Engelland v. LeBeau

680 S.W.2d 435, 1984 Mo. App. LEXIS 4316
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedNovember 7, 1984
DocketNos. 45072, 45466
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 680 S.W.2d 435 (Engelland v. LeBeau) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Engelland v. LeBeau, 680 S.W.2d 435, 1984 Mo. App. LEXIS 4316 (Mo. Ct. App. 1984).

Opinion

GAERTNER, Presiding Judge.

Caldwell Paint Manufacturing Company (Caldwell) and Mercantile Mortgage Company (Mercantile) appeal from a judgment in an interpleader action which disposed of a 1.26 acre parcel. The judgment is affirmed as modified.

Caldwell contends the trial court erred in: (1) reforming the deed of trust to include real estate excluded in the legal description in the instrument, (2) in purporting to adjudicate title to real estate without allegedly describing the real estate or the instruments in sufficient detail; and (3) in rendering what purports to be a final judgment without allegedly considering all the issues before it. Mercantile’s brief is defective because the points relied on do not comply with Rule 84.04(d) and it will be considered ex gratia only for its argument that its lien is prior to Caldwell’s.

Gus and Lavaughn Engelland, husband and wife, initiated the present interpleader action by tendering into court the disputed 1.26 acre parcel of land. Named as defendants were Ron and Gail LeBeau, husband and wife; Gerald and Burnadette Stark, husband and wife; First State Bank of Union (Bank); Caldwell; Mercantile; and Mark Twain State Bank, which was later dismissed from the lawsuit.

The Engellands inherited a forty-acre tract of land in Franklin County from Gus’. father. Later, the Engellands purchased an adjacent 1.26 acre parcel from Gus’ uncle. The smaller parcel was improved with a house in which the Engellands lived.

On June 6, 1973, the Engellands conveyed by warranty deed their property, which included “42 acres, more or less,” to the LeBeaus; however, the 1.26 acre parcel was expressly excepted from the conveyance. In order to purchase the property the LeBeaus obtained a loan from Bank, which received a deed of trust to secure the loan. The 1.26 acre was also excluded from the deed of trust.

The LeBeaus apparently fell upon hard times. Mercantile obtained a judgment from the Franklin County Circuit Court against the LeBeaus for $3,420.00 plus costs on January 7, 1977. Mark Twain State Bank obtained a judgment against the LeBeaus from the St. Louis County Circuit Court, but summary judgment was granted to dismiss Mark Twain State Bank because it failed to register its judgment in Franklin County. Caldwell obtained a judgment on April 28, 1977 against the LeBeaus from St. Louis County Circuit Court which was registered in Franklin County.

Meanwhile, Ron LeBeau gave his sister and brother-in-law, the Starks, an option to buy the house and fifteen acres, with a closing date in July, 1977. The LeBeaus then attempted to assign their interests in [437]*437the parcel to the Starks by various written assignments in June and July of 1977.

Gail LeBeau died on February 19, 1978. Caldwell and Mercantile garnished the En-gelland’s record interest in the 1.26 acre tract. The Engellands disclaim any interest in this parcel and are content to let the defendants fight over it. Bank cross-claimed against its fellow defendants, claiming that the exclusion of the 1.26 acre tract from the Engelland to LeBeau warranty deed and from the deed of trust was the result of mutual mistake by the parties to those instruments. The trial court reformed the warranty deed and deed of trust to include the 1.26 acres.

Caldwell’s first point is that the trial court erred in reforming the deed of trust because Bank failed to prove by clear, cogent and convincing evidence that the description in the instrument was the result of a mutual mistake. “[T]he decree or judgment of the trial court will be sustained by the appellate court unless there is no substantial evidence to support it, unless it is against the weight of the evidence, unless it erroneously declares the law, or unless it erroneously applies the law.” Murphy v. Carron, 536 S.W.2d 30, 32 [1-3] (Mo. banc 1976).

The burden of proof is upon the party seeking reformation to show by clear, cogent and convincing evidence: (1) a preexisting agreement between the parties to describe the tract in accordance with the proposed reformation; (2) the mistake; and (3)the mutuality of the mistake. Ethridge v. Perryman, 363 S.W.2d 696, 698 [1-3] (Mo.1963).

Ron LeBeau testified that he intended to give Bank a security interest in a house and forty-two acres. He also testified that he intended to give the bank all the property which he acquired from the Engellands.

Bank, in its commitment letter to Mr. LeBeau, stated, “We hereby agree to finance $32,500.00 on your purchase of 43 acres and house.” In addition, Bank appraised the land at $20,000.00 and the value of the buildings at $22,500.00 the day before the commitment letter, thus leading to an inference that Bank intended to accept as security both the unimproved 40 acres and the improved 1.26 acres. The evidence thus establishes a pre-existing agreement between Bank and LeBeaus to include the 1.26 acre parcel in the deed of trust.

The elements of mistake and mutuality of mistake are also present. Mr. LeBeau never became aware that the 1.26 acre parcel was excluded until the morning when Bank began to foreclose on the property. Bank required the LeBeaus to insure the property.

A thorough review of the record leads us to conclude that the parties to the sale of the two parcels intended the Engellands to sell the entire property to the LeBeaus, with the Bank providing most of the purchase money in exchange for a note and deed of trust of all the property. Point I is denied.

Caldwell’s next point is that the trial court’s decree is insufficient to reform the deeds because neither the realty nor the instruments are described with sufficient clarity. The relevant portion of the decree reads as follows:

The tender into Court by Plaintiffs En-gellands of the 1.26 acres is accepted and the equitable ownership of that land as described in the Petition is now declared to be in Gerald K. Stark and Bernadette Stark, subject to the bare legal ownership held by Thomas J. Briegel, as Trustee under the deed of trust executed by the LeBeaus on June 4, 1973, the equitable security interest held by First State Bank of Union to the extent of its loan under the same deed of trust and the inferior judgment liens of Caldwell Paint Manufacturing Company, Inc. and Mercantile Mortgage Company.

A decree which affects title to real estate should describe the land in question with certainty so that the description will support a later conveyance of the property. Tripp v. Harryman, 613 S.W.2d 943, 951 [14] (Mo.App.1981). Caldwell cites Underwood v. Cave, 176 Mo. 1, 75 S.W. 451 [438]*438(1903), where the court held that in a suit to correct a description in a deed, the trial court’s decree, which held that the grantee was entitled to the omitted or misdescribed property and contained a corrected description, was erroneous because it omitted any reference to the correction of the instruments but merely referred the reader to the pleadings to ascertain the relief prayed for. 75 S.W. at 456.

The decree in the present case is defective in respects similar to Underwood. It refers the reader to the pleadings, not for the relief requested, but for a description of the property; the description should have been expressly recited in the decree.

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Bluebook (online)
680 S.W.2d 435, 1984 Mo. App. LEXIS 4316, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/engelland-v-lebeau-moctapp-1984.