In re Remmerde

206 F. 822, 1913 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1483
District Court, N.D. Iowa·Decided August 18, 1913·No. No. 1,044·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

REED, District Judge.

John W. Remmerde was adjudged a voluntary bankrupt by this court October 7, 1912. A trustee of his estate was duly appointed, who on December 21, 1912, reported that the bankrupt was not entitled to any homestead exemption out of his estate. The bankrupt on April 23, 1913, filed an application with the referee claiming a homestead in lots 19, 20, and 21, block 88, Ninth addition to the city of' Sheldon, and asked that it be set apart as his homestead. Upon this application the referee held that the bankrupt had a homestead right in said premises and ordered that it be set apart to him by the trustee as such, but that it was subject to the payment of his detits, and ordered that the trustee sell the same and retain the proceeds thereof as assets of the bankrupt estate. The bankrupt and his wife petition for a review of this order so far as it subjects the homestead so set apart to the payment of the bankrupt’s debts, upon the ground, among others, that as to such part of the order the referee was without jurisdiction or authority to make the same. As the petition of the wife for review of the order of the referee is the same, and is based upon the same ground, as the bankrupt’s, the latter petition alone will be considered.

The facts, as stated in the bankrupt’s petition asking that a homestead be set apart to him and to which the referee makes reference in his certificate,.are substantially as follows:

[823]*823The bankrupt is a married man, the head of a family, and resides with his family in the city of Sheldon, this state, and is entitled to a homestead exemption under the statute of Iowa. At the time of filing his petition in bankruptcy, and for some time prior thereto, the bankrupt resided with his family on lots-1, 2, 14, and 15 in block 87, in the plat of the Ninth addition to the town or city of Sheldon, and such premises with the dwelling house and appurtenant buildings thereon were owned by him and constituted his residence up to August 10, 1912, at which time he intended to change his homestead to lots 19, 20, and 21 in block 88 of said plat. He owned lots 1 to 15 inclusive of said block 87, -which includes the homestead above mentioned; and lots 13 to 21 inclusive in block 88, which includes the lots to which he intended to change his homestead, and lots 13 and 14 in block 84, and perhaps other lots in said plat of the Ninth addition to Sheldon.

August 1, 1911, the bankrupt made a mortgage of $4,000 to one J. F. Stonecipher upon the premises above described, and on June 10, 1912, a second or subsequent mortgage upon the same premises to John McCandlass for $1,200. Whether or not the bankrupt’s wife joined in these mortgages does not appear.

August 10, 1912, the bankrupt made a contract in writing, in which his wife joined, with one W. Oostenburg, to sell to him lots 1 to 15 inclusive in block 87 (which included his then homestead) and lots 13 and 14, block 84, for the agreed price of $7,350, upon which Oosten-burg then paid $1,000, and agreed to pay $1,000 by September 1, 1912, $1,350 by January 1, 1913, and assume and pay the Stonecipher mortgage for $4,000, before mentioned. The bankrupt was to give possession of the property to Oostenburg November 1, 1912, and make a deed of the property to him upon Oostenburg making the subsequent payments and otherwise complying with his part of the contract. September 1, 1912, Oostenburg paid to the bankrupt the $1,000 due that day under the contract. ,

At the time of making this contract with Oostenburg the bankrupt had in course of erection a dwelling house, which was inclosed and the roof shingled, and a barn, or other appurtenant buildings, upon lots 19, 20, and 21 in block 88 of said plat of Sheldon (which block is adjacent to block 87 on the south, but is separated therefrom by a street), upon which he intended to move as soon as the house was completed and ready for occupancy, and thereafter make said lots and the dwelling and appurtenant buildings thereon his homestead.

Upon receipt of the $2,000, so paid to him by Oostenburg, the bankrupt paid the same to an attorney of Sheldon, Iowa, to be applied pro rata by said attorney upon claims then held by him and other attorneys against the bankrupt, and the same was so applied.

' About October 3, 1912, said attorney advised the bankrupt to file a voluntary petition in bankruptcy, which the bankrupt did on October 5th. Said attorney prepared such petition, in which lots 1, 2, 14, and 15 in block 87 were claimed as the homestead of thfe bankrupt. That the claim in said petition of lots 1, 2, 14, and 15 in block 87 as the homestead of the bankrupt was made upon the advice of said attorney, [824]*824and inadvertently upon the part of the bankrupt, as it was riot then and is not now his intention to claim said premises as his homestead ; but his intention then was, and still is, to change his homestead to lots 20, 21, and the westerly portion of lot 19 adjacent thereto, and occupy the same as his homestead.

On April 19, 1913, the bankrupt made a quitclaim deed to Oosten-burg of the premises described in the contract of August 10, 1912, and pursuant to said contract. That said Oostenburg is ready and willing to perform his part of said contract, and pay the $1,350 due January 1, 1913, with the interest thereon, and assume payment of the Stonecipher mortgage of $4,000, as agreed in said contract. That said $1,350 will satisfy the'McCandlass mortgage and relieve the premises from the lien thereof. That the trustee has not sold or otherwise disposed of said lots 19, 20, and 21 in block 88, and that the status of said lots remain as they 'did when the petition in bankruptcy was filed: That lots 20, 21, and the westerly fractional part of lot 19 adjacent thereto, in block 88, are not as great in value as lots 1, 2, 14, and 15 in block 87.

The foregoing facts are condensed from the petition or application of the bankrupt filed with the referee asking that his homestead under the statutes of Iowa, not to exceed one-half acre in extent, be set apart to him so as to include lots 20, 21, and the westerly part of lot 19 adjacent thereto in block 88 of the Ninth addition to Sheldon.

Other allegations of an evidentiary character are alleged, but they are not deemed important to a determination of the question presented by the petition for review. The facts so alleged are admitted by the trustee in'his answer to said petition, with an averment that the bankrupt did not move his family to the new homestead as claimed until May 1, 1913; and this fact is admitted by the bankrupt.

Upon such facts the referee found and- certifies as follows:

“I find that none of the facts are in dispute an'd that they are. as stated in the petitions of bankrupt and his wife for homestead rights and exemptions, and the answer of trustee admitting said facts, and stating further that bankrupt and- his family did not move lipón and occupy the premises called in said pleadings the ‘New, Place’ until about May 1, 1913, and I find the pnly facts material to the decision of the question herein to be as follows':
. “First. That prior to August 10, 1912, bankrupt had homestead rights in and to lots 1 and 2 and 14 and 15 in block 87 in the Ninth addition to Sheldon, Iowa; he at said time ‘owning said block.
“Second.

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In re Remmerde, 206 F. 822, 1913 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1483 (N.D. Iowa 1913).

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