Brennecke v. Smith

42 Misc. 2d 935, 249 N.Y.S.2d 602, 1964 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1782
CourtNew York County Courts
DecidedMay 11, 1964
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 42 Misc. 2d 935 (Brennecke v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York County Courts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brennecke v. Smith, 42 Misc. 2d 935, 249 N.Y.S.2d 602, 1964 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1782 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1964).

Opinion

Robert J. Trainor, J.

This is an appeal by the petitioner from a final order of the Justice’s Court, Town of Pelham, which dismissed a summary proceeding wherein the petitioner, as the alleged owner of the premises, sought to evict the respondent from said premises on the ground that the respondent was a mere licensee thereof whose license had been terminated. This is the second time the matter has been before this court on appeal. On the first occasion the Justice of the Peace had issued a final order awarding possession of the premises to the petitioner. That order was reversed for the reason that the nature of the occupancy of the respondent had not been established at the trial, and a new trial was ordered. The new trial resulted in the order referred to in the opening paragraph hereof.

William K. Smith, the respondent, and Margaret Cannon Smith were married on June 15, 1940. In 1948, after two children had been born to the couple, the respondent purchased the single-family dwelling at 658 Timpson Avenue, Pelham, New York, where two more children were born, making a total of four. In June of 1952, for some reason not disclosed in the record, the respondent invested his wife with title to the matrimonial domicile. What the consideration for this conveyance was, if any, does not appear. Sometime within the next 10 years difficulties arose between the husband and wife which, according to the record, had some connection with the wife’s drinking and resulted in her hospitalization on one or more occasions.

[936]*936Despite the fact that the wife frequently left the matrimonial abode, commencing in May, 1961, for varying periods of time, she never completely removed all of her personal possessions. According to her testimony at the trial she was in and out ” of the house between May of 1961 and February of 1963. During each of her absences from home, the four children continued to reside with the husband, as they still do.

The petitioner herein, Vivian D. Brennecke, had been a friend of Margaret Cannon Smith for a period of about 18 years, or since about 1945. 'She knew the family status of Mrs. 'Smith, as a mother and wife, and knew of the matrimonial difficulties the Smiths were having and, probably, the principal reason therefor.

On February 21, 1963, at a time when a mortgage on the matrimonial domicile was threatened with foreclosure, or was actually in process of foreclosure, Vivian D. Brennecke, the petitioner herein, paid off the mortgage and, in lieu of a satisfaction, took an assignment of the mortgage. Within a week thereafter and on February 27, 1963, Margaret Cannon Smith conveyed the mortgaged premises to the petitioner for a purported total consideration of $5,000, which was paid $500 at the closing, and $4,500 by the execution and delivery by the petitioner to Mrs. Smith of five promissory notes bearing interest at 4% per annum, one for $500 payable in August, 1963; one for $1,000 payable in November, 1963; one for $1,000 payable in February, 1964; one for $1,000 payable in May, 1964; and the final one for $1,000 payable in August, 1964. These notes were initially left in the custody of petitioner’s attorney. Later, it is said, they were delivered to Mrs. Smith. According to the proof, none of these has been paid. At the time of the alleged conveyance, the petitioner was fully aware of the fact that the premises were occupied by the husband and four children of her grantor. Assuming that the grantor has told the petitioner that the respondent was a tenant, or a squatter, or a mere licensee of the premises, did she make any inquiry of the true nature of the occupancy so as to constitute her a bona fide purchaser for value without notice of infirmities? Apparently she did not. ‘ ‘ In other words, where a purchaser of land has knowledge of any facts sufficient to put him on inquiry as to the existence of some right or some title in conflict with that which he is about to acquire, he is presumed either to have made the inquiry and ascertained the extent of such prior right, or to have been guilty of a degree of negligence equally fatal to his claim to be considered a bona fide purchaser ”. (Bosch, Beal Property Law and Practice [1962], § 1316.) Of course, [937]*937even if she made such inquiry, it could not have changed the nature of the occupancy.

The question which is squarely presented here is: Under the facts stated is the occupancy of the husband that of a mere licensee? I feel that this must be resolved upon its own facts and not by seeking to squeeze it into the mould of certain cases recited in the briefs submitted, i.e., Tausik v. Tausik; Matter of Cheek v. Salkind; Cardosanto v. Cardosanto (infra).

In Matter of Cheek v. Salkind (28 Misc 2d 828) the grantor of the husband of the respondent wife succeeded in removing the wife by summary proceedings. In that case it was proved that the husband and wife were legally separated under a judicial decree. Among other things, the decree made certain provisions for payments by the husband and occupancy of the premises by the wife, as long as the husband owned said premises. Upon learning that the husband contemplated selling the premises the wife sought an order from the court enjoining the sale which application was denied. The petitioner took title and, after proper notice, evicted the wife as a licensee. All this case held was: “a wife in possession under a judicial decree of separation providing that her right of occupancy is dependent upon her husband’s ownership is a licensee within the ambit of subdivision 8 of section 1411 of the Civil Practice Act, and that summary proceedings lie by the purchaser petitioner ” (p. 830).

In Cardosanto v. Cardosanto (15 Misc 2d 1001), the owner petitioner married Lamberto Cardosanto in 1927. They were legally separated in 1935. Years later, in 1956, Lamberto got a “ mail order ” Mexican divorce, and the same year he purported to marry the occupant. In 1954 Lamberto purchased the premises in controversy and lived there with the occupant until 1957 when he left, leaving the occupant in possession. Lamberto then conveyed the premises to the petitioner (who, for all that appears was still his wife) to satisfy certain alimony arrears. The petitioner then gave occupant notice to quit, as a licensee under subdivision 8 of section 1411 of the Civil Practice Act, and, upon appeal, petitioner was granted possession. Prom the court’s characterization of the divorce herein as a “mail order ’ ’ divorce, the premises were never a matrimonial domicile, and the status of the occupant was undoubtedly that of a licensee. This distinguishes the case from the instant one.

In the Tausik v. Tausik case the facts were these: The husband and wife decided to live separate and apart. It appears that the husband had an apartment, as did the wife, and the husband also owned a co-operative apartment. The wife wrote her husband a letter stating that although she decided to live apart [938]*938from him she would like to occupy the co-operative apartment until she found another place, and that -she would get out 11 as quickly as possible ”, in any case not later than two months; she even enclosed a check for $450 to cover the carrying charges. When she failed to vacate at the end of two months the husband instituted summary proceedings to evict her. The Municipal Court granted a final order, which was affirmed by the Appellate Term (21 Misc 2d 599) where Justice Hofstadter wrote a strong dissent.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
42 Misc. 2d 935, 249 N.Y.S.2d 602, 1964 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 1782, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brennecke-v-smith-nycountyct-1964.