Johnson v. Koenig

353 S.W.2d 478, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2148
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJanuary 24, 1962
Docket10914
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 353 S.W.2d 478 (Johnson v. Koenig) 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
Johnson v. Koenig, 353 S.W.2d 478, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2148 (Tex. Ct. App. 1962).

Opinions

RICHARDS, Justice.

Suit was brought by George W. Johnson, appellant, in trespass to try title to the mineral estate in four sections of land approximating 2560 acres situated in Webb and Zapata Counties, Texas, against E. J. Koenig and others as defendants. George Buck and others intervened as parties defendant, defendants and intervenors being appellees herein. The case was tried to the Court without a jury upon an agreed statement of facts resulting in a judgment that appellant take nothing by his suit against all of the defendant and intervenor ap-pellees, from which judgment appeal was perfected to this Court.

Appellant’s asserted title was based solely upon a deed executed by David M. Stiles as substitute trustee appointed by appellant as the holder of two past due installments aggregating $389.05 on a note payable to the Federal Land Bank of Houston, in the principal sum of $5,000.00 secured by a deed of trust to the property involved. The Trial Court held that the trustee’s deed upon which appellant based his title was void and therefore entered the “take nothing” judgment.

At the outset, it may be stated that the statement of facts filed in his Court consists of photostatic copies, many of which are poorly prepared, and without an index or proper paging. As a result this Court has not been helped by the numerous references to the statement of facts contained in the voluminous briefs filed by the various parties.

This controversy grows out of a deed of trust executed by Prudencio Trevino et ux. on September 30, 1924 to M. H. Gossett as trustee for the Federal Land Bank of Houston, hereinafter referred to as the Bank, covering land involved herein to secure their note in the principal sum of $5,000.00. Trevino died November 20, 1926 leaving a last will and testament which was admitted to probate February 11, 1927, Gordon Gibson being appointed by the County Court of Zapata County, Texas as administrator [480]*480with the will annexed. The Federal Land Bank filed a claim on the Claims Docket of the Probate Court for $4,809.89 based upon the unpaid balance of the above note and requesting an allowance of attorney’s fees as provided therein, which claim was allowed by the administrator and approved by the Court.

The Bank then applied to the Court for an order of sale for all property covered by the deed of trust, the property involved herein, in order to satisfy its claim, which request was granted by the Court and the property ordered sold. The order provided for the sale of all the land covered by the deed of trust “or such part thereof as may be necessary to satisfy said incumbrance” to be sold by the administrator at private sale. On November 10, 1928 the administrator filed his report of sale stating that pursuant to the order of the Court he had sold to P. N. McCullough an undivided one-sixteenth (¾6⅛) royalty interest in all the land covered by the deed of trust for a cash consideration of $2560.00, which report was approved by the Court, who ordered the administrator to execute the necessary conveyance of the property, the deed being executed November 27, 1928.

In 1932 the devisees under Trevino’s will having petitioned the County Court to close the administration, the administrator filed his final account with the Court which was approved and the Court ordered the administration closed on August 1, 1932. The final account of the administrator reveals that subsequent to the sale of ¾6⅛ royalty above referred to he paid $2700.00 to the Bank and that as of the date of the final account there was a balance unpaid on the Bank indebtedness amounting to $2560.00.

On March 5, 1937, the Bank executed an assignment of deed of trust lien to George W. Johnson but it was not filed for record in the Deed of Trust Records of Zapata County until April 19, 1938. The instrument recited the death of M. H. Gossett, Trustee, on May 13, 1934 and the appointment by the Bank, as the owner and holder of the indebtedness evidenced by the note secured by the deed of trust, of A. C. Williams as substitute trustee pursuant to the authority contained in the deed of trust and that in consideration of the payment by George W. Johnson of the sum of $389.05, representing two past due installments on the $5,000.00 note, the Bank assigned to Johnson the deed of trust lien securing the payment thereof, which transfer and assignment was “subject to the express conditions hereinafter mentioned”, which are in part as follows:

“(2) That the installments hereby transferred are hereby made, and shall forever remain, a second and inferior lien to the lien securing the payment of the remainder of said note now owned by said Bank, together with interest to accrue thereon, including balance owing on installments which matured on the first days of January 1933, July 1933, January 1934, July 1934 and January 1935, as extended.
(3) That any foreclosure proceedings instituted on the installments hereby transferred shall not, in any manner whatsoever, affect the rights of said Bank or said Association as such rights existed at and before the execution of this assignment.
(4) That the lien now existing in favor of said Bank upon and against the land described in said deed of trust to secure said Bank in the payment of the remaining part of said note, together with interest to accrue thereon, shall be and remain superior to the lien securing the installment hereby asssigned.
(5) That any release executed by the assignee herein of the lien securing the payment of the installments hereby transferred shall not affect, in any manner, the lien existing in favor of said Bank, securing it in the payment of the remainder of the debt owing it.
(6) The acceptance of this assignment by the assignee shall be and is [481]*481hereby made an agreement upon his part to the conditions above recited.
Subject to the above conditions, said Bank does hereby bargain, sell, convey and assign unto the said George W. Johnson, all of the right, title and interest owned or held by it in said land by virtue of the installments herein conveyed and assigned and by virtue of the deed of trust securing the payment thereof, in so far as said deed of trust secures the installments hereby transferred, but not further.”

On April 21, 1938 L. W. Stieren executed an affidavit to The Public which was filed and recorded on April 25, 1938 in the Deed Records of Webb and Zapata Counties. The affidavit recited the execution of the deed of trust by Prudencio Trevino et ux. to M. H. Gossett, Trustee for the Bank to secure the payment of the $5,000.00 note; the conveyance by the administrator with the will annexed of the Trevino Estate under the mineral deed to P. N.

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Johnson v. Koenig
353 S.W.2d 478 (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1962)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
353 S.W.2d 478, 1962 Tex. App. LEXIS 2148, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-v-koenig-texapp-1962.