Frank v. Jenkins

40 P. 220, 11 Wash. 611, 1895 Wash. LEXIS 350
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedApril 16, 1895
DocketNo. 1418
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 40 P. 220 (Frank v. Jenkins) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Frank v. Jenkins, 40 P. 220, 11 Wash. 611, 1895 Wash. LEXIS 350 (Wash. 1895).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Gordon, J.

This action was brought by respondents in the superior court for Whatcom county, to recover on a bond executed by the appellants to respondents for the sum of $500. The complaint alleges, in substance, that on the 13th day of February, 1892, appellant Will D. Jenkins was the owner of a certain lot in the city of New Whatcom, and that on that day an action was pending in the superior court for said county, brought by Whittier, Fuller & Co. against the appellant Jenkins, for the purpose of foreclosing a mechanic’s lien against the lot in question; and that on said date a judgment and decree of foreclosure 'was made and entered against the said lot and the building situated thereon, establishing said lien in the sum of $393.15. That thereafter, on the 25th day of August, 1892, appellant Jenkins, for the consideration of $6,500, sold and conveyed said lot to the respondents by deed of general warranty. That, at the time of said sale, the lien of said judgment and decree of foreclosure against said lot remained wholly unsatisfied, and the cause in which it was rendered was at that time pending upon appeal to the supreme court of the state.

The bond upon which this suit is based recites that:

"Whereas, the above bounden Will D. Jenkins has [613]*613sold and conveyed to the above named [respondents]; [here follows description of the property] and whereas, there is now pending a suit for the foreclosure of a mechanic’s lien; in which action Whittier, Fuller & Co., a corporation, is plaintiff, and Will D. Jenkins is defendant: Now, therefore, if the above bounden Will D. Jenkins shall well and truly pay, or cause to be paid, any judgment which may be rendered against the said (Jenkins) by the supreme court, in case an appeal is perfected, or the judgment now pending in the superior court in case said cause is not reversed, and shall hold the above purchaser harmless from an}' lien upon the said premises growing out of the said lien in any manner whatever; then the obligation to be void,” etc.

The complaint further alleges that by reason of appellant’s failure to perfect his appeal from the said decree of foreclosure, his appeal was thereafter dismissed and the judgment of the superior court affirmed with costs. That thereafter, pursuant to execution directing the sale of said premises and notice of sale as required by law, the sheriff proceeded to satisfy the said judgment and decree by a sale of said premises to one D. E. Tuck, who became the purchaser thereof, paying the full amount of such judgment and costs; and that thereupon a certificate of purchase issued to the purchaser. That the appellants failed and neglected to pay or satisfy said judgment and decree, or to hold the respondents harmless; and, though requested so to do, failed, refused and neglected to discharge the lien of said judgment against the said premises.

Appellants filed a general demurrer to the complaint, which was overruled and an exception preserved. In their separate answers thereafter filed they admit the execution of the bond; admit that the judgment remained unpaid and unsatisfied at the times mentioned in the complaint; deny that the judgment was ever a lien upon the real estate mentioned; admit that execu[614]*614tion was issued and levied upon the real estate and the same sold by the sheriff to said Tuck; admit that appellant Jenkins had not performed the conditions prescribed in the bond; but deny that by reason of his failure and neglect any breach had occurred to the damage of respondents; and deny that the respondents have been deprived of the title of the real estate by reason of the non-payment of the judgment, or that they have been damaged; and allege affirmatively, “that the same [the bond] was wholly and absolutely without any consideration whatever moving between this defendant and any of the parties to said paper writing; that no benefits, advantages or consideration of any nature whatsoever accrued to any of the parties to said writing, and the same was wholly without consideration.”

There was a verdict for respondents in the sum of $484.24, and a motion for a new trial having been overruled, judgment was entered upon said verdict, from which judgment this appeal is prosecuted.

The appellants contend: (1) That the complaint does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action; (2) That the allegation of no consideration, set up in the answer, is an allegation of new matter constituting a defense, and that it is admitted by respondents’ failure to reply; (3) That there is a fatal variance between the cause of action set out in the complaint and the case made by the evidence on trial; (4) That the court erred in its charge to the jury, and in refusing to charge as requested by appellants; .and (5) That the verdict is contrary to law and the evidence in the case.

Appellants insist that the complaint does not aver or show any consideration for the bond sued on; that it does not appear that the judgment of Whittier, [615]*615Fuller & Co., ever became a lien against the land purchased by respondents from appellant Jenkins, or that it was at any time a legal incumbrance upon it; that the bond sued upon was one of indemnity; that respondents had not suffered any loss of title or possession at the time of the commencement of their action.

Considering these objections in the order in which they have been stated, we think that the complaint sufficiently sets forth a consideration supporting the bond. An ample consideration for its execution is recited in the bond, and the allegations of the complaint, taken as a whole, are sufficient to support it. To protect the respondents (the purchasers), against the lien of the judgment, and in harmony with appellants’ covenants of warranty, it was entirely competent for the parties to-enter into this bond.

The second objection, viz., that the judgment is not a lien, is predicated upon the assumption that it was necessary for Whittier, Fuller & Co. to file with the auditor a notice of Us pendens to carry their lien forward pending proceedings to foreclose, and thereafter to cause a transcript of judgment to be filed in the office of the*auditor of the county, pursuant to the provisions of the statute, and that inasmuch as neither of these steps was taken prior to the sale of the land by appellant to respondents and the execution of said bond, said judgment created no lien against the premises, and as the respondents were not parties to the judgmént they could suffer nothing by reason of it; that they could have no interest in the judgment unless it became a lien upon the land which they had bought. We do not think the objection tenable. Here was a decree which subjected specific real estate to the payment of a sum certain. The existence of the decree was known to the respondents (purchasers). The [616]*616object of requiring a transcript of judgment to be filed with the auditor is to afford notice to parties thereafter dealing with the real estate of the judgment debtor, and we think the statute authorizing such filing is applicable only to ordinary judgments for the recovery of money only, and not to judgments foreclosing liens already upon the property.

The statute governing mechanic’s liens provides that “ the liens provided for in this chapter may be enforced in a civil action in the same manner, and under the same proceedings, as govern in the foreclosure of a mortgage on real estate.” Sec. 1677, General Statutes. Sec.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
40 P. 220, 11 Wash. 611, 1895 Wash. LEXIS 350, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frank-v-jenkins-wash-1895.