First Trust Joint Stock Land Bank v. Abkes

273 N.W. 183, 224 Iowa 877
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedMarch 8, 1938
DocketNo. 44008.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 273 N.W. 183 (First Trust Joint Stock Land Bank v. Abkes) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First Trust Joint Stock Land Bank v. Abkes, 273 N.W. 183, 224 Iowa 877 (iowa 1938).

Opinion

Miller, J.

On April 14, 1932, plaintiff-appellee herein filed in the district court of Butler County, its petition in equity against appellants Cornelius Abkes and Jessie Abkes, husband and wife, therein asking for the foreclosure of a real estate mortgage against 440 acres of land owned by said defendants. On March 13, 1934, judgment and decree of foreclosure was en *878 tered in said canse rendering judgment in favor of tbe plaintiff in the sum of $45,906.42, with interest from March 10, 1934, at 8 per cent per annum, and for costs, which decree likewise provided for the foreclosure of plaintiff’s mortgage against the real estate involved. On May 7, 1934, the real estate involved was sold at sheriff’s sale under special execution to the plaintiff herein for the sum of $42,934.80. Thereafter, upon application of the owners, an order was entered on March 18, 1935, extending the period of redemption to March 1, 1937. On April 11, 1936, plaintiff and the interveners herein entered into a written contract, by the terms of which plaintiff sold to the interveners the real estate involved for a consideration of $40,000. In said written contract it was stated that plaintiff then held sheriff’s certificate to the premises, upon which the time of redemption had been extended to March 1, 1937, and that the contract was subject to the acquisition of title by the plaintiff through its foreclosure proceedings. Said written contract further provided that in the event redemption was made, that all moneys paid by the redemptionér over and above $40,000 and interest at 5% per cent from March 1, 1936, should belong to the interveners. On February 25, 1937, the defendants again filed an application for extension, therein asking that the period of redemption be extended to March 1, 1939, as provided by the Acts of the 47th General Assembly, chapter 78. On March 4, 1937, an order of court was filed bearing date of March 1, 1937, wherein hearing on said application was fixed for the 15th day of March, 1937, and wherein directions were provided for giving notice of said hearing.

On March 15, 1937, the plaintiff-appellee filed its resistance to said application, therein alleging that plaintiff’s lien with accumulated interest was far in excess of the fair and reasonable market value of the security; that the defendants were hopelessly insolvent; that defendants had made numerous efforts to refinance their debts, all without success; that the income from said premises for the prior six years indicated poor management; and that the application to extend the period of redemption was not made in good faith. In said resistance plaintiff-appellee further contended that chapter 78 of the Acts of the 47th General Assembly was unconstitutional and void; and also that the prior extended period of redemption had expired before the order of the court was granted fixing time for hearing on the *879 present application, and that as a result thereof the court was without jurisdiction to grant any further extension of the period of redemption.

On March 15, 1937, the interveners herein filed their resistance to defendants’ application for continuance, therein alleging that on account of the written contract between themselves and the plaintiff of April 11, 1936, said interveners were in fact assignees of the sheriff’s certificate held by the plaintiff. In said resistance, interveners adopt in its entirety the resistance filed by the plaintiff, and in addition thereto allege that the defendants are not good farmers; that they have never farmed the land involved in a good husbandlike manner; that they have refused to keep up the premises by making repairs of the buildings or fences; that they have failed to fertilize the soil, or in any other way keep the same productive; and that the acts of defendants therein result in the committing of waste.

Trial of the issues involved upon said application for extension and the resistances thereto was commenced on March 15, 1937, and on March 18, 1937, the ruling of the trial court was filed, which ruling sustained the resistances of plaintiff and in-terveners to defendants’ application to extend the period of redemption, denied any further extension of the period of redemption, and ordered sheriff’s deed to issue forthwith to the interveners upon surrender and delivery by them of sheriff’s certificate. From this ruling of the court the defendants have appealed.

In view of the conclusion that we have reached upon the merits of whether or not good cause existed to prevent the granting of a further extension-of the period of redemption, it is unnecessary to give any consideration to the contention of plaintiff-appellee and interveners-appellees, that the acts of the 47th General Assembly providing for the extension of the period of redemption is unconstitutional, or their contention that the court was without jurisdiction to grant a further extension on account of the fact that the order and notice had not been entered or given until after the prior extended period had expired. However, as to this proposition, see First Trust Joint Stock Land Bank v. Albers, 224 Iowa 865, 277 N. W. 451, wherein we held contrary to the contention of- appellees.

It is established from the evidence without conflict that the judgment in favor of plaintiff was for the sum of $45,906.42; *880 that at the sale under special execution the 440 acres of real estate involved sold for the sum of $42,934.80; that the plaintiff-appellee, between the 30th day of April, 1932, and the 15th day of March, 1937, paid taxes on the real estate involved in the sum of $1,774.81; that the plaintiff-appellee, on the 11th day of March, 1937, paid insurance on the buildings situated on said real estate in the sum of $168; that the plaintiff-appellee received no payments' on its indebtedness during the years 1931 and 1932; that in 1933 plaintiff-appellee received from appellants a total amount of $813.16; that after January 15, 1934, plaintiff-appellee received from appellants the sum -of $892.16 ; that thereafter a receiver was appointed for the premises involved, who filed three reports, one on June 6, 1935, one on June 27, 1936, and one on March 15, 1937; and that the net proceeds realized from the period covered by all three of said reports amounted to $3,554.65. It is likewise established from the evidence, without conflict, that appellants endeavored to refinance through the Grundy County National Federal Loan Association, and the highest commitment made by that association was for a loan of $29,500; that in 1917 appellant Cornelius Abkes inherited free from debt, all the real estate involved, except 80 acres thereof, which 80 acres was purchased by him, and for which he "contracted an indebtedness of $8,000; and that on March 15, 1937, the amount necessary to effect, a redemption was within a few dollars of $51,000. At the time of the hearing there were unreleased chattel mortgages on file in the office of the county recorder of Butler County, executed by appellant Cornelius Abkes, aggregating the sum of $6,993.10. Said appellant, however, testified that he had made payment of one of said mortgages in the sum of $40; that he had made payment of $225 to apply upon another mortgage; that he had made payment of a mortgage covering a corn picker (the amount thereof not being shown .in the record); and that he had partly paid a mortgage of $1,265 upon some livestock.

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Bluebook (online)
273 N.W. 183, 224 Iowa 877, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-trust-joint-stock-land-bank-v-abkes-iowa-1938.