Arnim v. Rauch

113 S.W.2d 699, 1938 Tex. App. LEXIS 854
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 4, 1938
DocketNo. 3192.
StatusPublished

This text of 113 S.W.2d 699 (Arnim v. Rauch) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arnim v. Rauch, 113 S.W.2d 699, 1938 Tex. App. LEXIS 854 (Tex. Ct. App. 1938).

Opinion

O’QUINN, Justice.

This suit was brought by Otto Rauch, and his wife, Anna Rauch, appellees, in the district court of San Patricio county, against F. V. Arnim, Kathleen Lord Arnim, a feme sole, and Herman Kruse, appellants. The nature of this suit was (a) trespass to try title to 320 acres of land in San Patricio *700 county, and (b) to set aside a trustee’s sale of said land and cancel the trustee’s deed thereunder; cancel a mineral royalty conveyance affecting a one-half interest in the minerals in and under said land, made prior to the sale of the land by the trustee, and to revest full and complete title in and to said land in the plaintiffs as per an alleged parol agreement by virtue of which the sale of the land by the trustee was made; and for an accounting and settlement between the parties. They also pleaded for relief in the alternative the nature of which need not here be mentioned.

The defendants F. V. Arnim and Kathleen Lord Arnim answered by general demurrer, plea of not guilty, general denial, and special denial of all matters alleged by plaintiffs relative to the alleged parol agreement set up by plaintiffs touching the sale of the land under the deed of trust. By cross-action they pleaded over against plaintiffs and prayed for judgment for the title and possession of the land, and relief generally.

The defendant Kruse answered by general demurrer, plea of not guilty, and adopted the answer of the Arnim defendants.

The case was tried to a jury upon special issues all of which were answered favorable to plaintiffs. Judgment was accordingly entered in favor -of plaintiffs, appellees, setting aside the sale of the land under the deed of trust, and canceling the deed thereunder and revesting the title to said land in plaintiffs, subject to the indebtedness of plaintiffs to the Arnim defendants, and awarding said defendants judgment against plaintiffs for said indebtedness in the sum of $4,290.05, and establishing a lien against the land for the payment of said indebtedness, with order foreclosing said lien. The judgment denied plaintiffs any recovery against the defendant Kruse, and also denied the Arnim defendants any recovery' against plaintiffs on their cross-action. Motion for a new-trial was overruled, hence this appeal.

Appellants’ first three assignments, in effect, urge the same error; that is, that the court erred in not granting their motion for an instructed verdict. We note the following facts:

(a)March 20, 1925, Andrew M. Johnson and Ruth Bly Johnson conveyed to Otto Rauch 320 acres of land situated in San Patricio county, Tex. As consideration for said land Rauch paid Johnson $1,500 cash, and executed and delivered to Johnson his nine promissory, vendor’s lien notes, each for the sum of $1,500, payable to Johnson’s order, on or before September 1st of the years 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, and 1935, respectively. December 26,. 1925, Johnson, for a favorable consideration, duly assigned and in writing transferred all of said notes and lien to the Dallas Joint Stock Land Bank of Dallas, Tex. November 2, 1925, Otto and Anna Rauch gave to the Dallas Joint Stock Land Bank their note for the sum of $16,000 in lieu of the nine vendor’s lien notes executed by them to Andrew Johnson in part payment for the land, and which notes and lien were transferred and assigned to said bank, which $16,000 note was to be” paid on the amortization plan in sixty-five equal annual payments, and executed to H. W. Ferguson as trustee to secure the payment of said note, a deed of trust covering said 320 acres of land.

(b) On November 2, 1925, Otto Rauch and Anna Rauch borrowed $3,200 from Farmers Fund of Texas, and executed their two promissory notes, each in the sum of $1,600, payable to said Farmers Fund one and two years from, date, respectively, bearing 8 per cent, interest from date, and on said date, November 2, 1925, executed a deed of trust to H. W. "Ferguson, trustee, covering said 320 acres of land, to secure the payment of said two notes. September 12, 1927, Farmers Fund of Texas in writing for a favorable consideration duly assigned and transferred said notes and lien to J. Locke. November 25, 1930, J. Locke, for a valuable consideration, in writing duly assigned, and transferred said notes and lien to Mrs. Kathleen Lord Arnim, guard,-ian of the estafes of her four minor children.

(c) April 10, 1931, Otto and Anna Rauch conveyed a one-half oil, gas, and mineral royalty interest in the 320 acres in question, to F. V. Arnim. May 15, 1931, F. V. Arnim gave a statement in writing to Otto Rauch that he, Arnim, would hold the oil, gas, and mineral royalty interest conveyed to him, and not sell or assign same, until Rauch paid what he, Rauch, owed him, Arnim, when he would reconvey to Rauch said mineral interest. It is contended that this conveyance was to secure an indebtedness owed by Rauch to Arnim. This is the royalty conveyance sought to be canceled.

(d) November 2, 1925, Otto Rauch and his wife, Anna Rauch, entered into a written contract with W. C. Long to clear and *701 grub 255 acres of the' 320 acres, and put same in a tillable condition by March 1, 1926, in consideration for which they executed and delivered to said Long their promissory note in the sum of $5,700, and to secure the payment of said note executed in his favor a mechanic’s, material-man’s, and laborer’s lien -on said land. December 23, 1925, Long, for a favorable consideration, transferred and assigned the note and lien to the Sinton State Bank of Patricio county. On August 24, 1926, the Sinton State Bank duly assigned and transferred the note and lien to the Dallas Joint Stock Land Bank and Farmers Fund.

(e) On January 5, 1932, O. K. Crow, acting substitute trustee instead of H. W. Ferguson, who had refused to act, in accordance with the request of Kathleen Lord Arnim, guardian, holder of the two notes for $1,600 each, executed by Otto and Anna Rauch payable to Farmers Fund, and which by assignment were held by Mrs. Kathleen Lord Arnim, and which notes had not been paid and were past due, in accordance with the provisions of the deed of trust, sold the land to satisfy said indebtedness to Mrs. Kathleen Lord Arnim on her hid of $1,500, and made trustee’s deed to her for same. This is the sale sought to be set aside and the deed sought to be can-celled.

We think the assignments should be overruled. Appellees, among other things, alleged :

“VIII. Plaintiffs would still further show to the court that in the Fall of 1931 they found it difficult to make certain interest payments which had become due upon the said first lien note hereinbefore mentioned, and also the payments which had become due upon the second lien notes hereinbefore mentioned and the said sum of $856.00 above mentioned and claimed to be due by defendants. Plaintiffs would still further show that under such conditions the Dallas Joint Stock Land Bank, the owner and holder of the said $16,000.00 note secured by a first lien upon said land, upon which there was then due certain interest or amortization payments amounting to about $630.00, began insisting that such payments be made and otherwise threatening a foreclosure upon the entire indebtedness due to said bank.
“IX.

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113 S.W.2d 699, 1938 Tex. App. LEXIS 854, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arnim-v-rauch-texapp-1938.