Omwake v. Harbaugh

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Omwake v. Harbaugh, 148 Pa. 278 (Pa. 1892)
23 A. 985; 1892 Pa. LEXIS 970
Cúriam, Green, Heydrick, Mitchell, Paxson, Williams

Omwake v. Harbaugh

Opinion of the Court

Pek Cúriam,

The plaintiff claims to be the equitable owner of the lot sold by the sheriff, and as such entitled to the surplus of the purchase money over and above the amount necessary to discharge the liens. Unfortunately for him, it appears that he claimed as lien creditor, and was allowed the amount of judgments which he held against the property. This claim is entirely inconsistent with his claim as owner of the premises. It needs no argument to show that he cannot claim in the dual character of both owner and lien creditor. Having claimed in the latter capacity, and his claims having been allowed out of the proceeds of the sale, he cannot now claim the balance of the proceeds of the sale as owner by virtue of his equitable title.

The decree is affirmed, and the appeal dismissed at the costs of the appellant.

Reference

Cited By
1 case
Status
Published
Syllabus
Sheriff’s sale — Distribution—Inconsistent claims on fund. One who has claimed and received payment as a lien creditor out of the iunds realized by a sheriff’s sale of real estate, will not be permitted subsequently to assert that he was the equitable owner of the premises as a vendee under articles of sale. The two positions are entirely inconsistent, and having assumed the first, he is estopped from setting up a claim to consideration in the second.