Gibson v. Morris

47 S.W.2d 648
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedFebruary 18, 1932
DocketNo. 1118.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 47 S.W.2d 648 (Gibson v. Morris) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gibson v. Morris, 47 S.W.2d 648 (Tex. Ct. App. 1932).

Opinion

ALEXANDER, J.

This suit was brought by the First National' Bank of St. Louis and Seotta McMillan against L. N. Morris, Kathleen Gibson, and various other parties not necessary to here name, to recover on two promissory notes, one in the sum of $10,000 held by the bank, and the other in the sum of $500 held by McMillan, and to foreclose a lien on certain land in Ellis county. Kathleen Gibson, one of the defendants, claimed the land by virtue of a foreclosure under a prior deed of trust. Other defendants claimed liens on the land. Due to the large number of parties and issues involved, a detailed statement would unnecessarily incumber the record. The facts necessary to a disposition of the issues raised by the appeal are these:

On December 31, 1917, T. J. Cole, by separate deeds, conveyed to Baker and Kelley the two tracts of land in question, consisting of 117 acres and 145 acres, respectively. In one of the conveyances a lien was retained to secure the payment of ten notes, and in the other to secure the payment of nine notes. These notes were payable to T. J. Cole or order and were secured by deeds of trust on the two tracts of land. The deeds of trust recited that a sale might be had thereunder for a failure to pay any one of the notes in the series, and that at the election of the holder of the notes the sale should be made subject to the other unpaid notes. In June, 1918, and before maturity and for value, all of said notes were sold and transferred by written assignments from Cole to Sue R. Patrick. Mrs. Patrick, however, did not record her transfer. On February 4,1919, the trustee in the deed of trust sold the 117-acre tract for failure to pay the first one of said notes, the sale being made subject to the other notes, and the land was bought by Cole.- In March, 1919, a like sale was made of the 145-acre tract, and same was bought in by Cole. In November, 1922, Cole sold and conveyed the entire 262 acres to L. N. Morris and reserved a vendor’s lien to secure the payment of seven notes of that date executed by Morris and payable to the Texas Mortgage Company, the deed reciting that the mortgage company had advanced the money to enable Morris to purchase the land. In this conveyance no reference was made to the outstand *650 ing notes held by Mrs. Patrick. Thereafter and before maturity, for value and without notice, said last series of notes, being seven in number, were indorsed and delivered by the Texas Mortgage Company to the following parties: Notes 1 and 2 to Mrs. R. A. Farqnhar; note 3 to Anna A. Holland; notes 4 and 5 to Mrs. M. J. Chapman; note 6 to ■Scotta McMillan, and note 7 to the plaintiff the First National Bank of St. Louis. No written transfer was executed transferring any of these notes, and consequently none was recorded. Thereafter in December, 1925, Morris executed a new deed of trust to Cole, as trustee for Texas Mortgage Company, on the same land to secure the payment of five ¡notes of that date payable to Texas Mortgage Company. It was recited therein that said five notes were given in renewal and extension of the amount due on notes Nos. 1 and 2 of the 1922 series and the balance- of unpaid interest on said entire series. Thereafter, before maturity, for value and without notice, the Texas Mortgage Company indorsed and delivered notes 1, 2, and 4 of the 1925 series to Ella H. Gibson. In April, 1927, Mrs. Patrick caused a second sale to be made under each of the two deeds of trust executed by Baker and Kelley in 1917 to satisfy the balance due her on the notes held by her. Kathleen Gibson bought in the two tracts of land at foreclosure sale and is now claiming the land, free of liens.

A trial was had before the court without a Jury. The court found against the claim of Kathleen Gibson who was claiming title to the land, and foreclosed a lien in favor of the holders of the 1922 series of notes as a first lien, and a second lien in favor of Ella H. Gibson as the holder of the 1925 series of notes. Kathleen Gibson and Ella H. Gibson have appealed.

We will first discuss the claim of Kathleen Gibson, as the purchaser of the land at foreclosure sale, under the notes held by Mrs. Patrick. These notes executed by Baker and Kelley in 1917 were secured by first liens on the land. Mrs. Patrick as the purchaser of these notes and as the assignee of the liens acquired a prior lien on the land. The sales under the deeds of trust as made in 1927 appear to be regular, and Kathleen Gibson as the purchaser at said sales became the owner of the land and is entitled to recover same free of all subsequent liens against all parties, unless Mrs. Patrick lost her lien by failing to seasonably record the transfer of said lien from Cole to her.

The general rule is that a purchaser of vendor’s lien notes must record his transfer, and, if he fails to do so and the record owner of the lien thereafter releases the same, and subsequent purchasers or lienholders acquire an interest in the land in good faith for value and without notice of the secret transfer of the lien, they acquire a superior claim on the land. Moran v. Wheeler, 87 Tex. 179, 27 S. W. 54; Henderson v. Pilgrim, 22 Tex. 464.

A formal - release does not appear to be absolutely indispensable. An affirmative declaration or act equivalent to such declaration by the record owner of the notes that same have been paid, satisfied, or canceled, or the lien released or extinguished, will protect such subsequent purchasers or lienholders. H. O. Wooten Grocer Co. v. Lubbock State Bank (Tex. Com. App.) 215 S. W. 835, sec. 2.

In the case at bar Cole was the payee in the first series of notes. The transfer from him to Mrs. Patrick was not recorded until •long after the rights of all other parties hereto had attached. After Cole sold the notes to Mrs. Patrick, some one caused a sale to be made under the deed of trust. We presume that Mrs. Patrick had the sale made, but there is nothing whatever in the record to show that she owned the notes at that time. The sale was made for failure to pay the first maturing note, and Cole bought the land in at trustee’s sale, taking the same “subject” to the unmatured notes. He then sold and conveyed the land to Morris and retained a lien in favor of Texas Mortgage Company to secure the notes executed by Morris. The mortgage company afterwards, but before maturity, transferred the Morris notes to the bank and others. The record shows that they purchased the notes for value and without actual notice. Cole, as the record owner of the notes held by Mrs. Patrick, did not execute a formal release of the lien, but we think his conduct was equivalent to a relinquishment of the lien. He conveyed the land to Morris by warranty deed. At that time, according to the record, he was not only the owner of the legal and equitable title to the land, but was the record owner of the outstanding notes and liens. He was the’ owner of the whole title. Under his conveyance to Morris he is presumed to have conveyed a fee-simple title, the greatest estate possible. Revised Statutes, article 1291. He impliedly warranted that he had not theretofore conveyed any right, title, or interest in the land to any other person, and that the land was free from incum-brances. Revised Statutes, article 1297. His act in executing the deed to Morris was a surrender of all his interest in the land and was sufficient to constitute a relinquishment of the lien retained to secure the first series of notes.

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47 S.W.2d 648, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gibson-v-morris-texapp-1932.