Frater Oklahoma Realty Corp. v. ALLEN LAUHON HDWE. CO.

1952 OK 84, 245 P.2d 1144, 206 Okla. 666, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 665
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 26, 1952
Docket34603
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 1952 OK 84 (Frater Oklahoma Realty Corp. v. ALLEN LAUHON HDWE. CO.) 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
Frater Oklahoma Realty Corp. v. ALLEN LAUHON HDWE. CO., 1952 OK 84, 245 P.2d 1144, 206 Okla. 666, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 665 (Okla. 1952).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The parties to this action will be referred to in this opinion as they appeared in the trial court.

On January 26, 1948, Allen Lauhon Hardware Company filed its petition to quiet its title to the south 75 feet of lot three (3), block one hundred sixty two (162), in the city of Tulsa, Tulsa county, Oklahoma, and alleges the defendants are trespassing on the north wall of the building located on said premises, and asks for an order requiring defendants to remove any and all contact and physical connection of' any kind they have with the north wall or the building situated on lot 3.

Defendants answer by general denial and specifically deny they are trespassing on the property of plaintiff, and claim an implied easement in the north wall of plaintiff’s property. Issues were joined.

The material facts in this case are as follows: that lot three (3), block one hundred sixty-two (162) of the Original Townsite of Tulsa is a lot 100 feet wide north and south and 140 feet east and west.

On January 2, 1920, one James E. Duffey purchased the south 75 feet of lot 3, at which time there was a building on it, and still is. The defendants claim an implied easement on the north wall of said building. The plaintiff is now the owner of the south 75 feet of lot 3. On January 19, 1922, James E. Duffey became the owner of the north 25 feet of lot 3, which is now occupied by the Gem Theatre. Immediately north of lot 3 is lot 2, on which is located on a portion of said lot 2 and adjacent to lot 3 a building known as Kaybee Store building, and the lots on which it' rests are now owned by the Frater Oklahoma Realty Corporation, one of the defendants herein. During the year 1929, a building was completed on the south portion of lot 2, adjacent to the north side of lot 3, by James E. Duffey.

That during 1929, James E. Duffey partially constructed a building on the north 25 feet of lot 3 by using the north wall of the Lauhon building, which is on the south 75 feet of lot 3, and the south wall of the Kaybee Store building, located on lot 2, for supports for the roof. This building on the north 25 feet of lot 3 had a solid steel and concrete roof and was partially completed for 20 feet back from the front. The front wall was only completed in skeleton form, and the back wall was incomplete. In such condition said building remained from 1929 until about July, 1933, a part of it being boarded up, and such building was not taxed as an improvement by the tax assessor, nor returned as such by the then owner. Said • building was completed on or about July, 1933, to the alley.

While said property Was in said condition, and on December 18, 1929, James E. Duffey and wife executed an ordinary Oklahoma form mortgage in favor of the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company on the south 75 feet of lot 3, which mortgage made no reference to any easement against said property in favor of the north 25 feet of lot 3, or the owner thereof.

On July 21, 1933, James E. Duffey began to complete the building which had been started in 1929 on the north 25 feet of lot 3. This building was completed in 1933 and is now known as the Gem Theatre building. Said building was completed without thé knowledge or consent of the mortgagee, who had the mortgage on the south 75 feet of lot 3. Said building occupies all of the 25 feet and extends the full length of the lot. The roof of said building is attached to the walls of the two adjacent buildings. The Lauhon building on the south and the Kaybee Store building on the north.

There is a drain pipe which extends from the property of the defendant, *668 known as the Gem Theatre property, on the rear wall and over and against the rear wall of plaintiffs property, known as the Lauhon building, at the alley, which drain pipe is, to some extent, damaging the said end wall of plaintiff’s property. The defendants also have on the front end.of their building on Main street a sign board that extends over a portion of the front of plaintiff’s building. The evidence does not show when the drain pipe or sign board were placed in position.

It is possible and practicable by the expenditure of a reasonable sum of money and labor and upon reasonable notice to detach the end walls and roof of said Gem Theatre building from said Lauhon building and to construct a separate wall and support for the south side and roof of said building. The drain pipe in the rear and the front sign board can also, with the expenditure of a slight sum of money and labor, be easily removed.

On October 9, 1936, the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company filed an action in the district court of Tulsa county against James E. Duf-fey and his wife, Grace F. Duffey, to foreclose their said mortgage on the south 75 feet of lot 3. The petition also prayed, in addtion for the foreclosure of said mortgage, that said defendants and each of them, be forever barred “from any lien, estate or interest or title” in and to said property, “and for such other and special relief as may be deemed proper.”

The defendants entered their general appearance, and on December 2, 1937, a judgment of foreclosure in the usual form was entered. On January 4, 1938, said sale was confirmed, and on January 12, 1938, a sheriff’s deed was issued to the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, which was purchaser at sheriff’s sale.

James E. Duffey continued to be the owner of the north 25 feet of lot 3 from January 19, 1922, until February 15,' 1945, when he conveyed same to Mary M. Falletti; and through mesne conveyances, said property was, on the 10th day of July, 1946, conveyed to and became the property of the Frater Oklahoma Realty Corporation, which corporation is now the owner of the fee thereof.

The defendant Allied Theatres, Inc., a corporation, is the owner and holder of a ten year leasehold estate in and to said property from July 13, 1946.

The Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company has a mortgage interest in and to the north 25 feet of lot 3.

On February 28, 1945, James E. Duf-fey and wife executed a quitclaim deed to the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance'Company for the south 75 feet of lot 3, to meet technical title requirements by purchaser at sheriff’s sale.

On February '27, 1945, the Massachu-' setts Mutual Life Insurance Company, by limited warranty deed, conveyed the south 75 feet of said lot 3 to the plaintiff herein, who immediately notified defendants that plaintiff herein claimed all the north wall of the Lauhon building free and clear of any easement claims or rights of support, but plaintiff did offer to permit the use of the wall until such time as plaintiff should decide to rebuild . or otherwise utilize the wall, which offer was declined by defendants, and this action was brought by plaintiff.

The case was tried to the court who found the plaintiff owned all the north wall of its building on lot 3 and said wall was all on lot 3, and that defendants had no implied easement in said wall or interest therein.

The court further ordered the drain pipe which extends from defendant’s Gem Theatre property upon plaintiff’s property to be removed by the defendant Frater Oklahoma Realty Corporation within 30 days from date of judgment.

The court further ordered, as a matter of equity but not as a legal right, *669

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Bluebook (online)
1952 OK 84, 245 P.2d 1144, 206 Okla. 666, 1952 Okla. LEXIS 665, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/frater-oklahoma-realty-corp-v-allen-lauhon-hdwe-co-okla-1952.