Lyman v. Thorn
Lyman v. Thorn
Opinion of the Court
The agreed and only question to be determined in this case is whether the sheriff is entitled to the statutory fee or commission prescribed for collecting money on a sale of property on execution, where the property is purchased
Briefly stated, the agreed facts are as follows:' The judgment upon which the execution was issued was for the sum of $339,412.88. Pursuant to the execution and a levy thereunder, the sheriff offered at public sale' and sold certain real estate of the judgment debtor situated in Crook County in this state, and also property described in the petition in this action as “Camp Ten” belonging to the said judgment debtor “and all of the buildings used in connection with the same,” and all the right, title and interest of the said judgment debtor in and to the railroad and railroad right of way extending from Nahant, South Dakota, into Crook County, Wyoming, with all of the appurtenances thereto belonging and all leases and lease-hold interests. At said sale the judgment creditor, the defendant below and plaintiff in error here, was the only bidder, and all of the property was sold to him for the total sum of $105,000. No money was paid to the sheriff on the sale, and no certificates of indebt
The commission is claimed under Section 1214, Compiled Statutes, 1910, which, omitting the provisions not here involved, reads as follows: “The sheriff in addition to his annual salary shall be entitled to receive from the party for whom the service is rendered in civil cases, the following fees, which in all cases must be paid in advance, if demand be made therefor: * * * * making levy under execution, or other process where levy is required, one dollar; * * * * commission on money collected on execution or other final process, where the same is collected without sale of property, for the first five hundred dollars, two per cent; for the second five hundred dollars, one per cent; for all over one thousand dollars, one-half of one per cent; where collection is made upon a sale of the property, the commissions allowed shall be as follows: On the first five hundred dollars, four per cent; on the second five hundred dollars, two per cent; on,all over one thousand dollars, one per cent; for advertising property for sale, one dollar and fifty cents; when executing deed when necessary to be made by sheriff upon any real property (including acknowledgment) , five dollars.” The question, therefore, is whether under the circumstances of the sale aforesaid any money was collected, within the meaning of the statute entitling the sheriff to the commission allowed where collection is made upon a sale of property.
The legal effect of the transaction in the case of a sale made as aforesaid is certainly a collection of the amount
Lands and tenements upon which an execution is levied must be appraised at the real value thereof in money. (Comp. Stat. 1910, Sec. 4698.) And it is provided that the property shall not be sold for less than two-thirds of such
The Supreme Court of Ohio has had occasion to speak of the effect of an execution sale of property to the judgment creditor, without the payment of any money except the costs, in a case where the question of sheriff’s fees was not involved. In the case referred to (Sparrow v. Hosack, 40 O. St. 253), it appeared that after levy on certain land of the judgment debtor a part of the judgment was. paid and the fact entered on the court journal, but a vendi afterwards issued for the full amount without crediting or mentioning the partial payment, whereupon the land was sold to the judgment creditor for a sum less than the original amount of the judgment, but much in excess of the balance dire thereon, the creditor paying the sheriff the costs only. He was sued for the amount of the purchase price in excess of the balance that had been due on the judgment, as' for money had and received for plaintiff’s use, by one who had become the owner of the land holding under the judgment debtor through conveyances with usual covenants of warranty. The court held that the plaintiff in the action was entitled to recover, since the defendant had received the equivalent of money for.which he should have accounted, and in discussing the question the court said: “Sparrow occupied a double relation. As purchaser he was bound to pay the full amount of his bid, and if he had been such merely he could not have practiced this fraud. As judgment creditor he was bound to pay only the costs, if his judgment equaled or exceeded his bid;, and only because he was such creditor he was enabled to and did deceive the sheriff. The vendi was a means to an end. Its .sole object was to provide payment of the judgment. It commanded the sheriff to make the original amount in full.
The statute of Ohio provides for a commission or poundage on an execution levied on real estate on “moneys actually made and paid to the sheriff,” and declares further that when such real estate is bid off and purchased by a party entitled to a part of the proceeds, the sheriff shall not be entitled to any poundage except on the amount over and above the claims of such party. And it is held under that statute that the sheriff cannot charge poundage where the property is purchased, without paying any money except costs, by one entitled to the whole of 'the proceeds, although not a party to the suit. (Major v. International Coal Co., 76 Ohio St. 200, 81 N. E. 240.) But where the statute, as in this state, provides merely as to commission, where property is sold, that the officer shall be entitled to the specified commission on money collected upon the sale, we think it should not be construed as denying the right to the commission under the circumstances of the sale involved in this case, on the ground that the money was not actually paid into the sheriff’s hands.
