Hall v. Pryor

114 S.W.2d 847, 195 Ark. 856, 1938 Ark. LEXIS 90
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 21, 1938
Docket4-4980
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 114 S.W.2d 847 (Hall v. Pryor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hall v. Pryor, 114 S.W.2d 847, 195 Ark. 856, 1938 Ark. LEXIS 90 (Ark. 1938).

Opinion

Mehaffy, J.

On May 2,1932, the appellees executed and delivered to the Continental Gin Company several notes totaling $9,628.50. On January 27, 1933, appellees executed and delivered notes to appellant, Mrs. Flora Hall, amounting* to $1,500. They executed mortgages to secure the debt of the Continental Gin Company, and also a second mortgage on the same property to Mrs. Flora Hall, and in addition to the property described in the mortgages, they included one lady’s ring with diamond setting as collateral to secure the debt to appellant.

The appellant instituted suit against the appellees in the Drew chancery court and made the Continental Gin Company a party defendant. The property included •in the mortgages, except the ring, was sold under the foreclosure suit, the purchaser paying enough money to pay the debt both of the gin company and appellants, and all interest and costs.

After the sale of the real property and the payment of the money into court, sufficient in amount to satisfy the entire indebtedness, appellees filed a motion in which it was alleged that the ring was given as collateral as additional security to secure the note given to Mrs. Flora Hall, and the ring was delivered to Mrs. Hall; that Mrs. Hall had remained in possession of the ring' all the time; that it was held solely and exclusively as additional security for the loan secured by the mortgage.

After the appellant had filed her foreclosure suit, the Continental Gin Company filed an answer and cross-complaint in which they alleged that the appellees were indebted to it, and it- asked for a foreclosure of its mortgagee.

On December 9, 1935, the Drew chancery court rendered a final decree giving judgment to the Continental Gin Company against appellees for $10,139.80, and a judgment in favor of appellant against the appellees for $1,929.92. The property sold for $12,218.83, which was sufficient to cover all the indebtedness with interest and costs. The court directed that out of the proceeds the cost be first paid; second, the amount due the Continental Gin Company and Hamilton E. Little, trustee, be paid; third, Mrs. Flora Hall be paid; and fourth, to pay the balance to the appellees, Mrs. R. E. Pryor and L. A. Pryor.

Petitioner also alleged in her motion that the notes djie the appellant had been paid in full, and that the ring should be returned to her; that the appellant had failed and refused to deliver the ring or to satisfy the mortgage ; that the value of the ring was $1,250.

The appellant filed a demurrer to this motion which was. overruled, and on June 14, 1937, the chancery court of Drew county made. and entered an order requiring the appellant to deliver said ring to Mrs. R. E. Pryor and L. A. Pryor, or its equivalent in money, which the court-fixed at $1,000. To reverse this order and judgment of the court this appeal is prosecuted.

The appellant contends first that the court had. no jurisdiction for the reason that the filing of said motion was precluded under the doctrine of res adjudicata. In the foreclosure suit, the appellees did not answer. They owed the debt and made no effort to prevent a judgment for the sale of the property to satisfy the debts. The property was sold and enough money received at its sale to pay the entire indebtedness. It is. true as a general rule that a valid judgment for the plaintiff is conclusive not only as to defenses which were set up' and adjudicated, but also to those which might have been raised, so that the defendant can neither set up such defenses, nor can such defenses he used by'the former defendant as the basis of a subsequent action against the former plaintiff. 34 C. J. 856.

The appellees are not contending* in this suit that they are not concluded by the judgment of the chancery court, and not contending'that “that is not binding' on them. Their only contention is that when the appellant has been paid in full she was not entitled to keép the ring which was pledged to her solely to secure the debt. It is not denied that the debt is paid, and it is not denied that the ring was security for the debt only, but appellant says, in effect, that while she has received all that whs due her, and has no right to the ring at'all, yet she says that she-should be permitted to retain it because the court has no jurisdiction to try the case. Not only has the debt been paid, but the decree, from which there was no appeal, directs that after the debt has been paid the surplus must be turned over to the appellees, and it is wholly immaterial whether the surplus was money or property. All that appellant was entitled to' was the payment of the debt.

■ Under our statute, the mortgagee-of personal prop-' erty, or real property for that matter, is the legal owner, subject however to be defeated by the performance of the conditions of the mortgage.

The Supreme Court of Kansas statéd: ‘ ‘.The plaintiff should not be permitted to obtain judgment on the .note and foreclose on the other piece of property after .contracting to accept -the conveyance of the land in discharge of the debt after procuring the execution of the deed in blank.- The plaintiff, under the contract, could have compelled ■ the execution of' a complete deed, and cannot be allowed to avoid'its contract on account of the •manner in which the deed was executed;” Citizens State Bank of Elk City v. Straughn, 118 Kan. 482, 236 Pac. 119.

If he could not be permitted to resort to other property because he had contracted to accept property in satisfaction of the debt, he, of course, could not resort to foreclosure, sell a portion of the property for the entire debt, and then hold any other property.

‘ ‘ Wlieu once it is established that the payor has ■ paid the bonds, there is an end of all the claims by the payee or present holder against the payor’s vendees; and it is not material what notice those vendees had of the existence of the bonds, if the bonds are subsequently paid. The payment is for their- benefit. In this case, the litigation between Miss Ross and the other parties, Mrs. Murray stands before the others. If her defense, going to the entire merits, as a plea of payment does, is adjudged valid, no judgment can be rendered against those who claim through her.” Fidelity Trust & Safety Vault Company v. Carr, 23 Ky. L. 2409, 67 S. W. 258.

This court, in speaking of mortgagees, said: “They are not entitled to recover any greater damages than they have sustained. They are not the absolute owners of the timber, and were only entitled to the possession of the same after the mortgagor had failed to pay his debt, as security for the satisfaction thereof." Foreman v. Holloway & Son, 122 Ark. 341, 183 S. W. 763.

In the instant case the appellant does not claim to be the owner of the ring. She was not the absolute owner, but she was only entitled to the possession of the same to secure -the satisfaction of her debt. After this debt was satisfied she had no interest in the ring and should have turned it over to the appellees.

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189 S.W.2d 376 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 1945)

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Bluebook (online)
114 S.W.2d 847, 195 Ark. 856, 1938 Ark. LEXIS 90, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hall-v-pryor-ark-1938.