Hewitt v. Voils

1931 OK 60, 296 P. 447, 147 Okla. 270, 1931 Okla. LEXIS 769
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 3, 1931
Docket19386
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1931 OK 60 (Hewitt v. Voils) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hewitt v. Voils, 1931 OK 60, 296 P. 447, 147 Okla. 270, 1931 Okla. LEXIS 769 (Okla. 1931).

Opinion

KORNEGAY, J.

It appears from the record in this case that the plaintiff in error was an Osage allottee, and that she. had mortgaged the land that was sold in this case iinder a general execution issued against her to collect the amount of money judgment in the district court of Osage county, wherein the defendant Fred Voils was the plaintiff, and she was the defendant, and that her equity in the land was sold under the execution for $380, and the sale was confirmed over her objections.

To review the action of the court, this proceeding in error was brought. An inspection of the statute on the subject of appraisements of incumbered land seized on execution shows that the equity is what is appraised, and that two-thirds of the value of the equity would have to be bid before theré could be a confirmation of the sale. The value of the equity in this case is $3,635.60.

This question has been before the court before. One of the cases in which the question was considered was Guaranty Bank of Oklahoma City v. Galbreath, 99 Okla. 9, 225 *271 Pac. 971. That case probably might be referred to as authority for the position that if the purchase price of the equity added to the amount of the mortgage debt would amount to two-thirds of the value of the land, the equity could lawfully be sold for less than two-thirds of its value. The equity in that case was sold for two-thirds of its value.

The parent case, however, was the case of Alexander v. American National Bank, 54 Okla. 345, 153 Pac. 130. That case was considered by the Commissioners and they rendered an opinion, and the court adopted it, and on petition for rehearing they adhered to it. The third subdivision of the syllabus is as follows:

“3. Where, under the provisions of section 5150, R. L. 1910, execution is levied upon land incumbered by mortgage, it is the duty of the appraisers to estimate and return the value of the property subject to the mortgage, which is the value of the rights and interests of the mortgagor debtor in such property, which alone may be sold. A sale thereof for two-thirds or more of such appraised value is valid.’’

These authorities are sufficient, but the plain wording of the statute is unanswerable. In view of the fact that the judgment in this case on which the execution was issued has probably not been satisfied, we deem it necessary to decide another branch of the case.

It appears from the record that the judgment in this case was based on a replevin bond that was given before the certificate of competency was made and was signed before the certificate of competency was issued to the allottee.

We quote from the ease-made, page 192, the following from the journal entry:

'“In the District Court of Osage County, Oklahoma.
“Fred Voils, Plaintiff, v. Rosa Hewitt, now Borror, and Fred R. AVilliams, Defendants, No. 8850.
“Journal Entry.
“This case comes on for hearing upon the motion of the plaintiff to confirm .the sale of certain real estate upon which an execution has been levied, and upon the objections filed to the confirmation and on motion to set aside sale by the defendant Rosa Hewitt, now Borror.
“The court finds that the defendant, Rosa Hewitt Borror, is a member of the Osage Tribe of Indians of one-eighth Indian blood; that, on the 5th day of September, 1917, she had issued to her by the Secretary of the Interior what is known as a certificate of competency; that, on the 22nd day of February, 1917, the defendant Rosa Hewitt, together with Fred R. AVilliams, executed a replevin bond in the sum of $2,000, in a case then pending in the district court of Osage county, wherein Rosa Hewitt was plaintiff and Fred Voils was defendant; that thereafter, and to-wit, on the 20th day of November,, 1922 in said cause being No. 3612 in the district court of Osage county, state of Oklahoma, a judgment was rendered, wherein Fred A^oils, the defendant in that case, was adjudged to be entitled to the possession of the property replevined, and said property was ordered returned to him, and in which judgment the court fixed the value of said property at the sum of $750, and awarded to the said Fred Aroils the sum of $258 as damages by reason of the wrongful taking and detention of the property described in the replevin bond signed by Rosa Hewitt and Fred R. AVilliams.
“The court further finds that, on the 17th day of July, 1924, a suit was filed in the district court of Osage county, No. 8850, being the number of this case, wherein Fred Voils was plaintiff, and Rosa Hewitt Borror and Fred R. AATlliams were defendants, said suit being brought on the replevin bond executed in case No. 3612; that, on the 24th day of September, 1925, judgment was rendered against Fred R. AVilliams as surety on said bond in the sum of $900, and against Rosa Hewitt Borror, as principal, in the sum of $1,036.75 with 6 per cent, per annum interest on the judgment against Rosa Hewitt Borror from the 20th day of November, 1922, together with the costs; that, on the 10th day of March, 1926. an execution was issued in said cause, directing the sheriff to levy upon any property owned by the defendants Rosa Hewitt Borror and Fred R. AVilliams; that said execution was levied upon property owned by the defendant Rosa Hewitt Borror and certain property was sold under said execution on the 24th day of March, 192|6; that thereafter a hearing was had upon a motion to confirm said sale and objections to the confirmation were by the court sustained; that, on the 3rd day of November, 1927, an execution was issued out of the office of the court clerk, and certain property owned by the defendant Rosa Hewitt Borror was levied upon and which was sold by the sheriff of this county on the 20th day of December, 1927, to one Fred R. AVilliams for the sum of $380, said property being a portion of what is referred to as the homestead allotment of Rosa Hewitt Borror, said property being sold subject to a mortgage of $5,000, together with accumulated interest in the sum of approximately $380, on certain property; that on the 9th day of November, 1927, the appraisers appointed returned their appraisement appraising the southwest quarter of the northeast quarter; the east half' of the northwest quarter; and lot.l of the1 northwest quarter of section 19, township' *272 23, range 6, containing T59.04 acres at $1,-635.00, subject to a mortgage of $5,000.
“The court further finds that the total appraisement of said above-described tract would, in fact, be $6,635.60, and that the sum bid by said Fred Williams amounts to a bid of $5,769, which is approximately five-sevenths of the appraised value of said real estate.
“The court finds that, as a matter of law, the- property of Rosa Hewitt Borror described in the notice of sale and sold is no portion of her homestead, under the homestead laws of the state of Oklahoma, and that, under the circumstances surrounding such indebtedness, it is not exempt from sale under the laws of the state of Oklahoma or the acts of Congress.
‘ The objection to the confirmation of the sale and the motion to set aside the sale will therefore be overruled and the motion to confirm the sale sustained.

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Bluebook (online)
1931 OK 60, 296 P. 447, 147 Okla. 270, 1931 Okla. LEXIS 769, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hewitt-v-voils-okla-1931.