Delucca v. Delucca

15 P.R. 352
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico·Decided June 8, 1909·No. No. 378·Published

Opinion

Mr. Justice Macleary

delivered the opinion of the court.

This snit was instituted, in the District Court of Ponce, seeking to annul a transfer of a half interest in a certain mortgage, from the minor heirs of Stephen Delncca to Domingo Delucca, the said transfer having been made, as alleged, by the mother of the said minors, gratuitously and without consideration, and in prejudice to the interests of the said heirs, and without being properly authorized by any competent judicial tribunal,- also to cancel the registration by the said transfer on the register of property, in Ponce, in so far, as it affects the half interest belonging to the plaintiffs; also to declare null the cancellation of said mortgage and the registration thereof as far as concerns said half interest; also declaring that all the registrations of sales, etc., made subsequently to the registration of the transfer aforesaid should be considered, as regards the half interest of the plaintiffs, as dominated by it and subject to it is a prior and superior incumbrance; also ordering the issuance of an order to the Registrar of Property of Ponce that he should cancel on his books the registrations of the transfers heretofore mentioned, and the cancellation of the said mortgage, in so far as it affects the half interest aforesaid and so forth; and making an alternative prayer that in case it should seem more just to the court it would adjudge the said Domingo Delucca to pay the plaintiffs the amount owing as it appears from the mortgage with interest thereon to date.

To the complaint there is attached as an exhibit a copy of the transfer mentioned.

[354]*354To this complaint the defendants made answer substantially as follows: pleading prescription; denying that the plaintiffs, Margarita and Ana Maria Delucca, are the only heirs of Stephen Delucca and admitting the other matters set out in the first paragraph; denying the second paragraph of the complaint and restating the facts mentioned therein; denying the statement in the third paragraph of the coihplaint to the effect that the $42,000, with interest, was paid to the person legally authorized to receive the same; admitting the allegations made in the fourth paragraph of the complaint and denying those of the fifth; denying the allegations made in the sixth paragraph of the complaint and restating the facts according to the views of defendants; admitting the allegations made in the seventh and eighth paragraphs and denying those made in the ninth and tenth paragraphs of the complaint ; admitting the death of Stephen Delucca and the heir-ship of the plaintiffs in a qualified and restricted manner; and finally alleging that all the defendants who had acquired title to the property or a part thereof or any real interest therein had done so by paying a reasonable consideration and in good faith, and by contracting with the persons who appeared from the records to be the owners thereof, and without having, either from the register or otherwise, any notice of the pretended rights of the plaintiffs in this suit; and praying that the complaint be dismissed with costs upon the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs demurred to the answer on the ground that the facts therein stated constituted no defense to their complaint ; and denied specifically the plea of prescription set up by the defendants.

Again on March 9,1908, the defendants filed a more formal answer which may be quoted as follows:

"The defendant Esteban Vidal y Rios appears in his own right and files his answer to the complaint presented in this case, alleging herein, but by sections, and in compliance with the requirements of the rule of that honorable court of October, 1903, the plea of prescription, and other pleadings.
[355]*355PLEA OP PRESCRIPTION.
“1st. Referring to the Mortgage Law, and in connection with the action brought by the plaintiffs, or, ‘action to cancel a cession of a mortgage credit, annulment of same, and cancellation of the inscriptions thereof made in the registry of property,’ in accordance with section 128 of the Code of Civil Procedure, this defendant alleges and opposes to the complaint, stating in general terms that the cause of action sought to be established has been extinguished by act of the law by virtue of the provisions of the Mortgage Law contained in sections 33 and 34 in reference to tona fide, of the subsequent owners of the estate, which, in this case now belongs to the defendant.
‘ ‘ 2d. In regard to the heritable rights of the plaintiffs this defendant alleges that even admitting for a moment that such action has ever existed the same has now prescribed because this defendant admits the third count of the complaint that the youngest of the plaintiffs, Margarita Delucca, was born on the 29th of August, 1880, and arrived at her majority on 29th of August, 1901; so that if she ever had any right it was at such day in the year 1901, according to the Civil Code, sections 1267 and 1268, for a term of four years, which expired on 29th August, 1905, to exercise such right to make claims as minor in regard to contracts executed by her with the intervention of her tutor, and she did not make any claim during such four years mentioned but now after three subsequent years.
OTHER PLEADINGS.
“1st. This defendant begins by stating in accordance with the requirements of the Code of Civil Procedure, section 110, and in view that the complaint has not been sworn to, that he has not sufficient knowledge or belief with regard to the matter to be able to answer to the several pleadings of the complaint ,and therefore files his general denial of the facts contained in the complaint.
“2d. With regard to the mortgage credit of $42,000 mentioned in the complaint, which was transferred by Mr. Domingo Delucca y Simonpietri to Mr. Esteban Delucca y Simonpietri, this defendant objects to the same and states that it was a simulated transfer, the cession of which was subsequently legally annulled.
“3d. The defendant alleges in opposition to the action brought by the plaintiffs that said plaintiffs do not, in reality, bring a precise or specific action, because it is requested in the prayer of their complaint that the court grant their request or else that Mr. Domingo [356]*356Delucca be condemned to pay the plaintiffs a sum equal to tbe amount of that part of the credit which is being claimed, and therefore that the action sought to be established is ambiguous and uncertain. And he prays the honorable court to please declare that the law and the facts are in favor of the defendant and against the plaintiffs; and also to dismiss the complaint imposing the costs of this suit upon the plaintiffs.”

To this in time the plaintiffs demurred in the terms following :

“The plaintiffs appear in this action and file their demurrers to the answer made by defendant Esteban Vidal y Rios.
“1st. The answer of the defendant does not state sufficient facts to make a good opposition to the complaint.
“2d. Said answer is ambiguous, unintelligible and doubtful;
“A. Because it contains matters of law.
“B. Because it makes inferences and reasonings which cannot be made in a pleading of this kind.
“0.

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Delucca v. Delucca, 15 P.R. 352 (prsupreme 1909).

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