Baker v. Purselley

411 So. 2d 553, 1982 La. App. LEXIS 6849
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 2, 1982
DocketNos. 14575, 14576
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 411 So. 2d 553 (Baker v. Purselley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Baker v. Purselley, 411 So. 2d 553, 1982 La. App. LEXIS 6849 (La. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

COVINGTON, Judge.

This is an action for executory process brought by Walter W. Baker, Alden Lee Baker and Anna Mercer Baker Naquin to foreclose on property which had been conveyed by the plaintiffs, the Bakers, to J. B. and Frances Faith Hogle Purselley, the vendees, by credit deed dated April 7, 1978, and duly recorded in the official records of Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, which action has been consolidated with an action for specific performance and injunctive relief to arrest the seizure and sale under the executory process brought by the Purselleys against the Bakers. In connection with the action for injunctive relief, the trial court granted a temporary restraining order and fixed a rule to show cause why a preliminary injunction should not be granted. Allen B. Pierson, Jr., who was named as man-datary in the credit deed to execute appropriate releases as the circumstances dictated, was also sued as a defendant in the action brought by the Purselleys. The Bakers moved to dissolve the restraining order. Thereafter, the Purselleys filed an amending petition. Pending the action, one of the parties, Alden Lee Baker, died, and his estate was substituted as a party. The defendants in the latter action answered, denying the pertinent allegations and asserting a compromise agreement between the parties.

The facts as established by the evidence in the record giving rise to these consolidated actions are:

On April 7, 1978, Anna Mercer Baker Naquin, Alden Lee Baker and Walter W. Baker sold to J. B. Purselley and Frances Faith Hogle Purselley, vendees, a tract of land situated in Section 47, Township 7 South, Range 7 East, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, under an act of credit sale, which act was duly recorded in the Conveyance and Mortgage Records of Tangipahoa Parish. The sale was for a total price of $249,-020.00, and was to be payable $115,000.01 cash, with the balance of the purchase price ($134,019.99) represented by three promissory notes in the amount of $44,673.33 each, payable in four consecutive annual installments of one-fourth of the principal, plus accrued interest at the rate of nine percent per annum.

At the passage of the act, the vendees were unable to pay the agreed cash portion of the sale price, so they paid $80,000.00 in cash and executed three additional promissory notes, payable on or before one year from date, as follows: (1) $7,500.00 payable to Walter W. Baker; (2) $7,500.00 payable to Anna Mercer Baker Naquin; and (3) $20,000.00 payable to Alden Lee Baker. These notes were paraphed for identification with an act of special mortgage, dated April 7, 1978, in the amount of $35,000.00 secured by other real estate of the vendees.

Also contained in the act of credit sale was a provision whereby the vendors released ten acres of the tract transferred, leaving approximately 28 acres encumbered by the credit deed.

Following the description of the property transferred, the act provided: “Should the vendees harvest any timber on the property remaining encumbered by this credit deed all of the proceeds of the sale of that timber shall be paid immediately to vendors. The amount so paid shall be credited against the interest accrued to that date and the remainder against the principal due on the next payment due date. Thereafter on the [555]*555next payment due date the amount due shall be the interest accrued from the date of the last timber sale payment plus the balance of the principal due on that date.

“During the first year following the execution of this credit deed Vendors bind and obligate' themselves to grant to Vendees partial releases covering portions of the property encumbered. As a consideration for the releases, Vendees shall prepay $5,265.46 per acre released which amount shall be credited against the interest accrued to that date and the remainder against the principal due on the next payment due date. Thereafter on the next payment due date the amount due shall be the interest accrued from the date of the last release payment plus the balance of the principal payment due on that payment date. During the second, third and fourth years following the execution of this credit deed the Vendors shall be similarly obligated to grant releases except that the amount per acre to be prepaid by the Vendees shall be $3,948.80, $2,632.54 and $1,316.27 respectively.”

Also, the instrument reserved to the vendors, for a period of ten years, a one-half interest in the oil, gas and other minerals. There was no provision reserving any rights to the timber, except that proceeds from timber sales had to be disbursed to the vendors as set out above.

Further, the instrument recited that: “Vendors do hereby appoint Allen B. Pier-son, Jr. as their agent and attorney in fact for the purpose of granting and executing on their behalf the releases contemplated by this paragraph and they do hereby authorize him to receive and to receipt for the prepayment necessitated by the releases and instruct him to immediately forward one-third (Vá) of the same to each of them.”

Subsequent to the credit sale, the vendees sold certain pine timber to Phillips-Lamb Lumber Company by a timber deed dated June 19, 1978. The proceeds derived from the sale of the timber on the 28 acre tract were at that time paid to the mandatary. On June 1, 1979, the vendees paid the vendors the sum of $7,162.74, which represented the outstanding interest on the three notes secured by the credit deed on the 28 acre tract sold to the Purselleys. No further payment was made by the vendees.

Following the trial, the trial judge, with written reasons, rendered judgment on July 6, 1981, ordering Allen Pierson, as agent of the vendors, to convey title to the vendees of a 6.35 acre tract of land described in the judgment; enjoining the seizure and sale of the 28 acre tract in the executory proceedings; and denying the motion to dissolve the restraining order. It is from this judgment that the Bakers have appealed. We amend, and as amended, we affirm.

On this appeal, the appellants assert the following specifications of errors:

Specification of Error No. 1. “The District Court erred in ordering Allen B. Pier-son, agent and attorney for appellants to convey title to appellee to the tract of land described in the judgment containing 6.35 acres.”

Specification of Error No. 2. “The District Court erred in failing to find a compromise agreement had been entered into between appellants and appellees prohibiting the release of any portion of the property on the credit sale and further prohibiting the enjoinment of the sheriff’s sale on the 28 acres.”

Specification of Error No. 3. “The District Court erred in failing to cancel the temporary restraining order issued on August 26th, 1980 . . . and ordering appellees to pay damages to appellants for the unlawful issuance of the temporary restraining order.”

First, the appellants argue that the trial court erred in ordering the release from the mortgage effects of the credit sale the tract of land described in the judgment as containing 6.35 acres, and ordering the mandatary to convey title to the described tract of land to the Purselleys.

The first issue is concerned with whether specific performance should have been granted by the trial court, ordering the Bakers, through the agent, to convey the described acreage to the Purselleys.

[556]

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Ross v. Ross
857 So. 2d 384 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 2003)
Fredric Hayes, Inc. v. Rollins
435 So. 2d 1151 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1983)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
411 So. 2d 553, 1982 La. App. LEXIS 6849, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/baker-v-purselley-lactapp-1982.