Boyd v. Johnson
Boyd v. Johnson
Opinion of the Court
On May 9, 1914, Mrs. V. L. Boyd (then Orr) executed a deed of trust by which was conveyed to H. W. Houck, trustee for'the benefit of the Southland Dumber Company, lot 2 in block 2, Mussett addition to the city of Corpus Christi, in Nueces county. It was recited in the deed of trust that the same was given to secure the payment of a note for $617.77, executed by Mrs. Boyd on said date and t payable to said lumber company and given to cover an account for lumber and matei'ials bought of the company. On July 3, 1917, T.' E. Johnson, substitute trustee, sold and conveyed the property to the lumber company, the beneficiary, for $200, the sale being at auction and to the highest and best bidder. The value of the property at the time of the sale was from $3,000 to $3,500.
On July 2, 1917, Mrs. Boyd, joined pro forma by her husband, brought suit in trespass to try title against T. F. Johnson and the lumber company, alleging that the defendants were claiming an interest in the property by virtue of the deed of trust, and were about to sell the property thereunder, and were in fact then advertising such sale, and that the deed of trust was void because the premises covered thereby constituted the homestead of Mrs. Boyd. No other ground of invalidity was set up. Lis pendens notice was filed for record contemporaneously with the institution of the suit, but, notwithstanding this, the sale of the property was proceeded with and made the day after the filing of the suit and lis pendens notice. Subsequently, in April, 1918, the Boyds amended, setting up the sale of the land under the trust deed, and seeking to set aside the latter 'instrument and the sale thereunder, reaffirming the homestead allegations, and alleging, among other grounds, that the sale under the deed of trust was irregular, and the sale price grossly inadequate, -that the amount of the debt to the lumber company was less than that recited in the note and deed of trust, and that Mrs. Boyd executed those instruments with the understanding that the true amount of the debt would be ascertained and the trust deed and note corrected accordingly, and that only because of this understanding she executed these instruments, and would not have otherwise done so, but that the lumber company failed and refused to furnish her an itemized statement of the account and to correct the recitations in the instruments, and that therefore there was no legal delivery thereof.
The defendants denied these allegations, alleged the legality of the trust deed and note, and of the sale,, and sought recovery of and removal of cloud from title in the form of trespass to try title, to which the Boyds plead not guilty. In December, 1918, pending the litigation, the lumber company secured possession of the property by sequestration proceedings, and sought recovery from the Boyds of rent from the time of the sale to the date it took possession, alleging the value of the property to.be $2,500, and the reasonable rental to be $1,200.
*865 Upon a trial by jury the lower court directed a verdict for both Johnson and the lumber company as to plaintiffs’ suit, and for the lumber company on its cross-action for title to the property, and for such rent as the jury might find. The jury returned a verdict accordingly, fixing the amount of the rent to be $90, and appropriate judgment was rendered on this verdict, and from this judgment the Boyds appeal.
“The defense offered was that the paper purporting to be a duebill was given to plaintiff simply as a memorandum, and not as evidence of an amount due by defendant to plaintiff; that when it was given it was understood and agreed that it was only a memorandum, and that the amount it called for should be reduced by any sums that might afterwards be found defendant was entitled to in connection with the contract under which plaintiff agreed to furnish, and had furnished, defendant with lumber and material; but defendant had since found that plaintiff had charged him a higher and entirely different rate than had been agreed on, and, after considering payments made by defendant, that plaintiff was indebted to defendant in the sum of $257.30, for which he ásked judgment.. * * * There was no indefiniteness or ambiguity in the expressions of the paper. It evidences a settlement between, the parties, and, as the evidence discloses this *866 evidence related to the sale of lumber and material, it was an admission of indebtedness to plaintiff of a certain sum in reference thereto, and is, in effect, a 'promise to pay that sum unconditionally. The answer shows it was given to and accepted by plaintiff. It was clearly inadmissible, over objections, to go behind it, and examine into matters of account preceding it, and out of which it grew, there being no attempt to avoid it for such cause as fraud, accident, or mistake. * * * The basis of the defense and counterclaim was that at the time of giving the instrument the defendant, by oral understanding, reserved the right to certain allowances in a certain contingency. These the proofs show were connected with the account in respect to which the paper was given. That this could not be shown to the impairment of the terms of the writing needs no citation of authorities.”
Now, if it had been shown that the note and deed of trust were given to Johnson with the express stipulation that they should not be delivered to the lumber company until the question of the correctness of the amount was threshed out and settled, and the recited consideration changed accordingly, and that the recited amount was not substantially correct, a very different question might have arisen. But there was no such understanding here. And, while there was some testimony tending to throw some doubt upon the correctness of the amount of the consideration recited in the instrument in controversy, such showing was not sufficiently definite or conclusive to overcome the recitations in the written instrument solemnly entered into and unconditionally delivered. These instruments were executed, acknowledged, delivered, and recorded in May 1914. The Boyds took no steps to remedy the wrongs they ndw complain of until more than three years had elapsed. They stood by' and allowed the property to be sold under the deed of trust, without complaint, except that on the day before the sale, of which they had due notice, they filed suit to set aside the deed of trust, upon the sole ground that the premises involved constituted a homestead. It was nearly a year later, and four years after the execution of these papers, that they set up allegations about conditional delivery, and challenged the correctness of the consideration for the note and deed of trust. And in the pleadings setting up these defenses Mrs. Boyd alleged that she executed these papers upon the representation of the lumber company officials that the company had actually furnished to her materials amounting in price to $692.17, “and relying upon this representation, and believing that said amount of material had been actually furnished for the construction of said house, she executed the note' and deed of trust for said sum.” We think these allegations, considered with the other circumstances above set out, absolutely preclude appellants from recovery upon the contentions made in the first assignment, which is accordingly overruled. The fifth and sixth assignments of error, related as they are to the first, are also overruled.
Before a sale under the deed of trust can be set aside because of inadequacy of the price brought at a sale thereunder, there must appear to be some irregularity in connection therewith. Such irregularity, even the slightest or of the most trivial nature, would be sufficient here. But until such is shown the sale must stand.
All assignments are overruled, and the judgment is affirmed.
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Reference
- Full Case Name
- BOYD Et Al. v. JOHNSON Et Al.
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- Published