The decisions are not harmonious on the question, though the conflict is chiefly the result of difference in the statutes considered. Counsel for plaintiff in error relies upon the following cases: Peery v. Wright, 13 Utah, 480, 45 Pac. 46; Coleman v. Ross, 14 Ore. 349, 12 Pac. 648; State v. Prince, 9 Wash. 107, 37 Pac. 291; State v. Pugh, 9 Wash. 694, 38 Pac. 79; Vance v. Bank of Columbus, 2 Ohio 214; Fiedeldey v. Diserens, 26 O. St. 312; Berry v. Kiefer, 38 Okl. 377, 133 Pac. 1126; Dawson v. Grafflin, 84 N. C. 100. The Ohio cases and the North Carolina case cited are not in point; they decide a different question which need not
In the Oregon and Washington cases cited and relied on by plaintiff in error, the property levied on was sold to the judgment creditor and his bid credited upon the judgement without the payment of any money to the sheriff, as in the case at bar. That was the situation also in the Oklahoma case of Berry v. Kiefer, supra. But the statute construed in the Oregon and Washington cases differs materially from the statute of this state on the subject. By the Oregon statute a commission was allowed on “money actually made on any process and returned to the clerk”; and the statute in Washington allowed a percentage “on all moneys actually made and paid to the sheriff;” The decisions in those states denying the right to the commission appears to have been based upon the peculiar language of the statute. Referring to the Oregon statute, the Supreme Court of that state, in the case cited, said in substance than to entitle the sheriff to a commission the money must have been actually made and returned- to the .clerk, and the language used in the statute in expressing those conditions was further commented on as follows: “Of course, if the statute -plainly allows it, we have nothing to do with the
The statute of Oklahoma provides for charging a commission “for collecting money on sale,” and it is construed in Berry v. Kiefer, supra, as not permitting the charge when the judgment creditor is the purchaser, and the amount of his bid is credited on the judgment. But it was so construed in view of the other provisions of the statute prescribing fees for serving an order of sale, making return thereof, summoning appraisers and appraising the property, selling the property or offering it for sale, as well as for making the deed. And the court said that for every service required a specific sum was provided as compensation; that when no money is collected no service is rendered for which the commission could be charged, for it was contemplated by the charge to reward the officer for receiving the money, and compensate him for his liability in holding and accounting for the same. No specific fee for summoning appraisers or for conducting the sale is provided by our statute, which, in that respect, differs from the Oklahoma statute.
But we cannot agree with the view expressed in the cases denying the officer’s right to the commission under the con
While we think that the provision for the commission in our statute, in the absence of any other provision qualifying it or limiting its operation, is to be construed as allowing the commission under the circumstances of the sale in question, and that such construction is sustained by the weight of authority, the legislature seems to have recognized the right to the commission in such case by providing in Section 4740, Compiled Statutes, 1910, found in the article relating to the redemption of lands sold on execution, that no commission on the amount of the redemption money shall be allowed the officer receiving the same, but the usual commission shall be allowed the officer selling the property on the excess over the amount of the redemption money. The last clause evidently refers to a second or subsequent sale upon redemption by a judgment creditor provided for in Sections 4736, 4737 and 4738. As previously stated, the certificate of sale on execution is required to state the sum paid, or if the lands be purchased by the creditor, the amount of his bid. (Id., Section 4734.) And Section 4735 provides that the judgment debtor may redeem within six months from the sale by paying to the purchaser, or the
As above stated, we believe the weight of authority sustains. the right to the commission upon the facts in this case, where the provisión therefor is no more specific than in our statutes as to the service or collection for which it is allowed. (Sharvey v. Central Vermillion Iron Co., 57 Minn. 216, 58 N. W. 864; Litchfield v. Ashford, 70 Ia. 393, 30 N. W. 649; Jurgens v. Hauser, 19 Mont. 184, 47 Pac. 809; Roberts v. Ingalls, 36 Nev. 325, 135 Pac. 927, 48 L. R. A. (N. S.) 542, Ann. Cas. 1915c, 1119; Arnold v. Dinsmore, 3 Cold. (Tenn.) 235; Kelly v. Barnet, 24 Cal. App. 119, 140 Pac. 605.)
