Harmon v. First National Bank

176 S.E. 833, 50 Ga. App. 3, 1934 Ga. App. LEXIS 592
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedOctober 16, 1934
Docket23827
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 176 S.E. 833 (Harmon v. First National Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Harmon v. First National Bank, 176 S.E. 833, 50 Ga. App. 3, 1934 Ga. App. LEXIS 592 (Ga. Ct. App. 1934).

Opinion

Guerry, J.

On January 31, 1929, W. L. Harmon executed a security deed to the Bank of Weston to secure a note in the sum of $2926.60, and in said deed conveyed certain land in words as follows: “All of lot of land number 105, lying and being in the 19th land district of Stewart County, Georgia, containing 202-1/2 acres, more or less, together with all improvements, and being the lot upon which I now reside.” This security deed was duly recorded and was afterwards properly transferred to the First National Bank of Columbus, Georgia. W. L. Harmon having defaulted in payment, the bank, in the exercise of the power of sale contained in the security deed, advertised said property for sale in accordance with the provisions of said deed, and at said sale became the purchaser thereof. A warrant of eviction was brought against W. L. Harmon and his wife, to whom he had subsequently made a deed to lot number 104 in said district. In the affidavit it was alleged that W. L. Harmon and his wife were in possession of lot of land number 104 in the 19th district of Stewart County, Georgia, and that said lot 104 is the land lot on which the dwell[4]*4ing-house and tenant houses and barns, together with all other improvements, are located, and that said W. L. Harmon was living thereon on January 31, 1929, and that said lot 104 is the property of the First National Bank and said named parties are tenants at sufferance of said bank. A counter-affidavit was filed, entering a general denial. The evidence disclosed that W. L. Harmon and his wife lived on lot of land number 104, containing 202-1/2 acres, in the 19th district of Stewart County, Georgia, since 1920 and up to the time of the trial, and that they had never lived on lot number 105 in said district, and that title to lot 104 became vested in Harmon in 1920. Possession, but no title, as to lot 105 was also shown in Harmon. A verdict was directed in favor of the plaintiff.

The entire question presented is whether the description in the security deed conveyed to the grantee lot number 105; or did it convey lot 104 on which the grantor was living at the time and has continued to live, the evidence showing that W. L. Harmon, the grantor, was in possession of and operating both lots of land ? The dwelling and most of the improvements being on lot number 104, does the description by lot number take precedence over the description “being the lot upon which I now reside?”

This case may seem on first impression to be an action respecting title to land, and, if so, this court is without jurisdiction of the case. In the case of Radcliffe v. Jones, 174 Ga. 324 (162 S. E. 679), it was held: “Where a dispossessory warrant is sued out to evict a tenant, who in his counter-affidavit alleges facts which are only defensive in character, and no equitable relief is prayed, the action is a statutory one falling within the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals, and not within the jurisdiction of this court.” The Court of Appeals therefore has jurisdiction of the case.

Did the grantees in the security deed from Harmon secure the title to lot number 105 as described therein, or did they secure the title to lot number 104 on which Harmon lived and which contained most of the improvements? Under the evidence as it appears in the record the description is' inconsistent. Section 4187 of the Civil Code (1910) is as follows: “If two clauses in a deed be utterly inconsistent, the former must prevail; but the intention of the parties, from the whole instrument, should, if possible, be ascertained and carried into effect.” The Supreme Court in dis[5]*5cussing this principle, in Thompson v. Hill, 137 Ga. 308 (73 S. E. 640), said: “It was an ancient maxim that the first deed and the last will prevails. Shep. Touch. 88. This principle was applied to inconsistent clauses in the same instrument, so that the former of such clauses prevailed in case of a deed, the latter in case of a will. The trend of modern authorities is toward restricting the operation of this rule, so as to give effect to every part óf a deed if possible; and if this can not be done, and there is an obvious intent derivable from the face of the instrument, the tendency is to reject only superadded parts which are repugnant thereto, if it can be done without violating some rule of law.” Quoting further: “Out of this disposition to give effect to an instrument, where practicable, doubtless arose the maxim, ‘Ealso demonstratio non noeet cum de eorpore constat’ (mere false description does not vitiate, if there be sufficient certainty as to the object). Characteristic cases within the rule, as strictly applied, were those where the description, so far as it was false, applied to no subject, and, so far as it was true, applied only to one subject. But in pursuance of the current of modern authority above mentioned, it has become settled law that if the thing intended to be granted appears clearly and satisfactorily from any part of the description, and other circumstances of description are mentioned which are not applicable to that thing, the grant will not be defeated.” One of the rules laid down for the determination of whether a deed shows on its face what was the thing so intended to be granted is, “What is most material and most certain in a description shall prevail over that which is less material and less certain.” Thompson v. Hill, supra. “Where all other means of ascertaining the true construction of a deed fail, and a doubt still remains, that construction is rather to be preferred which is most favorable to the grantee.” Thompson v. Hill, supra. In the construction it becomes important to consider whether the number of the lot was the important thing in the deed. In Summerlin v. Hesterly, 20 Ga. 689 (65 Am. D. 639), an entry of levy by a sheriff on several lots of land described one of them as being “fractional lot, whereon John Smith now lives, No. 81, in the 4th district of originally Coweta, now Heard County,” and this description was held to refer to the lot whereon John Smith resided at the time, although the number named therein was incorrect. The sheriff’s deed to the number of the lot was rejected as in[6]*6accurate, leaving the remaining description to stand. The same principle was followed in Johnson v. McKay, 119 Ga. 196 (45 S. E. 992, 100 Am. St. R. 166). In that case a general description of the property as “Zaehariah Emerson place” was held sufficient, and the reference to lot number 125, which was not contained in the “Emerson place” was treated as surplusage. If a place is described by name, it can be proved what land was known by that' name. Extrinsic evidence is admissible to apply the description to the subject-matter. McAfee v. Arline, 83 Ga. 645 (10 S. E. 441); Polhill v. Brown, 84 Ga. 338 (10 S. E. 921); Harris v. Hull, 70 Ga. 831; Broach v. O’Neal, 94 Ga. 474 (20 S. E. 113). The cardinal rule in the construction of a deed is to ascertain the intention of the parties. Ball v. Wallace, 32 Ga. 170; Huie v. McDaniel, 105 Ga. 319 (31 S. E. 189). The entire deed must be construed together. Goldsmith v. White, 68 Ga. 334. It must be construed most favorably to the grantee. In Ray v. Pease, 95 Ga. 153 (22 S. E.

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Bluebook (online)
176 S.E. 833, 50 Ga. App. 3, 1934 Ga. App. LEXIS 592, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/harmon-v-first-national-bank-gactapp-1934.