Hubback v. Ross

31 P. 353, 96 Cal. 426, 1892 Cal. LEXIS 972
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 10, 1892
DocketNo. 13148
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 31 P. 353 (Hubback v. Ross) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hubback v. Ross, 31 P. 353, 96 Cal. 426, 1892 Cal. LEXIS 972 (Cal. 1892).

Opinion

De Haven, J.

— The complaint in this action alleges, among other matters, that in the year 1885 the plaintiff had business correspondents in Liverpool, and that one Makin requested him to procure from said correspondents an advance of money to him, Makin, upon the security and in anticipation of the sale of a quantity of wheat which said Makin had shipped to Liverpool, and that he agreed to secure the plaintiff against any loss by reason of the transaction; that thereupon the plaintiff drew in his own name certain bills of exchange upon said correspondents, amounting to about thirty-one thousand pounds sterling, payable to said Makin, and which were thereafter accepted and paid by the drawees.

The complaint further alleges that at the time of drawing said bills of exchange he demanded of Makin security therefor, and thereupon the defendant Ann S. Ross, by request of said Makin, made and executed an instrument in writing, in form a deed of conveyance, of certain described real property, and gave the same to Makin with direction to deliver it to plaintiff, which was done by him on or about April 1, 1885. The complaint then proceeds to aver that said conveyance was executed and delivered to plaintiff as a mortgage, to secure the repayment to him by said Makin “ of any moneys which [428]*428plaintiff might be required to pay to his said correspondents and agents, in case the proceeds of sale of said wheat should be insufficient to repay them the amount of said drafts so accepted and paid by them.”

It is further alleged that plaintiff was compelled to pay on account of said bills of exchange the sum of $10,733, and this action is brought to have the said deed declared a mortgage, and that the land therein described be sold, and the proceeds of the sale applied to the payment of the said sum of $10,733, costs, etc.

The defendants in their answer deny that the deed was executed to plaintiff for the purposes alleged in the complaint, and in this connection allege “ that prior to the month of April, 1885, the said E. G-. Makin had contracted a debt to the firm of Makin & Bancroft, of Liverpool, in England, and that, at the request of the said E. G. Makin, the defendant Ann S. Eoss executed the said deed to the said plaintiff for the purpose of enabling him by means thereof to raise money to discharge the said indebtedness of the said E. G. Makin to the said firm of Makin & Bancroft.”

The defendants also filed a cross-complaint, in which they allege that “ the said plaintiff received the said deed from said Makin with full notice of the purpose for which it was to be used, namely, to raise money to en able said Makin to pay the aforesaid claim secured by said mortgage (a mortgage alleged to have been executed by defendant Ann S. Eoss to secure the claim of Makin & Bancroft against E. C. Makin and defendant Eoss), and promised and agreed with the said defendant Ann S. Eoss to use it for that purpose and no other”; and that the defendant failed to raise any money to pay said claim, and redelivered the said deed to the said Makin, who retained possession thereof until his death.”

At the close of the testimony offered by plaintiff, the defendants moved to dismiss the action, which motion was granted and a judgment of dismissal entered. The plaintiff appeals.

The plaintiff was a witness in his own behalf, and [429]*429testified that Makin delivered to him the conveyance referred to in the complaint. He was then asked what Makin gave him the deed for, and whether he accepted it as an absolute conveyance; and if he did not, to state the purpose for which he received it; and at a later stage of the trial the plaintiff offered to prove what was said • by Makin at the time he delivered it. The defendants objected to the questions and offer, and their objections were sustained by the court. It is apparent, and indeed it is conceded by respondents, that plaintiff sought by this offered evidence to show, by the declarations of Makin made at the time, that he delivered the conveyance in behalf of defendant Eoss for the purposes and upon the agreement alleged in the complaint. In other words, the plaintiff sought to show that it was agreed between himself and Makin that the deed was to be delivered to secure the plaintiff against any loss which he might sustain on account of the bills of exchange he had drawn in favor of Makin. The rulings of the court in excluding this evidence present the questions which are necessary to be noticed in this opinion. There was no evidence given or offered to show that Makin had any actual authority from defendant Eoss to deliver the deed to defendant for the purposes alleged in the complaint; and the pleadings upon the part of defendants do not admit that he had any such authority; these pleadings only contain the admission that Makin was authorized to deliver the deed as a mortgage to raise money to pay a certain named indebtedness, — the amount of which is not specified,— but which was shown by the evidence to be about two thousand dollars.

