Flynn v. Lowrance

1924 OK 1130, 236 P. 594, 110 Okla. 150, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 783
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedDecember 16, 1924
Docket15124
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 1924 OK 1130 (Flynn v. Lowrance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Flynn v. Lowrance, 1924 OK 1130, 236 P. 594, 110 Okla. 150, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 783 (Okla. 1924).

Opinion

Opinion by

MAXEY, C.

The question involved in this appeal is whether the court had a right to dispossess the interveners, Dofe Veteto and Beulah Shilkett, who held a lease executed by the mortgagor and the mortgagee on the 28th day of July, 1923, to Mrs. W. E. Arthur, and by her assigned to the interveners, with the consent of the mortgagor, and who had been in possession of-the property under a prior lease and running it as a moving picture show, fit appears that in the order appointing H. C. Hughes receiver it directed Hughes to take possession of the property. He construed that to mean that he must take physical possession of it and oust the interveners, and the court seemed to have the same idea. When Hughes, the receiver, went to the in-terveners, Veteto and Shilkett, they told him they held it under a lease for five years from the 1st day of August, 1923, to the 1st day of August, 1928, and saia they had no objection to paying the rent to the receiver, but he was not satisfied with this and insisted on them moving out and giving him possession. This they declined to do, and he reported the fact to the court, and asked they be attached for contempt of court. They were not parties to the suit up to this time, but they appeared in response to the notice to show cause and asked leave to intervene, which was granted, and they filed their petition of intervention and set up their lease showing that same was executed by both the plaintiff and defendant in the pending suit. It will be remembered that this suit was brought on the 6th day of June, 1923, and the lease was entered into on the 28th day of July, 1923, and the receiver was not appointed until January 4, 1924.. The mortgagé that was sought to be foreclosed was an ordinary short form mortgage, with appraisement waived and without any of the provisions for appointment of receiver and taking possession in case default was made and the taxes and interest not kept up, and under our statute the mortgaged property cannot be sold until six months after the decree of foreclosure, and possession cannot be disturbed until after *152 sale. We find nothing in our statute governing the disposition of the property in litigation except sections 518 and 523, Comp. Stat. 1921. Section 518 provides when a receiver may he appointed, and section 523 provides:

“When it is admitted, by the pleading or oral examination of a party, that he has in his possession or under his control any nu ney or ether thing capable of delivery, which, being the subject of litigation, is held by him as trustee for another party, or which belongs or it due to another party, the court may order the same to be deposited in court or delivered to such party, with or without security, subject to the further direction of the court.”

There is no question made by the inter-veners, plaintiffs in error herein, about the court’s right to appoint a receiver. They are not concerned about that matter so long as they are not disturbed in their possession under tlieir lease. They expressed a willingness to attorn to the receiver, but insisted on holding possession under their lease. Under the provisions of the mortgage and our statute, we are left largely to the general law governing receiverships. Smith on Receivers (2nd Ed.) vol. 1. page 580, sec. 248, provides:

“A person in possession of real property cannot be disturbed in his possession unless he is made party to the action or proceeding. If the person in possession of mortgaged property is a tenant of the mortgagor he can not be disturbed in his possession by a receivership created on foreclosure unless he is made a party and then he may simply be ordered to attorn to the receiver unless it is made to appear that his continued possession is liable 'to be detrimental to the property as security '.'or the debt.”

This is undoubtedly the general law governing receivers, and it appears that this court has had this question before it in a number of cases, among which is Ardmore National Bank v. Briggs Machinery & Supply Company, 20 Okla. 427, 94 Pac. 533: Lawson v. Warren, 34 Okla. 94, 124 Pac. 46; St. Louis & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Ravia Granite Ballast Company, 70 Okla. 273, 174 Pac. 252. In the case of Ardmore National Bank v. Briggs Machinery & Supply Company, above cited, the second paragraph of the syllabus of the opinion is as follows:

“The receiver’s title and right to possession of the property of an insolvent, non-going corporation vests from the date of the original order for the appointment, although the proceedings may not be perfected until a later' date. The receiver’s title and right to possession during the interval between such original order and the time of perfecting his appointment are superior to those of a judgment creditor who levies upon the property under his judgment during- such interval.”

In the case of Lawson v. Warren, the second paragraph of the syllabus is as follows :

“A receiver holds the property coming into his hands by the same right and title as the person for whose property he is receiver, subject to liens, priorities, and equities existing at the time of his appointment.” .

And the case of St. Louis & S. F. Ry. Co. v. Ravia Granite Ballast Company is to the same effect. We also find the case of Miller et al. v. Superior Court, 217 Pac. 817, a Califí rnia case, the second and third paragraphs of the syllabus <f which are as follows :

“Where a sheriff in replevin has taken possession of property, a receiver appointed over all the property of the replevin defendant, who is subsequent in time as to his right or claim, may not attack the sheriff's possession, nor can the court do so by contempt proceedings in the receivership case, but can only authorize the receiver to sue' for the possession.
“Where a sheriff in replevin has taken possession of property, a mere showing that a receiver appointed over all the property of the replevin defendant was in fact appointed before the sheriff took possession would not entitle him to possession, where he did not take possession until after the sheriff had acted.”

These citations show that when the property or any part thereof over which the receiver is appointed is in the possession of a person not a party to the suit, (r having what he claims to be a prior and superior lien, he cannot be dispossessed by the receiver, but upon proper showing can be required to attorn to the receiver during the pend-ency of the suit. Nowhere have we been able to find where a receiver with the aid of the court could by a contempt proceeding dispossess the party in possession and who is not a pa ty to tip1 suit, but 'be receiver's remedy to get pc ssession is to apply to the court for an order authorizing him to bring suit for the possession. Oer-tainly where a party, as in this case, is in possession of the property under a lease executed by the plaintiff and defendant in the foreclosure proceeding, such party is entitled to hold possession, and the receiver is entitled to collect the rents pending the liti-gati( n, and the court can compel the party in possession to attorn to the receiver, but he can not be dispossessed in a contempt proceeding. The court below seems to have mis *153 apprehended the scope of a receiver’s authority.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State ex rel. Doak v. Pride National Insurance Co.
2016 OK CIV APP 75 (Court of Civil Appeals of Oklahoma, 2016)
Norman v. Trison Development Corp.
1992 OK 67 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1992)
Wilkins v. Gannon
1935 OK 783 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1935)
State Ex Rel. v. District Court of Tulsa County
1932 OK 309 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1932)
Turk v. Kramer
1929 OK 76 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 1929)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1924 OK 1130, 236 P. 594, 110 Okla. 150, 1924 Okla. LEXIS 783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/flynn-v-lowrance-okla-1924.