraced in the encumbrance, if the conversion was prior to the assignment. In this respect there is no difference between a trust-deed and an ordinary mortgage. 2. Same. Statute authorizing transfer of actions arising from torts. The fact that our statute confers the right to assign causes of action arising from torts does not affect this. The right to sue for the previous conversion of the mortgaged property is not a part of the security which passes by an. assignment of the debt. 3. Measure oe Assignee’s Redress. Right to sue not assigned. The right to recover the debt, and to subject the mortgaged property, if to be had, is the measure of the assignee’s redress, unless there appears something indicating a purpose to assign also the right to proceed against third persons for injury to, or conversion of the mortgaged property. 4. Supreme Court. New point affecting foundation of decree. Reversal ex meromotu. Reluctant as this court is to notice objections not specifically made, if on appeal a question is presented by the record going to the very foundation of the right of the party in whose favor the decision was made, the court will enter a reversal, although the point was not made in the lower court nor raised by counsel here. 5. Same. Application of the rule. In this case, the complainant having no right under the assignment to sue for the previous conversion of the property, but having nevertheless obtained a decree, the supreme court will reverse it, even though no objection was made to the decree on this ground in either court.