In re Maynard

15 F. Supp. 809, 1936 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2127
CourtDistrict Court, D. Idaho
DecidedSeptember 2, 1936
DocketNo. 4721
StatusPublished

This text of 15 F. Supp. 809 (In re Maynard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Idaho primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Maynard, 15 F. Supp. 809, 1936 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2127 (D. Idaho 1936).

Opinion

CAVANAII, District Judge.

This case concerns the constitutionality of the amended Frazier-Lemke Act, Bankr. Act, § 75 (11 U.S.C.A. § 203), as applied to its facts. Robert J. Gill moved to dismiss the petition of the debtor who seeks relief under subsection (s) of the amended act (11 U.S.C.A. § 203 (s) on the ground that it is a violation of the Fifth Amendment of the .Constitution of the United States, in that it deprives him of property rights without due process of law. The creditor urges tliat the amended act takes from him without compensation valuable rights in the property involved and gives them to the debtor, and that the substitute remedy granted to the debtor by the amended act impairs the existing remedy which the creditor had and thereby deprives him of his substantial rights.

A history of the transaction and the proceeding becomes necessary in order to determine whether the amended act is constitutional and applies to the facts in the present case. In October, 1928, the debtor, a farmer, agreed to purchase from Robert J. Gill a large tract of land and certain personal property for $30,875 to be paid in installments. A balance of $7,254.82 remains due and unpaid on the principal and interest. Two extensions were made as to the payment of the then remaining installments, and the time of payment under them has expired'. At the time of the execution of the contract of purchase, there was a mortgage on the premises of $7,812.33, payable to the Federal Land Bank of Spokane, which was assumed by the debtor as part of the purchase price. The debtor has paid to the creditor on the price, $15,807.85 plus $3,166.24 interest between the date of the purchase on October 20, 1928, and the year 1934. Default was made by the debtor for the balance of $7,254.82 which was then due. The debtor was to pay all taxes levied after the year 1928, and, when the full purchase price was paid the creditor was to assign to the debtor certain stock in the Federal Land Bank of Spokane in the sum of $420, which was held in connection with the bank’s loan. The debtor took immediate possession of the premises and has ever since farmed and retained the proceeds derived from it.

The Bank of (lamas Prairie was made escrow holder of the papers executed. It was agreed that time shall be of the essence of the agreement, and, upon the debtor failing to make payment when coming due, the creditor, upon his option and upon sixty days’ notice to the debtor requiring him so to do, may declare the contract forfeited and terminated and all payments made shall be retained by the creditor in full satisfaction of all damages by him sustained, and he is given the right to re-enter and take possession of the premises. On October 21, 1934, the creditor and the bank gave notice to the debtor of default, demand for possession of the premises, and' demand for performance of the contract after failure to pay the balance of $7,354.82, with interest at 6 per cent, from October 20, 1933.

The debtor is asserting relief in his petition under the amended Frazier-Lemke Act in bankruptcy proceeding and not under [810]*810the Moratorium Act of the state Legislature of Idaho (Laws 1935, c. 36), although he urges that the state act granting a moratorium should be applied. He, after filing his petition under section 75 of the Bankruptcy Act, as amended by the Act of June 28, 1934, 48 Stat. 1289, failed to reach agreement with his creditors for any composition or extension of his indebtedness, and' then filed his amended petition invoking the remedies of subsection (s) of section 75, 11 U.S. C.A. § 203 (s).

With this statement of the transaction- and proceedings we approach the consideration of the issue as to whether the remedy granted by the amended act violates the Fifth Amendment to the. Constitution. It will be recalled that the original FrazierLemke Act has been held a violation of the Fifth Amendment by this and the Supreme Court in the Matter of Robert J. Clark, debtor, May 10, 1935, unreported, and Louisville Joint Stock Land Bank v. Radford, 295 U.S. 555, 55 S.Ct. 854, 865, 79 L.Ed. 1593, 97 A.L.R. 1106, which were actions relating to the foreclosure of mortgages. These two decisions considered the rights of the mortgagor and mortgagee under the state statutes and the Fifth Amendment. The state statutes there provided for decree of foreclosure in the suit by the mortgagee and public sale, confirmation, and deed, and the sale under the Kentucky statute was subject to a stay of nine months if the mortgagor so requests. The Supreme Court had under consideration in that case the rights of the mortgagee and the mortgagor under the Kentucky statute, and held that the mortgagee had the following rights:

“(1) The right to retain the lien until the indebtedness thereby secured is paid.
“(2) The right to realize upon the security by a judicial public sale.
“(3) The right to determine when such sale shall be held, subject only to the discretion of the court.
“(4) The right to protect its interest in the property by bidding at such sale whenever held, and thus to assure having the mortgaged property devoted primarily to ¡the satisfaction of the debt, either through receipt of the proceeds of a fair competitive sale or by taking the property itself.
“(5) The right to control meanwhile the property during the period of default, subject only to the discretion of the court, and to have the rents and profits collected by si receiver for the satisfaction of the debt.”

We are then confronted with the inquiry, When, in applying the decisions of this and the Supreme Court, is there any qualification as expressing the rights secured to the mortgagee in Kentucky and Idaho and the rights of a vendor under contract of salp of real property, where default on the part of the vendee appears ? There would appear to be none after considering the status of the parties at the time of the bankruptcy, as the provisions of the contract of sale and section 54-212, I.C.A., grants to the vendor the right of re-entry after default has occurred on the part of the vendee and to maintain an action for possession. The statute provides: "Action for Real Property— Notice Unnecessary. — An action for the possession of real property, leased or granted, with a right of reentry, may be maintained at any time, in the district court, after the right to reenter has accrued, without notice.” Such an action for the possession of the premises is now pending in the state District Court. No time of redemption is granted by the statute in such a proceeding, and, when a decree of reentry is granted, the vendor is entitled to the issuance of an execution and placed in the immediate possession of the premises. No equity of redemption appears under this statute. Whether the debtor would have an interest in the premises under the contract and statute after forfeiture is declared, it seems clear that he would not. The title to the premises remains in the vendor until the terms of the contract are complied with by the vendee, and the vendee’s failure to do so entitles the vendor to the forfeiture, decree, and execution placing him in immediate possession. He is denied that right under the Frazier-Lemke Act.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
15 F. Supp. 809, 1936 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2127, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-maynard-idd-1936.