Howard v. Burns

116 N.E. 703, 279 Ill. 256
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedJune 21, 1917
DocketNo. 11304
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 116 N.E. 703 (Howard v. Burns) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Howard v. Burns, 116 N.E. 703, 279 Ill. 256 (Ill. 1917).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Cartwright

delivered the opinion of the court:

On January 26, 1909, Mary M. Shaw and James LeRoy Shaw, her husband, made their promissory notes payable to their own order and indorsed by them, one for $3000 due January 26, 1912, one for $3000 due January 26, 1913, and one for $24,000 due January 26, 1914, each with interest at five and one-half per cent before and seven per cent after maturity, and secured payment of the same by a trust deed on real estate in Chicago to Simon W. Straus, trustee. They afterward executed a second trust deed on the same property to the Chicago Title and Trust Company, and on April 11, 1910, they conveyed by warranty deed the property to Carl O. Youngquist, who, as a-part of the consideration,.assumed and agreed to pay the principal sum of $30,000 and interest, secured by the trust deed to Straus. On November 10, 1910, Carl O. Youngquist and wife conveyed the-property to Ormand B. Jacobson by a warranty deed in consideration of one dollar, subject to existing incumbrances aggregating $34,000, unpaid taxes and special assessments. On November 16, 1911, Ormand B. Jacobson and wife conveyed the property by warranty deed, in consideration of one dollar, to Emmett G. Morris.

On February 24, 1912, John H. Howard, one of the defendants in error, filed his bill of complaint in the circuit court of Cook county, alleging that he was the owner of the principal note for $3000 due January 26, 1912, and the interest coupon of $82150 for interest on the same, due on the same date, and that by agreement his lien-had been subordinated to the prior lien of the note for $3000 due January 26, 1913, and interest, and the note for $24,000 due January 26, 1914, and interest, and prayed for the appointment of a receiver and a foreclosure of the trust deed to pay the amount due him, subject to said prior liens. Mary M. Shaw and James LeRoy Shaw answered the bill, and Simon W. Straus, the trustee, and Samuel J. T. Straus, successor in trust, also filed their answer in substantial accord with the original bill. On March 6, 1912, Benjamin F. Morris was appointed receiver, and was afterward discharged and John J. Bradley substituted as receiver: Carl O. Youngquist and various persons alleged to claim some interest in the premises .were made defendants, but the deed to Emmett G. Morris was recorded after the bill was filed and he was added as a defendant. The junior trust deed was foreclosed at the suit of Mary Reardon, and the property was sold under the decree and purchased by' her and she received a certificate of purchase. The plaintiff in error, William Foster Burns, obtained a judgment against Emmett G. Morris and redeemed from the Reardon foreclosure, and on September 10, 1912,-the sheriff executed a deed to Burns. On December 28, 1912, Burns, who had succeeded to the title of Morris by the redemption, filed his intervening petition to be made a party defendant to the Howard suit. The petition was granted, defaults were entered against part of the defendants, the bill, on motion of the complainant, was dismissed as to Youngquist, the cause was referred to a master in chancery and Burns given leave to file an answer within fifteen days. Burns answered the bill of complaint, denying that the complainant ever had any interest in or title to the notes or had any lien on the premises, and on February 24, 1913, he filed his cross-bill, alleging that the notes in question were paid by Shaw, the original debtor. .Carl A. Stone-hill was the owner of the other notes for $3000 and $24,000, respectively, and he answered the bill, alleging, as in the bill, that the notes owned by the complainant were subordinated to his lien, and he also filed a cross-bill on April 14, 1913, for the foreclosure of his notes. Burns answered the cross-bill of Stonehill on May 12, 19x3, denying its material allegations, and Mary M. Shaw and James LeRoy Shaw answered Burns’ cross-bill on November 10, 1913, and on November 18, 1913, James LeRoy Shaw filed his Eross-bill, setting out the conveyance to Youngquist and the obligation of Youngquist to pay the incumbrance, and allegingthat he and his wife had asked Howard to purchase the notes for $3000 and $82.50, respectively, maturing January 26, 1912; that Howard had $1825, and Shaw raised the balance to enable Howard to buy the notes, and that he had paid other interest notes, and, standing in the relation of surety for Youngquist, he had a right to be subrogated to the securities, and he claimed "the right to a foreclosure for his benefit. Straus answered the cross-bill, and Stonehill also answered. Burns filed a plea to the cross-bill of Shaw and also a special demurrer, but no reference is made in the abstract to any ruling on either.

A recital at length of the allegations of the numerous pleadings would be a tedious process and result in nothing worth while. The substance of all the pleadings was, that Howard, Shaw, Stonehill and Straus recognized the right of Howard to foreclose the trust deed as legal holder of the note for $3000 due January 26, 1912, and the interest note of $82.50, due on the same date; that his actual interest in the note was to the extent of $1825 and interest, and the balance belonged to Shaw; that Shaw had paid other moneys for interest, for which he was entitled to be subrogated to the lien of the trust deed but subordinate to the lien of Stonehill, and that Stonehill had a prior lien for the amount of the notes owned by him, and Burns disputed the claims and rights of the other parties. The cross-bill of Burns was unnecessary, since he asked for nothing except an injunction against Howard restraining him from a further prosecution of his suit and such relief as he would have had by his answer.

The master in chancery took the evidence, and his report was in accordance with the claims of Howard, Shaw and Stonehill, and he found as a matter of law that when Mary M. Shaw and James LeRoy Shaw conveyed the premises to Youngquist and Youngquist assumed the payment of the money secured by the trust deed, Youngquist, as between those parties, became the principal debtor and Mary M. Shaw and James LeRoy Shaw sureties; that the mortgaged property throughout the subsequent.conveyances and redemption remained the fund out of which the indebtedness should be paid, and that when Shaw paid moneys to protect Ms credit he became subrogated to the rights of the previous holder, subject to the remaining indebtedness. He found that Howard was the legal holder of the first principal note of $3000 and the interest note, but his right in it was limited to $1825 and interest, and an account was stated showing due to Howard and Shaw $3642.86 as a valid lien, subject only to the prior lien of Stonehill. Objections were filed to the- report, and it was approved except as to small matters, in which it was modified by the decree. A decree was entered, with which all the parties were content except Burns, and the decree was affirmed by the Appellate Court for the First District. On the petition of Burns a writ of certiorari was granted, and the only questions now to be considered relate to his assignments of error.

The allegations of a bill, the proof and the decree must correspond, and relief cannot be given upon facts proved by the evidence where there are no averments in the bill to which the evidence can apply. (McKay v. Bissett, 5 Gilm. 499; Morgan v. Smith, 11 Ill. 194; Rowan v. Bowles, 21 id. 17; Russell v. Conners, 140 id. 660; Dorn v. Geuder, 171 id.

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Bluebook (online)
116 N.E. 703, 279 Ill. 256, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/howard-v-burns-ill-1917.