Ratcliff v. Phi Pi Phi Housing Corp.
Ratcliff v. Phi Pi Phi Housing Corp.
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff contends that the allegations of the complaint are sufficient to raise a constructive trust in his favor because they show, (a) that defendants took the deed without consideration and for the purpose of managing and caring for the property “for the benefit of all interested parties,” and (b) that defendants lulled the bondholders into inactivity to protect their interests by false representations that they were taking care of the bondholders’ interests and accumulating funds to discharge the principal and interest.
Standing alone, the allegations concerning the purpose for which defendants took title are insufficient to establish a constructive trust. This is true for several reasons. The defendants took the legal title to the premises and succeeded to the rights of the mortgagor. The right of the latter in possession to the rents and profits, even though they be pledged, is unquestionable. Franzen v. G. R. Kinney Co. 218 Wis. 53, 259 N. W. 850. There is no allegation of any binding promise to the grantor for the benefit of bondholders. Even if there were, the duty of managing and caring for the physical property constituting the security would not include accounting for the rents and profits. Further than this, the only statement in the complaint is that defendants took title for the purpose of managing, etc. The purpose alleged is
The contention that various false representations to bondholders by defendants, made both before and after the execution of the quitclaim deed, to the effect that defendants were managing the property in the interests of the bondholders, are effective to raise a constructive trust of which plaintiff is the cestui cannot be sustained. In substance, this is an attempt to raise a constructive trust because of fraud on the part of the defendants. In Dixon Shoe Co. v. Moen, 208 Wis. 389, 391, 243 N. W. 327, the court, speaking through Mr. Justice Fowler, said:
“Fraud creates a constructive trust only when confidential relations exist between the parties involved and the one party in reliance upon that relation intrusts the other with his money or property to be used for his benefit or with the doing of some act for his benefit, and the other in 'violation of the confidence reposed devotes the property or money to procuring property for himself or appropriates to himself the benefit of the act he was to perform for the other.”
Assuming, without deciding, (1) that defendants occupied some sort of confidential relation to the bondholders; (2) that the bondholders who sought information with respect to the security relied thereon and intrusted defendants with the doing of some act for their benefit; and (3) that the defeqd-
In view of these conclusions, it is unnecessary to consider other contentions by plaintiff, all of which are predicated upon the assumption that a trust relation has been established.
By the Court. — Order affirmed.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Ratcliff, Trustee v. Phi Pi Phi Housing Corporation and others
- Status
- Published