Hays v. Miller

1 Wash. Terr. 143
CourtWashington Territory
DecidedDecember 15, 1861
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 1 Wash. Terr. 143 (Hays v. Miller) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Territory primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hays v. Miller, 1 Wash. Terr. 143 (Wash. Super. Ct. 1861).

Opinion

Opinion by

Wyche, Associate Justice.

This case is brought here on a writ of error from the Second Judicial District, from the judgment of the Court confirming, at March term, 1861, a sale made in favor of W. W. Miller, and a refusal, at the same term, to confirm a sale made in favor of Gilmore Hays.

The facts necessary to a proper understanding of the case are the following:

[144]*144On the 20th Oct., 1857, Moses Hurd gave his note for $1000.00 to ¥m. ~W. Miller, the defendant in error, and to secure the same, on the following day, the said Hurd and wife executed and delivered to Miller a mortgage on certain lands. At the March term, 1859, of the Court below, the mortgage was foreclosed by Miller, and the following decree entered:

“It is therefore considered by the Court, that the said Moses Hurd and Mary Ann Hurd, and all persons claiming under them, or any or either of them, may be barred and foreclosed of all right, claim, lien and equity of redemption in the premises set forth in plaintiff’s complaint filed in this action; that the said premises be sold according to law, and that the said ¥m. W. Miller, plaintiff, may be paid out of the money arising from said sale, the principal sum of one thousand dollars and its interest, as aforesaid, from the 20th Oct., 1857, until the date hereof, to be computed by the clerk, and the amount, that is to; say, the sum of thirteen hundred and eighty-six dollars and thirty-seven cents, to draw interest at the legal rate of ten per cent, per annum until paid, and that execration may issue therefor, together with the costs and expenses herein taxed, at seven dollars and forty-five cents.’’

A transcript of the judgment, within twenty days, was, according to law, lodged with the auditor of Thurston county, where the mortgaged premises and other lands of Hurd, now in dispute, lie.

Sept. 2, 1859, Hurd and wife executed a mortgage to Gilmore Hays on certain lands situate in Thurston county, to secure a note given by Hurd to Hays of that date, for $662, which mortgage was duly recorded. At March term, 1860, of said Court, Hays foreclosed his mortgage and obtained a judgment for the sale of the mortgaged premises, and for the sale of other property to satisfy the deficiency, if any existed upon a sale of the mortgaged premises. Directly after, Miller and Hays both had executions issued, and sold the lands embraced in their several mortgages. At Sept, term, 1860, the Court refused to confirm either sale, for reasons stated, and at the same term- made the following order:

[145]*145“The Court further directs that the respective parties be permitted to amend their judgments as to form, and that the order of sale shall be as provided for in Sec. 403 of the act relating to foreclosure of mortgages, and that the same be entered nmio fro tuncP

At the same term both parties amended their judgments, and January 22, 1861, execution issued on Miller’s judgment, and January 24, 1861, execution issued on Hays’ judgment. Feb. 28, 1861, the premises described in Miller’s judgment was sold according to law, Miller being the purchaser as the highest and best bidder; and the same day the premises described in Hays’ mortgage were sold, Hays being the highest and best bidder. A balance remaining due to Miller on his judgment .after sale, the sheriff, on the same day, by order of Miller, levied upon the lands described in the mortgage to Hays, both of which sales and levy were returned to the March term, 1861, of said District Court for confirmation; at which term of the Court the sale made to Miller was confirmed, and the sale to Hays was set aside, Miller objecting to the confirmation on the ground that his judgment obtained at March term, 1859, and amended at Sept, term, 1860, was a prior lien on the premises contained in Hays’ mortgage, to both of which judgments of the Court, Hays excepted.

Hpon this statement of facts the Court is called upon to construe the act for the foreclosure of mortgages, Statutes W. T., page 86, laws 1859-60, and to determine: 1. Whether, in foreclosures under Sec. 403 of said act, the Court may render such judgment as will, from its rendition, be a lien on other land not contained in the mortgage. 2. Whether such a judgment was rendered by the Court in the case of Miller v. Hurd and wife at the March term, 1859, of said Court. 3. As to the power of the Courts to amend judgments, and to determine the rights of the parties in this case under the rulings of the Court on these questions.

Sec. 403 of the act provides: “When there is an express agreement, for the payment of the sum of money secured, contained in the mortgage or any separate instrument, the Court [146]*146shall direct in the order of sale, that the balance due on the mortgage and costs, which may remain unsatisfied after the sale of the mortgaged premises, shall be levied on any property of the mortgage debtor;” and Sec. 404 provides that “a copy of the order of sale and. judgment shall be issued and certified by the clerk, under the seal of the. Court, to the sheriff, who shall thereupon proceed to sell the mortgaged premises, or so much thereof as may be necessary to satisfy the judgment, interest and costs, as upon execution; and if any part of the judgment, interest and costs remain unpaid, the sheriff shall forthwith proceed to levy the residue of the other property of the defendant.”

Do these sections considered together authorize the Court, upon a foreclosure, to render such a judgment as will operate from that date as a lien on said property outside the mortgage?

By the common law, and in many if not most of the States, a mortgagee, while he can have only one satisfaction, “may exercise all his' rights at the same time, and pursue his remedy in equity upon the mortgage and his remedy at law upon the bond or covenant accompanying it concurrently.” 4th Kent, page 195. Our statute prohibits concurrent action in such cases, and in the matter of remedies is a restraining act, and in derogation of common law rights, and as such must be strictly construed. But for the prohibition in the act, a mortgagee might prosecute to the same term of the Court a foreclosure on his mortgage and a suit at law upon his note, and in such case the decree would bind the mortgaged lands, and the judgment at law would be a lien on other real property of the defendant. Did the Legislature, then, intend to deprive the mortgagee of these concurrent liens which, but for the prohibition in the statute, he might acquire? or did it merely intend to prevent multiplicity of suits and costs, and enable the mortgagee in one suit to accomplish, substantially, what previously could be attained only by two actions?

In sales under the foreclosure act of this Territory, no execution issues, but a copy of the order of sale and judgment issues under the seal of the Court to the sheriff, who proceeds to [147]*147sell in accordance therewith, in the words of the act, “as upon execution.”

This copy then, in this case, is the execution. An execution is the child of the judgment. It can be no broader, and can be levied upon no property other than such as may be taken to satisfy the judgment.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1 Wash. Terr. 143, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hays-v-miller-washterr-1861.