Brimie v. Benson

216 Ill. App. 474, 1920 Ill. App. LEXIS 352
Appellate Court of Illinois·Decided February 11, 1920·No. Gen. No. 24,692·Published

Opinion

Mr. Justice O’Connor

delivered the opinion of the court.

Paul K. Brimie filed his bill of complaint against Olga Rohne and Mary Benson, praying that certain deeds of conveyance, absolute on their face, be decreed to be mortgages; that an accounting be had between him and the defendant Benson; that she be decreed to hold certain real estate in trust for complainant; that she convey it to him, and for general relief. Olga Rohne was defaulted. Mary Benson filed a plea which was held bad, and the defendant having elected to stand by it, the bill was taken as confessed. The plea averred in substance that complainant was not indebted to her on account of moneys she had advanced for complainant’s brother, and that complainant did not promise in writing, nor was there any note or memorandum in writing signed by complainant or any other person by him duly authorized, that he would pay his brother’s indebtedness. The case was heard in open court and a decree entered finding the deeds to be mortgages, and on an accounting it was found that there was due to complainant from defendant $2,029.81, to reverse which defendant, Benson, prosecutes this appeal.

There is no certificate of the evidence in the record.

The bill alleged and the decree found that on July 8, 1909, complainant was the owner in fee simple of a certain lot; that on that date he conveyed it by quitclaim deed to Olga Rohne; that while the conveyance was absolute in terms it was intended to be only security for $150 which, complainant owed Rohne; that the deed was delivered and recorded; that afterwards, November 9, 1909, complainant gave other security to Rohne, and on that date at the request and direction of complainant, Rohne conveyed the property to Mary Benson by quitclaim deed which was delivered and afterwards recorded; that this conveyance, though absolute in terms, was intended only as security to secure Benson from any loss by reason of her having become surety for complainant’s brother in the sum of $800; that complainant’s brother afterwards paid this indebtedness; that afterwards complainant agreed with defendant Benson that if she would become surety for complainant’s brother for another indebtedness of $500, she might continue to hold the real estate as security; that afterwards Mary Benson became surety for complainant’s brother and was compelled to pay $400 as such surety; that she also paid a further sum of $100 at complainant’s request, and paid an incumbrance on the property and other taxes and assessments ; that on July 7, 1914, Mary Benson, in violation of her agreement with the complainant and without his knowledge or consent, conveyed the premises by warranty deed to Malvina Deutsche; that the latter was a bona fide purchaser of the property. The decree further found the amount due Mary Benson for payments made by her, with interest thereon to the date of the conveyance by her, viz.: July 7, 1914, was $902.19. It was also found that the fair cash market value of the real estate at the time it was conveyed by Mary Benson was $2,600; that'from this the defendant Benson was entitled to deduct the $902.19, leaving a balance due from her to complainant of $1,697.81, on which the court allowed interest at 5 per cent from July 7,1914, to the entry of the decree, June 27,1918.

It is said that a deed absolute on its face cannot be decreed a mortgage unless there is a debt due from the grantor to the grantee, and since there is no allega.tion in the bill and no finding in the decree that complainant ever promised to pay defendant, the deeds cannot be held to be mortgages. In Thackaberry v. Johnson, 228 Ill. 149, it was held that it was not necessary that the consideration move from the grantor to the grantee to warrant a foreclosure of the mortgage. In that case Johnson loaned $2,400 to Olson, the payment of which .was secured by a mortgage or trust deed from Thackaberry on the latter’s property. On a bill filed to foreclose the mortgage, the court said (p. 154): “It is said by the appellants that there was no consideration moving from appellee to Milton L. Thackaberry, which will support said second trust deed upon the Cook county property so far as it secures the payment of the $2,400 note of Olson. The consideration for the trust deed was the loan of the $2,400 by the appellee to William F. Olson. It was not necessary that a consideration for the trust deed move directly from appellee to Milton L. Thackaberry. ’ ’ Since it is alleged in the bill and found by the decree that the conveyance was made as security, the court properly held the conveyance to be in the nature of a mortgage. Eev. St. ch. 95, sec. 12 (J. & A. 7587).

Complaint is also made that the court erred in decreeing that defendant was liable for the market value of the property at the time of the sale by her, and that if liable at all, it should be only for the amount she received for the property when she sold it. Since the decree found that the property was conveyed by defendant in violation of her agreement, the law is that she should be held for the full value of the property as of the date of the sale unless it appears that she sold it for more, in which case the amount of the sale should govern. Gibbs v. Meserve, 12 Ill. App. 613; Enos v. Sutherland, 11 Mich. 538.

It is further urged that- the decree is wrong as it is not in accordance with the prayer of the bill; th.at the bill prayed that an accounting be had and that defendant be decreed to convey to complainant the property she received in exchange for her property, after allowing the amount due her. We think it clear that the relief granted does not follow the prayer of the bill. But there was also a prayer for general relief, and in such case the court may grant such relief under the general prayer as the allegations and proof demand, though the prayer for specific relief be denied. Casstevens v. Casstevens, 227 Ill. 547.

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

Brimie v. Benson, 216 Ill. App. 474, 1920 Ill. App. LEXIS 352 (Ill. Ct. App. 1920).

216 Ill. App. 474 (Brimie v. Benson) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

Enos v. Sutherland
11 Mich. 538 (Michigan Supreme Court, 1863)
Keady v. White
48 N.E. 314 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1897)
Smyth v. Stoddard
67 N.E. 980 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1903)
Whittemore v. People
81 N.E. 427 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1907)
Casstevens v. Casstevens
81 N.E. 709 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1907)
Thackaberry v. Johnson
81 N.E. 828 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1907)
Golden v. Cervenka
116 N.E. 273 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1917)
Gibbs v. Meserve
12 Ill. App. 613 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1883)