Carlin v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America

1935 OK 1118, 52 P.2d 721, 175 Okla. 398, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 905
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedNovember 19, 1935
DocketNo. 26103.
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 1935 OK 1118 (Carlin v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America) 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
Carlin v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America, 1935 OK 1118, 52 P.2d 721, 175 Okla. 398, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 905 (Okla. 1935).

Opinion

GIBSON, J.

The plaintiffs in error will he referred to herein as defendants, and the defendant in error as plaintiff. The appeal involves the order of the trial court sustaining plaintiff’s demurrer to defendants’ petition after term time to vacate judgment. The original action from which such judgment resulted was commenced by plaintiff in the district court of Tulsa county to foreclose. a real estate mortgage executed by defendants.

After certain rulings of the court upon the sufficiency of defendants' answer to the petition to foreclose the mortgage, the answer stood as an unverified general denial. The issues were thus framed when the cause was duly assigned for trial on the jury docket for the 18th day of November, .1932. Default judgment was taken against defendants on November 10, 1932. Defendants thereafter filed their petition to vacate the judgment. A portion of said petition follows :

“* * * on tlae 10th day of November, 1932, a default judgment was entered against the defendants herein; that said judgment was procured in benalf of the plaintiff herein, irregularly and by-the practice of fraud upon said defendants herein by said plaintiff, to such an extent that the defendants herein were, through unavoidable casualty and misfortune, prevented from defending said action in the following particulars, to wit: The said plaintiff herein procured said action to be set for trial by special order for the 18th day of November, 1932, and pursuant to that order, the said cause was placed on the docket printed in the Tulsa Daily Legal News, a daily newspaper' printed in Tulsa county, Okla., 'and set for hearing November 18, 1932, which said docketing and publishing is not provided for by the procedural statutes of the state of Oklahoma, hut the district courts of Tulsa county, Okla., recognize the same as official, and by reason thereof the dockets published in the said Tulsa Daily Legal News are used by the district courts of said Tulsa county, Okla., and the business of said courts, including the trial of cases, is predicated thereon, and litigants in said courts and their attorneys are, by reason of said facts, entitled to rely on said settings; that no action was taken; or had in cause on November 8, 1932, by the court, although the defendants were ready to try the same; that notwithstanding the fact that said cause of action was set for trial on November 18, 1932, by order of this court as disclosed by the minutes of the appeamnce docket of the court as well as by the docket published in the Tulsa Daily Legal News, the plaintiff in said action surreptitiously appeared before the court on the 10th day of November, 1932, and in the absence of and without notice to, the defendants in said action and without their knowledge obtained what is styled as a default judgment. * * *” : J

In their petition the defendants further allege that they have a valid defense to the foreclosure action in that the plaintiff is a foreign corporation without an officer resident within the state; that the plaintiff is organized as an insurance company and as such is qualified to do business in this state in accordance with the provisions of section 0683. snbd 4, O. O. S. 1921 (amend. S. L. 1925. chapter 181, sec. 10474, subd. 4, O. S. 1931) ; that notwithstanding its purpose, its business within this state largely consists of loaning money and that it has not qualified under the provisions of the statutes in such respect, .and was therefore not entitled to bring and maintain said action at the time of the filing thereof. As a further defense it is alleged that plaintiff charged and collected usurious interest on the note and mortgage.

Defendants are proceeding under section *400 556 and subdivisions '4 and 7 thereof, O'. S. 1931, which are as follows:

“The district court shall have power to vacate or modify its own judgments or orders at or after the term at which such judgment or order was made: * * *
“Fourth. For fraud, practiced by the successful party, in obtaining the judgment or order. * * *
“Seventh. For unavoidable casualty or misfortune, preventing the party from prosecuting o-r defending.”

The petition to vacate is filed by authority of the provisions of section 558, O. S. 1931, which section requires that such petition be verified, and shall set forth the judgment, and the grounds upon which it is sought to be vacated or modified, and the defense to the action.

At the hearing on said petition, the first duty of a defendant petitioner is to establish sufficient grounds, as authorized in section 556, supra, for vacating the judgment (sec. 559, O. S. 1931). The burden is then upon the defendant to- establish and have adjudicated his alleged defense to the action. This burden arises by virtue of the provisions of section 560, O. S. 1931, to th© effect that a judgment shall not be vacated on motion or petition until it is adjudged that there is a valid defense to the action on which the judgment is rendered. This rule is stated in th© second paragraph of the syllabus in Gavin v. Heath, 125 Okla. 118, 256 P. 745, as follows:

“When a defendant against whom judgment has been rendered files a petition at a subsequent term of court to vacate the same, the provision therefor set out in section 810, Oomp. St. 1921, should first be shown as required by section 813, then the burden is on him to establish 'and have adjudged his alleged defense to the action. Failing in either the trial court errs in vacating (he judgment against which the attack is dil eetefl.”

Merely pleading and establishing some of the grounds authorized in section 556, supra, for the vacation of a judgment is not sufficient to warrant the vacation thereof. This court has uniformly held that a valid defense or cause of action is a condition precedent to the vacation of a judgment upon any grounds, except the lack of jurisdiction. In re Bruner’s Estate, 125 Okla. 101, 256 P. 722, and numerous authorities there cited. And the court must adjudge that such defense or cause of action is prima facie valid. Oklahoma Ry. Co. v. Holt, 161 Okla. 165, 17 P. (2d) 955.

The petition must allege sufficient facts constituting, the grounds relied upon under section 556, and in addition thereto.must set up sufficient facts showing a valid defense as provided in section 558, supra. Failure in either instance so to do renders the petition fatally defective. In such case said petition may be properly reached by general demurrer. Provins v. Lovi, 6 Okla. 94, 50 P. 81; Thompson v. Caddo County Bank, 15 Okla. 615, 82 P. 927.

We are of the opinion that the defendants’ • petition in the present case alleges sufficient facts constituting the grounds assigned by defendants under section 556, supra, but unless the petition alleges facts sufficient to constitute a valid defense to the foreclosure action, the same having been filed after the term at which the judgment was rendered (Joplin Furniture Co. v. Bank, 151 Okla. 358, 3 P. [2d] 173), the petition is fatally defective and the demurrer was properly sustained. Provins v. Lovi, supra.

Defendants contend that the plaintiff, although qualified to do an insurance business in Oklahoma (sec. 16474, subd. 4, O. S. 1931), was not qualified to loan money in the state, in that it has failed to comply with the provisions of section 9738, O. S.

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Bluebook (online)
1935 OK 1118, 52 P.2d 721, 175 Okla. 398, 1935 Okla. LEXIS 905, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carlin-v-prudential-ins-co-of-america-okla-1935.