It needs no argument to show that a power to deliver the deed for such a purpose was not an actual authority to Makin to enter into any such transaction in behalf of his principal, the defendant Eoss, as that which is alleged in the complaint. We do not understand that this position is seriously controverted by plaintiff, but it is claimed by him that Makin was clothed with an apparent authority to deliver the deed as a mortgage to secure [430]*430the plaintiff for the advances made to Makin. There can be no doubt that if Makin did have conferred upon him such ostensible authority, then the court erred in not permitting the plaintiff to show that such authority was in fact exercised by him. While it is true that the authority of a person to act as agent for another in a particular matter cannot be proven by the declarations of the one assuming to act as such agent, yet when it is once shown that a person has been given an actual or ostensible authority to act for another in a particular matter, any declarations made by such agent at the time of the transaction of the business intrusted or apparently intrusted to him, and relating to such business, is admissible as a part of the res gestee. (2 Wharton on Evidence, secs. 1170, 1173; 1 Greenl. Ev., 15th ed., sec. 113; Moore v. Bettis, 11 Humph. 67; 53 Am. Dec. 771; Robinson v. Walton, 58 Mo. 380.) This being so, the real question to be decided here is, whether it was shown that defendant Ross did confer upon Makin the apparent authority to act for her and deliver to plaintiff the deed referred to for the purpose of securing plaintiff against loss by reason of the bills of exchange which he drew in favor of Makin, the plaintiff knowing' at the time that such bills were to be used by Makin in his own business.

The defendant Ross never personally made any agreement with the plaintiff for a sale of the land described in the deed, or any personal agreement with him for the delivery of the deed for any purpose, and it is contended that when, under such circumstances, she intrusted to Makin the deed signed by herself, and in which the plaintiff was named as grantee, she conferred upon such agent an ostensible authority to agree upon the terms and conditions upon which it should be delivered, and that she is bound by the agreement under which the deed was in fact delivered by Makin, as plaintiff was without actual knowledge that such agent was making a fraudulent use of the deed. But it seems clear to us that upon the facts stated Makin was not clothed with any ostensi

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Marshall v. Marshall
232 Cal. App. 2d 232 (California Court of Appeal, 1965)
Handley v. Guasco
332 P.2d 354 (California Court of Appeal, 1958)
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Porter
186 F.2d 834 (Ninth Circuit, 1951)
Jameson v. First Savings Bank & Trust Co. of Albuquerque
55 P.2d 743 (New Mexico Supreme Court, 1936)
Carter v. Carr
33 P.2d 852 (California Court of Appeal, 1934)
Central Sav. Bk. of Oakland v. Lake
217 P. 563 (California Court of Appeal, 1923)
Palo Alto Mutual Building & Loan Ass'n v. First National Bank
164 P.2d 1124 (California Court of Appeal, 1917)
Ford v. Lou Kum Shu
146 P. 199 (California Court of Appeal, 1914)
Kast v. Miller & Lux
115 P. 932 (California Supreme Court, 1911)
Parker v. Brown.
42 S.E. 605 (Supreme Court of North Carolina, 1902)
Bergtholdt v. Porter Bros.
46 P. 738 (California Supreme Court, 1896)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
31 P. 353, 96 Cal. 426, 1892 Cal. LEXIS 972, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hubback-v-ross-cal-1892.