Brisco v. Minah Consol. Min. Co.

82 F. 952, 1897 U.S. App. LEXIS 2816
CourtU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Montana
DecidedMay 17, 1897
DocketNo. 235
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 82 F. 952 (Brisco v. Minah Consol. Min. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Montana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brisco v. Minah Consol. Min. Co., 82 F. 952, 1897 U.S. App. LEXIS 2816 (circtdmt 1897).

Opinion

KNOWLES, J.

The first point presented for consideration in this case is the right to a vendor’s lien. Plaintiffs contracted to sell and convey to defendants certain quartz lode mining- claims named and' described as the “Minah Lot 41, East End,” “Minah Lot 49, West End,” “Homestake,” “The Annie B,” “The Hillsdale,” “Iron Dollar,” "(told Cross,” and “Iowa,” situate in Colorado mining district, Jefferson county, Mont. The contract of sale recites: “Whereas, the first parties are the owners and in possession of certain mining ground consisting of quartz lode mining claims situate near Wickes, in the county of Jefferson, stare of Montana.” Then, after providing for the examination of the said mining claims, it is provided that the first parties, the plaintiffs above named, shall deposit in the Second National Bank of Helena, Mont., title deeds and abstracts showing full and complete title, free and clear of incumbrance, to said property, except a mortgage for $35,000, held by the Montana Smelting Company. It is provided that this mortgage shall be paid out of the first payment on said property, which was to be £20,000 sterling. The payments of stock are to be made to the parties jointly. It is also provided that the second party to this contract, which is tlie defendant Minah Consolidated Mining Company, Limited, shall make a contract to the effect “that the proceeds of the mine or mines sold shall be placed in the Second National Bank of Helena, Montana, in trust, and in the name of E. D. Edgerton, president, as trustee for each and both of the parties hereto, 10,000 pounds sterling, and on receipt of that sum or amount, either from the proceeds of the mine or otherwise, if deposited for that purpose, the said bank, by E. D. Edgerton, president, shall pay the same to the first parties.” Of this £10,000 sterling plaintiffs admit that they have received the sum of $4,224.80, and that defendant is entitled to a credit thereon of the sum of $7,621.35. The [954]*954lien is claimed on all of the property convened for the balance, claimed to be $54,912. There was no price named as the value of or consideration of any one of these mining claims. They were all conveyed for so many pounds sterling and for so much stock. The facts, however, appear to be that the title to all of said mining claims was not in all of the defendants jointly. The plaintiff Annie E. Briscoe held the title to the Iron Dollar quartz lode mining claim known in the surveyor general’s office as “Survey No. 2,027,” and “Lot No. 94,” being a portion of township 7 N., range 4 W. She also owned the Annie B. quartz lode mining claim, known in the surveyor’s office as “Survey No. 2,064, Lot 96,” being a portion of township 7, range 4 W. The Minah Consolidated Mining Company held the title’ to and conveyed to the Minah Consolidated Mining Company, Limited, the Minah Lot 44, East End, Homestake, Hillside,' and Iowa lodes. Annie E. Briscoe, John 0. Briscoe, and James E. Sites conveyed to said last-named company, the defendant herein, the Minah Lot 49, West End. The several deeds conveying this property are either deeds of general or special warranty, and all are, at least, deeds of grant, bargain, and sale. The defendant the Minah Consolidated Mining Company, Limited, of London, England, accepted these deeds, and went into the possession of all of said property thereunder.

I do not know that the courts of Montana have decided the question as to whether or not, in this state, a vendor’s lien exists in favor of one who conveys real estate for the unpaid purchase price thereof. In Bom. Eq. Jur. § 1249, it is stated:

“It is a firmly established doctrine of tlie English equity that the grantor of land who has sold and conveyed and delivered possession to the grantee, as well as the vendor in a contract for the sale and purchase of land who has delivered possession to his vendee, retains an equitable lien upon the land for the unpaid purchase money, although he has taken no distinct agreement or separate security for it, and even though the deed recites .that the consideration has been fully paid.”

This rule is maintained, also, in Story, Eq. Jur. § 1218.

In the case of Cordova v. Hood, 17 Wall. 1, 5, the supreme court, speaking through Justice Strong, said:

“It is a general principle that a vendor of land, though he has made an absolute conveyance by deed, and though the, consideration is in the instrument expressed to be paid, has an equitable lien for the unpaid purchase money, unless there has been an express or an implied waiver of it.”

In the case of Gold Mines v. Seymour, 153 U. S. 509, 14 Sup. Ct. 842, the supreme court again said, speaking through Justice Brewer,

“* * * Such a lien is one which appeals strongly to the favorable consideration of a court of equity.”

In the case of Chilton v. Braiden’s Adm’x, 2 Black, 458, the supreme court said:

“When one person has got the estate of another, he ought not, in conscience, to be allowed to keep it without paying the consideration. It is in this principle that courts of equity proceed as between vendor and vendee.”

Considering these views, it ought to be held that a vendor’s lien exists for the unpaid purchase money of real estate conveyed to a vendee, and of which real estate the vendee has received possession.

[955]*955It is coni ended, however, that in this case there can be no lien because the contract of sale was for a sum in solido, and the plaintiffs owned the properly conveyed in severalty; that a vendor’s lien attaches only in favor of the person making the conveyance; and that the amount of the lien on the property each conveys should be specific and definite. In other words, Annie E. Briscoe cannot have a, lien upon the mining claims conveyed by the Minah Consolidated Mining Company, and said company cannot have a lien upon the claims conveyed by Annie E. Briscoe. It must be confessed the point, here presented is not without difficulty. It .should be remembered, however, tha t the contract to convey the several mining claims named was a joint contract, and that the sum to be paid was a sum in solido for all the claims named. In the case of Loomis v. Railroad Co., 3 McCrary, 489, 17 Fed. 301, it was held that:

“A person who has purchased real estate, and paid tor it, and has a right to a deed in Ms own name, and who sells the same to a purchaser, and causes conveyance to he made direct to such purchaser by the party from whom he has purchased, lias a right in equity to a vendor’s lien for the purchase money.”

There is nothing in this case to preclude the presumption that all of these claims were held by Ihe parties to the conveyances jointly. It should also be noticed that the quotations from Pomeroy’s Equity Jurisprudence and Story’s Equity Jurisprudence state that a person who contracts to sell land, and delivers the premises to his ven-dee, is entitled to a vendor’s lieu. It is recognized by the contract of sale in this case and by this action that the parties plaintiff are jointly entitled to the unpaid purchase money for ihe claims sold. In many of ihe states a claim for unpaid purchase money for land sold can be assigned, and this assignment carries the right to the vendor's lien for such purchase money. Pom. Eq. Jur. § 1252.

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Bluebook (online)
82 F. 952, 1897 U.S. App. LEXIS 2816, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brisco-v-minah-consol-min-co-circtdmt-1897.