Denton v. Ontario County Nat. Bank

18 N.Y.S. 38, 44 N.Y. St. Rep. 33, 63 Hun 625
New York Supreme Court·Decided January 22, 1892·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

Macohber, J.

This action is the ordinary one for the foreclosure of a mortgage and for the sale of the mortgaged premises. The mortgage was executed by Letitia G. Durand to the plaintiff to secure the payment of the sum of $1,060, with interest, on the 12th day of April, 1888. ' The land consists of 33 acres situate in the town of Canandaigua, N. Y. The execution of the mortgage and the non-payment of the same being undisputed, the plaintiff clearly made & prima facie case for a judgment of foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged premises, in pursuance of s.ection 1626 of the Code of Civil Procedure. But the defendant the Ontario County National Bank, which is the only party defending, sets forth in its answer certain allegations, which have been supplemented by evidence, from which the learned trial justice has denied to the plaintiff the right to foreclose the mortgage, and to have a sale of the mortgaged premises, but has granted to him the privilege of redeeming the land covered by the mortgage upon terms which hereinafter appear. The defendant’s rights depend upon the ownership of these 33 acres, and of another tract of 175 acres, and upon the rights growing out of the incumbrances thereon-under the title of one Luman M. Durand, as it existed on the 1st day of May,. 1886. On the last-named day, Durand and his wife executed to H. L. Lansing, as trustee, two mortgages, covering the entire lands, consisting of 208 acres, one in the sum of $6,000, and the other in the sum of $2,000, and these mortgages were made equal liens upon the lands. A previous mortgage of-$5,000 had been given upon the 175 acres alone, which bore date the 11th day of April, 1878, and which was subsequently assigned to the defendant the Ontario County National Bank. The lien of this mortgage, however, was postponed to that of the $6,000 and the $2,000 mortgages by agreement executed by the bank after the assignment. The $5,000 mortgage was subsequently foreclosed by this bank, and the land covered by it, namely, the 175 acres, was conveyed to it March 3,1888, by the referee appointed to make the sale in the foreclosure. Luman M. Durand conveyed the 33 acres of land to [40] his wife, Letitia G. Durand, by deed bearing date January 24, 1888, and recorded January 25,1888. On the 12th day of April, 1888, Letitia G. Durand, then the owner of the 33 acres, executed to the plaintiff the mortgage in question. The Lansing mortgage of $2,000 was foreclosed in January, 1889, and the mortgaged premises, namely, the whole 208 acres, were, by the deed of the referee in that suit, conveyed to the defendant the Ontario County National Bank by deed dated the 2d day of March, 1889, and recorded two days thereafter. There-upon the bank went into possession of the whole of the premises. But the plaintiff in this action was not made a party to the foreclosure of the $2,000 Lansing mortgage. He subsequently, in the month of June, 1889, brought this action for the purpose of foreclosing his mortgage of $1,060 upon the 33-acre tract. It was claimed upon the trial by the plaintiff’s counsel that the $2,000 Lansing mortgage became merged in the referee’s deed, and that consequently the bank acquired title to the premises subject to the payment of the plaintiff’s mortgage. This view was not adopted by the learned trial justice, but, on the contrary, while holding that the plaintiff’s mortgage was unaffected by that foreclosure, yet, under the circumstances disclosed, he held that the plaintiff did not have the right to a judgment of foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged premises. The learned justice, with ample authority to support him, also decided that the plaintiff’s right to redeem was in no way affected by the foreclosure of the $2,000 Lansing mortgage. But he further held, and, as we think, properly, that, by the foreclosure and sale of the last-named mortgage, the plaintiff acquired no greater rights or equities than he possessed before that foreclosure. The court thereupon proceeded to adjudge, inasmuch as all the necessary parties' were before the court in this action, and the pleadings sufficient for that purpose, that the plaintiff might redeem the premises, within a time named, "from the lien of the $2,000 Lansing mortgage; that, in default of such redemption, his rights, and of all persons claiming under him, in the mortgaged premises, should be extinguished. On the whole, after considering the reasons stated by the learned justice, and the authorities discussed by him, namely, Gage v. Brewster, 31 N. Y. 217; Peabody v. Roberts, 47 Barb. 91; Salmon v. Allen, 11 Hun, 29, we are inclined to think that the action may thus be turned into one of redemption of the mortgaged premises,notwithstanding the recent decision in the case of Bigelow v. Davol, (Sup.) 16 N. Y. Supp. 646. .

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Denton v. Ontario County Nat. Bank, 18 N.Y.S. 38, 44 N.Y. St. Rep. 33, 63 Hun 625 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1892).

18 N.Y.S. 38 (Denton v. Ontario County Nat. Bank) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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