Courshon v. Mauroner-Craddock, Inc.

219 So. 2d 254, 1968 La. App. LEXIS 5091
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 8, 1968
DocketNo. 7292
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 219 So. 2d 254 (Courshon v. Mauroner-Craddock, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Courshon v. Mauroner-Craddock, Inc., 219 So. 2d 254, 1968 La. App. LEXIS 5091 (La. Ct. App. 1968).

Opinion

REID, Judge.

Jack R. Courshon, plaintiff and appellee, foreclosed, under executory process, on certain property owned by Mauroner-Crad-dock, Inc. Petitioner alleged he was the owner and holder for valuable consideration of four promissory notes made and subscribed by Mauroner-Craddock, Inc. to the order of Royal American Life Insurance Company for a total of $19,568.-00, together with interest and attorney’s fees; that said notes were secured by one certain construction mortgage note made and subscribed by Mauroner-Craddock, Inc., dated December 6, 1965, in the amount of $23,500.00, payable on demand, to the order of “Itself” and identified with an act of construction mortgage dated the same date and filed for record at 4:30 P.M. on the same date. Also on December 6, 1965, Royal American Life Insurance Company assigned said note and mortgage to Jack R. Courshon, as Nominee of the Trustees of First Mortgage Investors, a Massachusetts Business Trust, which said assignment was filed for record at 2:36 P.M. on July 1, 1966. Pursuant to writ of seizure and sale the property in question was seized and sold and plaintiff, Jack R. Courshon, was the purchaser of the lot and improvements thereon. Subsequently certain fur-nishers of labor and materials for the construction of the building on the lot intervened in the suit claiming privileges outranking the claims of the plaintiff. The intervenors claim their liens take priority over the claims of plaintiff for two reasons : First, that the plaintiff failed to plead that the mortgage held by plaintiff had been executed by the defendant and recorded and the note delivered to plaintiff before any work or labor was begun or materials furnished or before recordation of a building contract as required under R.S. 9:4801(C), and second, that the purported construction mortgage note sued upon as collateral for the hand notes does not qualify as a construction mortgage entitled to priority over materialmen’s liens in accordance with R.S. 9:4801(C).

Plaintiff filed a rule directed to all lien holders and mortgage holders to show cause why plaintiff’s mortgage should not be declared to be superior in rank to all other liens and claims and why his mortgage should not be superior in rank to all other liens and claims and why his mortgage should not be paid in preference and priority to all other claims and the liens canceled from record insofar as the property in question is concerned.

Defendants in rule and appellees allege the trial court erred (1) in holding that the mortgage of plaintiff primed the mate-rialmen’s liens under the facts as presented in the case, (2) in holding that the simultaneous or pre-advancement of money under [255]*255a construction mortgage, to pay a portion of the purchase price of the properties, upon which the construction was to take place, did not prejudice the rights of intervenors as materialmen lien holders and (3) in not finding that the “construction mortgage” holder had lost any precedence or priority it may ordinarily have over mate-rialmen liens under the provisions of R.S. 4801 Sub-section “C” by virtue of the simultaneous or prior advancement of money thereunder to mortgagor for the purpose of paying a portion of the purchase price of the property and commitment charges made by mortgagee, (4) in failing to hold that suppliers or furnishers of materials are entitled to rely upon the public records in contracting, agreeing, and supplying such materials and that any deviation from the provisions of the recorded instruments by the parties thereto, such as the advancement of monies as set forth in specification of error No. 3 would cause the mortgage to be subordinate to such materialman liens, (5) in holding that the mortgagee was not obligated or required to advance the full amount as represented by the “construction mortgage” under the facts and evidence presented in this case.

It was stipulated between counsel that the liens that were filed by the defendants in rule were correct as to the amount claimed ; that they were duly recorded as shown on the mortgage certificate; that proper notice was given to Mauroner-Craddock, Inc.; and that there was no question as to the delivery of the materials involved by the lienholders to the particular lot.

Appellants attack the validity of the mortgage in question as not being a valid “construction mortgage” in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 9:4801(C) which reads as follows:

“C. When a mortgage note has been executed by the owner of the immovable for the purpose of securing advances to be made in the future, and the mortgage has been recorded and the note delivered to the lender before any work or labor has begun or material been furnished, or before the recordation of a building contract, the amount of the advances made thereafter shall be deemed secured by the mortgage in precedence to and with priority over any of the claims had under the privileges conferred by Sub-Section A of this Section, except as stated in SubSection D hereof.”

Louisiana Ready-Mix Company, Inc., one of the intervenors, filed an exception to plaintiff in rule’s unauthorized use of summary procedure for the reason that ex-ceptor had previously filed a petition of intervention which had not been answered by plaintiff in rule and plaintiff’s attempted use of summary procedure seeks to have exceptor’s lien canceled prior to trial on the merits of exceptor’s intervention. The exception was tried and for oral reasons assigned was overruled. Mid-South Door Company, Inc. and United Insulation Company filed an exception of no cause of action on the grounds that plaintiff in rule failed to allege the balance due on his mortgage foreclosed on and failed to allege the amount of the bid at the Sheriff’s sale of the property and the fact that the bid price was less than the balance due on plaintiff in rule’s mortgage. The exception was tried and for oral reasons assigned was overruled.

The case was tried on the rule to show cause and on the petitions of intervention and the judgment of the court was that the claims of plaintiff were superior to the claims of the intervenors insofar as they cover claims for materials furnished in connection with the construction, and to that extent the rule nisi issued on the petition of plaintiff was made absolute, and the liens and encumbrances filed by the inter-venors were ordered cancelled to that extent, and that the claims of defendants in rule for labor were superior in rank to the mortgage of plaintiff in rule.

Defendants in rule applied for and obtained an order of appeal.

Prior to the oral argument of this case, before this Court, appellants filed an Exception of No Cause or Right of Action [256]*256which was based in general upon certain alleged defects in form concerning the original foreclosure; that is, the petition failed to allege or disclose any authority, in authentic form or by private act, for the plaintiff to represent the present holders of the notes; that two of the notes were payable to the American Bank & Trust Company and they contain no endorsement or transfer of rights under the notes by-the said bank; that there was no evidence of authority in authentic form or private act authorizing one Ralph Mc-Collister to act for the Royal American Life Insurance Company in endorsing and transferring the hand notes sued upon and that the said mortgage notes and/or hand notes were not attached or made a part of the petition in plaintiff’s suit for execu-tory process.

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Related

Courshon v. Mauroner-Craddock, Inc.
219 So. 2d 257 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1968)

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Bluebook (online)
219 So. 2d 254, 1968 La. App. LEXIS 5091, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/courshon-v-mauroner-craddock-inc-lactapp-1968.