Benzel v. Commercial Nat. Bank of Sherman

1 S.W.2d 695
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 19, 1927
DocketNo. 2840.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 1 S.W.2d 695 (Benzel v. Commercial Nat. Bank of Sherman) 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
Benzel v. Commercial Nat. Bank of Sherman, 1 S.W.2d 695 (Tex. Ct. App. 1927).

Opinion

JACKSON, J.

This suit was instituted in the district court of Grayson county, Tex., by the Commercial National Bank of Sherman, Tex., plaintiff, against E. D. Benzel and wife, Lucy T. Benzel, defendants, on three promissory notes aggregating, on June 22, 1&26, the sum of $7,914.59. One of the notes, dated March 17,1925, was for the principal sum of $2,486, and was given in renewal and extension of a note for the same amount, dated March 31,1921.

Plaintiff alleges that the defendants, on March 31, 1921, executed and delivered said note, together with a deed of trust lien on certain property fully described in its petition, to secure the payment thereof, and on March 17, 1925, in writing, renewed and extended said note and the deed of trust lien securing its payment.

Plaintiff asks for judgment against the defendant E. L. Benzel for its entire indebtedness and for a foreclosure of its deed of trust lien on the land described therein against each of the defendants.

The defendants answered by general demurrer and general denial, and pleaded that on the 30th day of March, 1921, and for many years, prior thereto and at all times since they were legally married and living together as husband and wife, that prior to the date of the deed of trust which plaintiff seeks to foreclose, they purchased the land involved, which is situated directly in front of and facing the house inhabited by them and their children, and that said land is and at all times has been a part of their homestead, and' that hence, said lien is void and unenforceable, and pray that judgment be entered canceling such lien.

The plaintiff, by supplemental petition, pleaded general demurrer, general denial, and alleged that the land upon which it asserts a lien was acquired by the defendants on September 25,1916, from M. D. and C. T. Carlton, at which time they owned and occupied as their homestead certain other tracts or parcels of land situated in the city of Sherman,, in Grayson county, Tex., description of which' plaintiff gives; that said other tracts or parcels of land constituting the homestead of the defendants, exclusive of the improvements thereon, exceeded in value the sum of $5,000; that said tracts and parcels of land at the time of the execution of the deed of trust involved in this suit had never been abandoned' and the land covered by the deed of trust never became any part of such homestead. Plaintiff pleads, in the alternative: That if the tract of land described in its deed of trust was, at any time, a part of the homestead, defendants knowingly and intentionally abandoned it as such at the time the deed of trust was executed, and that the deed of trust provided: “We do hereby covenant that the above-described premises (meaning hereby the real property acquired from the said Carltons) are not used, occupied or claimed by us as a homestead nor intended to be used, occupied or claimed by us as a homestead, but that our homestead is located at 1106 Lockhart Street,. Sherman, Texas.” That this declaration in the deed of trust, in connection with obtaining the money evidenced by the note, constituted an abandonment of any homestead claim or use. That at the time the note and deed of trust were executed and delivered, the plaintiff could have collected its indebtedness and would have done so but for the fact that E. L. Benzel represented that the property covered by said deed of trust was no part of the homestead, and that he and his wife would execute and deliver the deed of trust to secure said indebtedness upon the condition that the time of payment thereof be extended, which representations were made for the purpose of inducing plaintiff to accept the note and security and postpone its demands for payment of its debt. That it relied and acted upon said representations, accepted the note and lien, and refrained from taking steps to collect its debt because thereof. That the defendant Lucy T. . Benzel acquiesced and joined in the execution of the deed of trust for the purpose of securing the extension of the payment of *697 said indebtedness, and they are now estopped, by reason of the above facts, from asserting any homestead right in said property.

In response to special issues submitted by the court, the jury found in effect that the land claimed and occupied by the defendants as their homestead on September 25, 1916, was of the value of $4,250; that the Carlton tract was, on that date, of the value of $1,-500; that the Carlton tract at and prior to the time the deed of trust was executed and delivered was principally and mainly used for raising products for the purpose of sale.

On these findings, the court rendered judgment in favor of plaintiff against E. L. Benzel for the debt and in favor of plaintiff against both defendants for a foreclosure of the lien ■on the Carlton tract of land. The judgment for the debt is not questioned; but from the judgment foreclosing the lien the defendants prosecute this appeal.

The appellants assign as error the action of the court in submitting to the jury as an issue, over there written objection, the principal purpose and use to which they put the tract of land covered by the lien, at and prior to the time of the execution and delivery of the note and deed of trust, because the undisputed evidence shows that said tract of land was used by the defendants at the time as a part of their homestead and the sale of produce raised thereon would not deprive the land of its homestead character.

The record shows that the appellants were married in 1903 and continued, at all times thereafter, to live together as husband and wife; that in 1911 they purchased an acre and a half of land, which we will designate as the first tract, on which was situated a house and into which they immediately moved with their family; that in 1915, they purchased an additional 3½ acres of land, which we will designate as the second tract, and which adjoined the first tract; that they lived in the house on the first tract until 1918, when it was destroyed by fire, after which they moved into a house on the second tract, where they still reside. On September 25, 1916, they purchased what we will designate as the Carlton tract, which was 150 by 400 feet and is the land in controversy, and is separated from the other two tracts by what is called Lock-hart street. *

Mr. Benzel testified, in substance, that at the time he bought the second tract he already had enough land on'Which to raise garden truck for the consumption of the family; that he bought the second tract for the purpose of enlarging the first tract so he could go into the poultry business; that they had to have more land to pay a boy to work around the house and help make a living on that piece -of ground; that after the second tract was purchased, a boy was employed to assist in growing vegetables, fruit, and raising poultry to make a living; that there was about five acres of land in the first and second tracts, both of which are west of Lockhart street; that the Carlton tract is east of said street; that prior to September 25, 1916, they had been renting the Carlton tract and using it for growing produce and had so used it ever since; that it had been planted in corn each year; that his place of business was never located on the Carlton tract, and that they rented it from the owner before they bought it to add more land for their commercial fruit, truck and poultry business; that they were operating such business and continued to do so; that their produce is sold direct to the retail grocers; that A. J.

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Bluebook (online)
1 S.W.2d 695, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/benzel-v-commercial-nat-bank-of-sherman-texapp-1927.