Fonda v. Gibbs
Fonda v. Gibbs
Opinion of the Court
This was a petition to. foreclose three mortgages. The petition was answered.. A cross-bill was
From the master’s report the following facts appear: The defendant Isaac F. Gibbs was a married man and the husband of Nellie W. Gibbs, at all times material to this case, down to her death April 16, 1898. The other defendants, Mary Gibbs, Fannie Gibbs, Frances Gibbs, and Georgiana Gibbs, were children and heirs at law of said Isaac F. Gibbs and Nellie W. Gibbs. The said Mary Gibbs died February 14, 1902, after the institution of these proceedings.
The premises covered by the mortgages in question are situated in the town of St. Albans, and were conveyed to¡ the said Isaac F., by a redeemable lease, March 10, 1890. At the April Term, 1893, of the Court of Chancery for Franklin County, a decree of foreclosure against said Isaac F. on said lease was obtained. At this time the estate of said Isaac F. was being administered in insolvency, he having been adjudged an insolvent debtor February 3, 1893, and his estate having been assigned to' an assignee. No record of such assignment was made in the land records of the town of St. Albans. At a meeting on said insolvency estate the Judge of the Court orally directed the assignee to sell for a price named the real estate of the insolvent, which consisted of the premises in question and of another lot of land, and in accordance with such order of the Court, the assignee, May 17, 1893, sold said real estate to' Nellie W. Gibbs, wife of said Isaac F., for about $400.00, which sum she paid out of her sole property. It was the intention of the assignee to deed to. said Nellie W. all the interest of said insolvent estate in both pieces of land referred
There are no facts reported which tend to' show that a resulting trust in the premises arose after the giving of any of the mortgages sought to be foreclosed. Assuming, however, that from the facts reported a resulting trust estate in the premises arose in favor of Nellie W. Gibbs before the giving of
At some time in 1895 or 1896, the exact time not appearing, said Isaac Iv. Gibbs with his family moved onto the premises in question, and from that time continued to reside there.
The first of the three mortgag'es in question was given to one George W. Lepper, August 3, 1895, the said Isaac L. and his wife Nellie W. joining in the mortgage. This was given to secure a note for the sum of $425.00 of even date with the mortgage and signed by the said Isaac L. Gibbs. The second of the mortgages in question was given to the orator December 14, 1895, both the said Isaac L. and his wife Nellie W. likewise joining in it. This mortgage was given, to secure a note of even date therewith for $840.00 signed by the said Isaac L. This note was in settlement of an account in favor of the orator for money and material used in the construction of buildings on the premises in question. Though the wife, Nellie W., joined in these two mortgages, she was not named in either as wife. These mortgages were clearly rendered superior to any interest of the said Nellie W., in the premises in question.
The third of these mortgages was given to the orator by the said Isaac L. Gibbs, June 17, 1898, after the death of said Nellie W., which, as hereinbefore stated, occurred April 16, 1898. Under this mortgage the orator advanced ho said Isaac L- cash and material fi> the value of $1,987.25, which was used in the construction,' of buildings on the premises in question. At the time of taking the last mentioned mortgage the orator examined the records, and found that the title to the mortgaged premises to be as already stated, and at that time the said Isaac L. Gibbs represented to the orator that he was the owner of said premises, and that the only encumbrances thereon were the Lepper mortgage and the previous mortgage to
The defendants claim, in their brief, that the resulting trust arose in 1893, when the assignee of the estate in insol
After learning of the claim made to a trust estate in the premises, the orator purchased the Gepper mortgage, herein-before referred to, and these foreclosure proceedings were brought. The defendants in their cross-bill do- not question that this mortgage, in the hands of the orator, is superior to the resulting trust set up by the defendants, this mortgage, as before stated, having been joined in by the said Nellie W. Gibbs. The cross-bill prays that the trust may be decreed to be a good and valid lien upon the real estate in question having precedence over all mortgages or liens subsequent to the date of the last mortgage executed and signed by the said Nellie W. Gibbs, and that they may have a reasonable time in which to redeem the mortgages executed by the said Nellie W., — that is, the Gepper mortgage and the first mortgage given directly to' the. orator. In argument, however, the defendants claim that the orator cannot foreclose the Gepper mortgagee, because he purchased it after notice of the trust estate.. This argument, however, is not sound, as we have seen that Mrs. Gibbs had encumbered her trust estate by joining in the Gepper mortgage; and in purchasing the Gepper mortgage the orator acquired a security which the act of Mrs. Gibbs had made superior to the resulting trust. As assignee of the Gep-
The result is <that the decree of the Court of Chancery is affirmed, and the cause remanded.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- W. Beecher Fonda v. Isaac L. Gibbs
- Status
- Published