Binding-Stevens Seed Co. v. Local Building & Loan Ass'n

1935 OK 263, 45 P.2d 132, 172 Okla. 390, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 271
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 19, 1935
DocketNo. 24517.
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 1935 OK 263 (Binding-Stevens Seed Co. v. Local Building & Loan Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Binding-Stevens Seed Co. v. Local Building & Loan Ass'n, 1935 OK 263, 45 P.2d 132, 172 Okla. 390, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 271 (Okla. 1935).

Opinion

CORN, J.

For convenience the parties will be referred to herein as they appeared in the trial court, in reverse to the order here.

The facts in this case are as follows: J. J. Fabian owned lot 5 in block 5, Owen addition to the city of Tulsa. On or about April 8, 1922, the said Fabian, joined in by his wife, gave a .mortgage to the Local Building & Loan Association on said lot in the sum of $2,000. In August, 1020, the city made a change of grade in front of this property by erecting on its street a viaduct or overpass. No trespass was made on the property nor was any portion of the lot taken. The city built the viaduct or overpass without any condemnation proceedings whatever or determination of damages to the said owner. On January 91, 1931, in case No. 49408, J. J. Fabian brought suit against the city of Tulsa in the district court of Tulsa county for damages to his property by reason of the construction of the viaduct. The plaintiff herein was not made a party to this suit and never appeared therein in that case. In the said suit, on October '28, 1931, J. J. Fabian recovered a judgment against the city of Tulsa for $1,000, and the judgment became final.

On December 12, 1931, in case No. 52036, the plaintiff brought an action against J. J. Fabian, Ethel M. Fabian, his wife, and Frederick A. Camp to foreclose its mortgage to satisfy a balance of $804.85 due on said $2,000 mortgage. On . January 16, 1932, Binding-Stevens Seed Company purchased the jndament from J. J. Fabian by assignment in writing arid filed the same on that date in the case of Fabian v. City. On February 20, 1932, this action was brought by the plaintiff against the said defendant.

Plaintiff in his petition alleges that by reason of its said mortgage of $2,000 it has a valid lien on the premises and the subject-matter of Fabian v. City to secure its indebtedness, and that said change of grade was to take from plaintiff its security to the extent of $1,000. That plaintiff by reason of its mortgage has an equitable lien on said judgment, which lien is superior to the right of all. defendants. That it has a lien on the equity of said judgment and is entitled to have the same applied to the payment of its mortgage.

Plaintiff states that it was a necessary party to the litigation in Fabian v. City. That its mortgage was filed April 13, 1922, and recorded, and that the filing thereof constituted constructive 'notice to! Fabian and Binding-Stevens Seed Company. That by reason thereof Binding-Stevens Seed Company could not take any interest in said judgment superior to plaintiff, and it also asks that the said judgment in the sum of $1,000 be impounded. That plaintiff had an equitable lien thereon for payment of its indebtedness.

The answer of the defendant admits that Fabian is the owner of the said properly and that the plaintiff is the holder of the $2,000 mortgage on said property, but stated that the property is reasonably worth the sum of $1,800, an amount sufficient to pay the mortgage to holder against said property. That in the foreclosure action no claim of any kind or nature was made to damages arising from the building of the said viaduct nor to the said $1,000 judgment.

Defendant admits that, in August, 1929. said viaduct was built without any legal proceedings whatever, that Fabian knew of the building and construction at the time it was built, and so did the plaintiff. On January 19; 1931, in case No. 49408, Fabian filed action to recover said damages and did not make tlie Loan Association a party. That the plaintiff had full and complete knowledge of the -filing- of the suit, and the said plaintiff orally directed said Fabian to take all of said damages to his property as his own, and to conduct suit to collect same if he desired, and that, acting upon this oral authority, the said Fabian did commence suit at his own expense, and that *392 tjy reason of the above facts the plaintiff is precluded, estopped, and barred from asserting any right, title, or interest in or to said judgment or proceeds thereof. That on the 16 th day of January, 1932, the defendant, Binding-Sevens Seed Company, for a good and valuable consideration, purchased by assignment in writing the said judgment from J. J. Fabian and made a copy of said assignment an exhibit to its answer. That said defendant, at the time of such purchase, had no knowledge or information concerning the $2,000 mortgage of plaintiff, nor of any claim, rights, or demands of plaintiff in or to said judgment. That before buying said judgment, defendant examined the files, appearance docket, judgment docket, and record pertaining to this said case and found no claims of any kind or nature made by plaintiff, and believing- there were none, bought the said judgment in good faith and without notice.

The defendant complains that the trial court erred in overruling its demurrer to the petition, its demurrer to the evidence, and in not instructing a verdict in its favor. We do not see any merit in this contention, and hold the question to be determined in this case is whether the plaintiff is entitled to have the $1,000 judgment obtained by J. J. Fabian from the city of Tulsa and assigned to Bdnding-Stevens Seed Company applied on or to the payment of its mortgage.

The defendant also contends it is an innocent purchaser for value and without notice. To this we cannot agree. The plaintiff’s mortgage was placed on record in 1922, J. J. Fabian obtained his-judgment in October, 1931, the same was not assigned to the defendant herein until January 16, 1932, and at that time the plaintiff had an action pending foreclosing said mortgage, the same being filed less than two months after the rendition of the said Fabian judgment. We are unable to see where the plaintiff was guilty of negligence or laches to the extent that it waived any right it had to the Fabian judgment and should therefore be estopped from so asserting.

Defendant, Binding-Stevens Seed Company, argues at length that the Fabian claim against the city and the Fabian judgment were a pei-sonal claim and a personal action, hence, subject to assignment at will without any restriction and free from any claim or lien of the plaintiff. It also urges that the only relief which a mortgagee might have against a mortgagor for waste of premises and removing therefrom of minerals and the like is by injunction. But the Constitution of the state of ¡Oklahoma, sections 7, 23, and 24 of article 2, is controlling. The damages to the mortgaged premises were, by the provisions of the Constitution, placed in the identical status as the taking] of other property for public purposes, and the general rule applicable to such private claim' is in no wise applicable.

■ Sections 7, 23, and 24 of article 2 of the Constitution of Oklahoma give the same protection to those whose property is “damaged” as to those whose property is “taken.”

Damaging land and taking- land partake or the same nature under the provisions of our Constitution.

Sections 23 and 24 of article 2 of the Constitution of Oklahoma alike provide:

“No private property shall be taken ox-damaged,” and
“Private property shall not be taken ox-damaged.”

Tixe Supreme Court of Washing ton

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1935 OK 263, 45 P.2d 132, 172 Okla. 390, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 271, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/binding-stevens-seed-co-v-local-building-loan-assn-okla-1935.