Nin v. Registrar of San German
Nin v. Registrar of San German
Opinion of the Court
delivered the opinion of the court.
On April 2, 1919, Antonio Soler, as the attorney in fact of the spouses Adolfo Andreu and Casimira Catalá, mortgaged a property belonging to his principals to secure the payment of a sum of money which they owed to José Nin Fontanillas. The mortgage deed having been presented for record in the Begistry of Property of San Germán, the registrar refused to record it because the powers given to Soler “do not expressly authorize him to encumber properties of the conjugal partnership, as is the property mortgaged.”
The power of attorney given by Casimira Catalá was executed in Barcelona, Spain, in the year 1910, and contains the following clause: “That she confers full, ample and special power, to such extent as the law ma3r require and as may be necessary, upon her husband, Adolfo Andreu y Ferrer, of this city, and upon Antonio Soler y Aymat, a resident of Maricao (Porto Bico), jointly and severally, as to
Section 159 of the Civil Code provides that the real property belonging to the conjugal partnership can not he alienated or encumbered without the mutual consent of both parties to the marriage. And section 1615 of the same code prescribes that in order to create a mortgage an express commission is required.
In the case at bar there is an express authority to mortgage, but that authority does not refer expressly to the properties of the conjugal partnership composed of the spouses Andreu-Catalá, and the mortgaged property is such.
The power executed by the wife is not clear. It was her intention undoubtedly to include the properties belonging to the conjugal partnership, but such intention should have been expressed in direct, clear and precise language as required by law.
We have already seen that the power given by the husband refers to “the properties which he owns at present or such as he may acquire hereafter.” That language does not specifically include the properties of the conjugal partnership. It was so held by this court in Vidal v. The Registrar of Property, 12 P. R. R. 163, where we laid down the following doctrine: “Where an agent is authorized to sell the property of his principal, or any that he might acquire in the future, he is not authorized to sell the property belonging to the conjugal partnership of his principal, and for this purpose he would require special authority.” This doctrine
Tlie decision must be
Affirmed.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.