Jines v. Dodson

279 S.W. 557
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 6, 1926
DocketNo. 2528. [fn*]
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 279 S.W. 557 (Jines v. Dodson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jines v. Dodson, 279 S.W. 557 (Tex. Ct. App. 1926).

Opinion

JACKSON, J.

This suit was instituted in the district court of Ochiltree county, Tex., by Mrs. Sherman Jines, as plaintiff, individually, and as survivor in community of the estate of herself and her deceased husband, Sherman Jines, against Charles Dodson and John B. Smith, defendants.

' By proper allegation she sought a judgment against the defendants on three notes aggregating the sum of $1,480, with interest thereon, and the foreclosure of the purchase-money lien against block 63 in the first addition to the town of Ochiltree, in Ochiltree county, Tex. She alleges the conveyance of the property by her husband to Charles Dodson, the retention in the deed of a lien to secure the payment of the notes, and the sale and conveyance of said property by Charles Dodson to the defendant John B. Smith, and his assumption and promise to pay said notes as a part of the consideration for the property.

Plaintiff further alleges that on or about January 22, 1920, the defendant John B. Smith desired to remove the dwelling and other improvements from the property above described to lots 1 and 2 in block 54 in the first addition to the town of Perrytpn, in Ochiltree county, Tex., and, in consideration of permission given to remove said improvements, he agreed and contracted in writing with her husband that the title to said lots 1 and 2 in block 54 in Perryton would be taken in the name of Sherman Jines, and that the lien held by him and evidenced in the deed and notes should be impressed on said lots in Perryton and on said improvements removed from the lots in the town of Ochiltree, and should not be affected thereby, but should remain in full force and effect; that, in violation of said agreement, John B. Smith, to defeat the lien and escape payment of the purchase price for the pz-op- *558 erty, took the title to the lots in Perryton in his own name; that the real estate upon which the improvements were situated in the town of Ochiltree was of no value after the removal of the improvements therefrom, and that each and both of the defendants have failed and refused to pay said notes, except certain credits, which had been allowed; that the defendants are insolvent, against neither of whom she could collect her debt by execution; that the balance on said notes are due and unpaid; and that by reason of the premises she is entitled to judgment for her debt, a foreclosure of her lien on the lots in the town of Ochiltree and the lots and improvements in the town of Perryton, or, in any event, to a foreclosure of her lien on the lots in the town of Ochiltree and upon improvements removed from said lots and now located on the lots in Perryton.

The defendant Charles Dodson did not controvert plaintiff’s cause of action.

The defendant John B. Smith answered by general demurrer, special exceptions, general denial; admitted the execution and delivery of the notes sued on and the existence of plaintiff’s right to foreclose her lien on the lots located in the town of Ochiltree, but pleads that he purchased lots Nos. 1 and 2 in the town of Perryton for the purpose of erecting and maintaining a home for himself and family, which was known to Sherman Jines and thereafter made an agreement with him for the removal of the improvements from the lots in Ochiltree to and upon the lots in Perryton at great expense to himself, and was required to give personal security for any loss that Sherman Jines might sustain by reason of the removal of said improvements; that Jines thereby waived, in law, any lien he had upon such improvements; that, relying on this agreement, he did, at great expense, remove the improvements to the lots he had purchased and owned as a homestead in the town of Perryton, none of which he would have done but for said agreement, and that by reason thereof plaintiff is estopped to assert a lien upon the improvements so moved; denies that he agreed to give a lien upon the property in Perryton in consideration of permission to move the improvements; but says that, if he did make such agreement, it was expressly waived by Sherman Jines by taking personal security in lieu thereof. He admits his personal liability upon the debt and plaintiff’s right to judgment against him, and to a foreclosure of the lien against the lots in the town of Ochiltree.

Mrs. Ida Smith, wife of John B. Smith, intervened by permission of the court, and alleged that, prior to January 22, 1920, she and her husband had purchased lots 1 and 2, block 54, in the town of Perryton, and designated said lots as a home, upon which they have lived .since such acquisition, and still claim the same as the homestead of themselves and their family; that the debt for the payment of which the lien is alleged was not for purchase money, nor for taxes, nor for work or material used in constructing the improvements; that the work and material was not contracted for in writing, nor her consent given thereto in the manner required by law and the Constitution of the state; that the improvements have become a fixture on lots 1 and 2, in Perryton, and that she has never consented in any way to any lien, equitable or otherwise, against said property, and, if there was ever any agreement that the title -to the lots 1 and 2 in block 54 in Perry-ton should be taken in the name of Sherman Jines, such agreement was without her knowledge or consent; and that she had not agreed that the lien on the property in old Ochil-tree should attach and become a lien upon the improvements so' removed, or upon lots 1 and 2, Perryton; and denies the right of plaintiff to enforce a lien against said lots or said improvements.

The case was submitted to the court without the intervention of a jury, and at the conclusion of the evidence judgment was rendered for the plaintiff against Charles Dodson and John B. Smith, jointly and severally, for the amount sued for, and for a foreclosure of her lien against all of block 63 in the first addition to the town of Ochiltree, in Ochiltree county, Tex.; but that lots Nos. 1 and 2, in block No. 64, in the town of Perry-ton, constituted the homestead of Ida Smith and her husband, John B. Smith, and was unincumbered by reason of the facts disclosed by the record, and plaintiff had no lien, equitable or otherwise, against said lots or the improvements thereon to secure the payment of her debt.

The court has not filed with the record findings of fact or conclusions of law.

It is uncontroverted that Sherman Jines-conveyed block 63 in the old town of Ochil-tree, with its improvements, to Charles Dodson in consideration, among other things, of the money evidenced by the notes sued on, and in the deed retained a valid lien to secure the payment of these purchase-money notes; that thereafter John B. Smith acquired said property from Charles Dodson,, and promised and agreed to pay the notes, and did make payments thereon, with which the notes were duly credited, leaving the balance for which this suit was brought; that later John B. Smith purchased and paid for' lots Nos. 1 and 2 in block 54 in the tow-n of Perryton, and established his homestead on-said lots, after which he removed the dwelling, a two-story eight-room house, with some-other improvements, from block 63 in the town of Ochiltree to and placed them upon his said lots in the town of Perryton; that, by the removal of the improvements the value of block 63 was reduced to almost nothing, as the old town of Ochiltree was practically abandoned, all of its citizens moving: *559

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Bluebook (online)
279 S.W. 557, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jines-v-dodson-texapp-1926.