Gerald v. Gerald

9 S.E. 274, 30 S.C. 348, 1889 S.C. LEXIS 108
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
DecidedMarch 14, 1889
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 9 S.E. 274 (Gerald v. Gerald) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gerald v. Gerald, 9 S.E. 274, 30 S.C. 348, 1889 S.C. LEXIS 108 (S.C. 1889).

Opinion

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Mr. Justice McIver.

The plaintiff brought this action to foreclose a mortgage of real estate, executed to her by the defendant, William C. Gerald; and Witte Bros, and others holding judgment liens junior to the mortgage, as well as Geo. W. Witte, who had purchased the mortgaged premises under said judgments and was in possession, were made defendants. The junior lien creditors of William C. Gerald assailed the validity of plaintiff’s mortgage, and upon that issue the case was originally heard and judgment was rendered, sustaining the mortgage, and ordering a foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged premises. From that judgment Witte Bros, and Geo. W. Witte appealed, and for the purpose of staying the sale ordered by the judgment of foreclosure, Géo. W. Witte and A. F. Writte executed an undertaking, payable to the plaintiff, one of the conditions of which was, “that if the judgment be affirmed, they will pay the value of the use and occupation of the premises from the time of the appeal until the delivery of the possession thereof, if delivery be adjudged pursu[351]*351ant to the judgment herein.” The judgment appealed from having been affirmed by this court,1 the mortgaged premises were sold on the first Monday in June, 1888, and upon demand of the purchaser, the possession thereof was surrendered by said Geo. W. Witte on June 21, 1888.

At June term, 1888, of the Circuit Court, an order was passed referring it to the master, “to ascertain and report the value of the use and occupation of the mortgaged premises above specified, saving and reserving all question as to the liability of the defendants for said use and occupation.” In pursuance of this order, the master reported that the value of the use and occupation, from the date of the appeal to June 21, 1888, was the sum of one hundred and eighty 83-100 dollars. On August 18, 1888, the plaintiff gave notice that at the ensuing term of the court an application would be made for an order requiring the appellants herein to pay to her the amount ascertained by the master’s report to be the value of the use and occupation of the mortgaged premises as above. This motion was heard by his honor, Judge Fraser, who rendered judgment, requiring the said Geo. W. Witte and A. F. Witte to pay into court, “for the use of the parties entitled thereto and subject to the order of this court, the sum so ascertained by the master’s report within sixty days, all questions as to any portion of the mortgaged premises, if there be any, not delivered and in dispute between the parties being reserved.”

From this judgment both parties appeal — the plaintiff, because of error in not ordering the said sum of money to be paid to the plaintiff instead of into court, and the defendants, Geo. W. Witte and A. F. Witte, substantially upon the following grounds: 1st. Because of error in holding that the judgment of foreclosure and sale, with directions to the master to execute a deed of the premises so sold, was equivalent to an order to deliver possession. 2nd. Because of error in holding that the condition in the undertaking, as set out above, applies in cases of foreclosure of a mortgage. 3rd. Because, the mortgagor not being liable for use and occupation of the mortgaged premises, the purchaser from him, Geo. W. Witte, could not be held so liable. 4th. Because of error in holding that the amount of the value of the use and occu- ’ [352]*352pation should go as a credit on the mortgage debt due to the plaintiff.

First, as to the plaintiff’s appeal. It does not appear that, when Judge Fraser heard the motion, there was anything before him to show whether the proceeds of the sales of the mortgaged premises would be sufficient or insufficient to pay the mortgage, and in the argument for plaintiff it is conceded that the judge had no such information. It is true, that there is incorporated in the “Case” a statement showing that the proceeds of the sale, even with the addition of the value of the use and occupation, are insufficient to pay the mortgage debt, but we are not at liberty to consider that statement. The jurisdiction of this court, in a case of this kind, is of an appellate character only, and hence we have no right to consider any facts which were not before the tribunal whose judgment we are called upon to review. The question for us is, whether there was any error in the judgment rendered by the court below upon the facts as there presented; and not whether additional facts presented here would require a different judgment from that appealed from. This would involve the exercise of original jurisdiction on our part, which we have no right or disposition to exercise.

Looking at the case, then, as it was presented to Judge Fraser, we do not think he committed any error in ordering the money paid into court for the use of the parties who might prove themselves entitled to it, subject to the order of the court. The manifest object of the undertaking required for the purpose of staying a sale pending an appeal, is to protect the respondent, as far as practicable, from any damage which may ensue from the delay, caused by the appeal, in enforcing his claim. If no damages are shown to have ensued from such delay, it would seem clear that the respondent would not be entitled to claim anything. Inasmuch as Judge Fraser, at the time he rendered his judgment, was not furnished with any information which would justify him in ordering this money paid to the plaintiff, he took the only wise and proper course by ordering the money paid into court, subject to its further order, when the necessary information should be furnished to enable the court to make a.proper disposition of the money. If the proceeds of the sale of the mortgaged premises [353]*353had proved sufficient to pay the plaintiff’s debt in full, together with all costs and expenses, then clearly the plaintiff would not have been entitled to any portion of the rents and profits, and hence, in the absence of any information on this point, there was no error in ordering the money paid into court, subject to its order, instead of to the plaintiff. The plaintiff must, therefore, be left to make her application to the Circuit Court, which can exercise original jurisdiction, for an order to pay her the money in question, to which, as we shall presently show, we think she is entitled under the facts as they now appear, as this court, having no original jurisdiction, has no power to make such an order.

Next, as to the defendants’ appeal. It seems to us that the fundamental question raised by this appeal is, whether section 352 of the Code, under which the undertaking here was given, applies to cases for the foreclosure of a mortgage. While it is true, as the Circuit Judge says, that the language of that section is not as clear as it might be, yet we are entirely satisfied that it embraces a case for the foreclosure of a mortgage as well as a case in which the judgment directs, in express terms, the delivery of the possession of property sued for specifically.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
9 S.E. 274, 30 S.C. 348, 1889 S.C. LEXIS 108, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gerald-v-gerald-sc-1889.