The statute of Minnesota allowed the sheriff a commission or percentage for “collections on executions, when the same is collected or settled after levy.” Construing that statute, it was held in Sharvey v. Iron Co, supra, that there was a collection within the meaning of the statute, entitling the sheriff to the percentage where lands were levied upon and sold to the judgment'creditor, and the execution was returned with the amount of the bid credited thereon.' The reasons for the conclusion were stated in the opinio» by Gilfillan, Chief Justice, as follows:
*338 “When an execution creditor bids upon the property levied on, he bids as any one else does, except that, if it be struck off to him, to avoid circuity of action, and as matter of convenience, he is not required to go through the ceremony of paying the money to the sheriff and receiving it back from him. But he is presumed, as any one else would be, to bid the property off at what he deems to be its value; and there is secured to him, by means of the execution and sale, the amount of the bid, less the fees and expenses, by acquiring the title to the property if the sale become absolute, and by actual receipt of the money if there be redemption. Whatever he acquires by the execution and sale is to be deemed a collection, not only as between him and the judgment debtor, but as between him and the sheriff. If this were not so, execution creditors might in many cases profit by defeating the sheriff’s just claim to fees. In this case' the property was struck off to defendant at $250,000. Suppose a third person had bid that amount, and the defendant had bid $50 more, that being the highest bid, the sheriff would have been obliged to strike off the property to it, and, if he were not entitled to fees because the defendant bid off the property, it would make a very handsome profit by its raise of $50.”
The statute of Tennessee considered in Arnold v. Dinsmore, supra, provided a fee for collecting money on executions,‘without making any other provision where land levied upon is bid in by the execution creditor; the court said :
“No 'money,’ in the language of the statute, was collected; but the land sold was voluntarily accepted by the creditor, in lieu of the money, and thereby, under our practice, the execution satisfied. The sheriff did all he was commanded to do by law. He could not do more under his process.Every duty and responsibility enjoined by it were assumed and faithfully discharged; and we think, by a fair and just interpretation of the statute, he is entitled to compensation for his services. The execution creditor was not bound to bid in the land. He did -it at his own .option, and it is to*339 be presumed, for his own interest. Strictly, the sheriff might have demanded of him, as of any other purchaser, the payment of his.bid, at which the land was struck off, and returned it with the fieri facias, into court, when it would have been paid over by the clerk to the judgment creditor. Biut, such has not been our practice, and we have no disposition to disturb it. It. has been sanctioned■ by long usage, and it is doubtlessly often convenient and highly beneficial to both parties.”
In Litchfied v. Ashford, supra, under a statute declaring the sheriff entitled to charge and receive a fee according to percentage on the amount, “for collecting and-paying over money,” he was held entitled to the percentage upon the amount of a sale where the judgment plaintiff became the purchaser and the amount of his bid was not paid to the sheriff, but credited on the j udgment. Referring to a former statute expressly allowing a commission where the property was purchased by the execution plaintiff, and construing the later statute then under consideration, the Iowa court said: “It appears that by the previous legislation a sale of property to the plaintiff in execution was regarded as a collection made by the sale, and it is so in fact. The sale pays the debt. Now, when the nineteenth general assembly fixed the fees for collection, and omitted to except a collection, made by a sale to the plaintiff in execution, we think the legislative intent was to allow the percentage in all cases where the act of the sheriff amounted, in effect, to a collection.”
The question here-presented was decided in the Montana case of Jurgens v. Hauser, supra, and in the Nevada case of Roberts v. Ingalls, supra, under a statute providing a commission for receiving and paying over money on execution or other process where lands or personal property have been levied upon and sold, and in each case the sheriff was held entitled to the commission, the court refusing to follow a previous decision to the contrary under an identical statute in the case of Peery v. Wright, supra. Although the precise question was not involved in the California case of Kelly v.
Having concluded that the sheriff is entitled to recover the commission claimed by him, the judgment will be affirmed. Affirmed.
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