Lockhart v. Ruden

250 N.W. 349, 62 S.D. 1, 1933 S.D. LEXIS 103
CourtSouth Dakota Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 9, 1933
DocketFile No. 7503.
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 250 N.W. 349 (Lockhart v. Ruden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering South Dakota Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lockhart v. Ruden, 250 N.W. 349, 62 S.D. 1, 1933 S.D. LEXIS 103 (S.D. 1933).

Opinion

WARREN, J.

The Bank of Clear Lake, S. D., while a solvent corporation, obtained a real estate mortgage upon real property belonging to the plaintiff. Later the bank became insolvent, and during the process of liquidation by the Superintendent of Banks,of the state of South Dakota, foreclosure proceedings by action were instituted, and upon default by plaintiff a decree of foreclosure was entered in the circuit court of Deuel county, S. D. Thereafter a special execution in said foreclosure proceedings issued and a levy and' sale made upon an undivided interest in certain real property, a sale thereof made, and a return indorsed upon the execution leaving a balance of $3,302.10 due and unpaid. Thereafter on- February 18, 1930, a general execution was issued on this deficiency judgment and a levy made upon certain real estate belonging to the plaintiff, and under date of March 29, 1930, the sheriff of Deuel county, S. D., proceeded to sell said real estate complying with the different formalities attendant in such cases.

The record discloses that there were three different tracts of real property embraced within the levy and sale. One of them covered five lots which contained a dwelling house situated on two of the lots and two barns situated on the said five lots; said lots -being within the city of Clear Lake, S. D. The lots were contiguous, and it is evident that they were used- as one tract, and from, the evidence it would seem that the premises were used for one purpose and in one tract. The evidence further discloses that another tract of land was located in townsh-ip 116, R. 49, Deuel county, S. D., and consisted of certain lots, parcels, and governmental subdivisions, and that all of said parcels were contiguous and -were used and- occupied -as one separate and- distinct farm or body of land used as a separate and distinct fanning unit. By a further examination of the evidence we find another farm or tract of farm land located in township 117, R. 48, Deuel county, S. D., which farm consisted of fractional governmental subdivisions of 80 acres, and was used and farmed as a separate and -distinct farm. Thus it will be noted that we have three separate and distinct tracts of land included in the proceedings before us.

*3 The record before us indicates that the sheriff in making' the sale of each of said separate tracts proceeded by offering- for sale fractional subdivisions, lots, and parcels of land within each tract, and, upon receiving no bids, added- additional subdivisions thereto, and when he received no bids therefor, he then offered the tract en masse. He then passed on from the first separate tract as herein-before enumerated to the second tract, and made offers of sale precisely the same as he did on the first tract, and, receiving no- bids, sold the tract en masse. The same proceedings were also had in the sale of the third tract.

A certificate of sale was issued to- the Bank of Clear Lake for various amounts, including interest, taxes, and delinquent taxes as follows: For the tract located in the city of Clear Lake, the sum of $1,050.44; the tract in township 116, R. 49, Deuel county, S. D., the sum of $2,310; and the tract in township 117, R. 48, Deuel county, S. D., the sum of $150. Thereafter, and within the time allowed by law, proceedings in confirmation of said sales were had and the sales of the different tracts were confirmed by the circuit court. Later the Bank of Clear Lake by proceedings obtained a sheriff’s deed to- said tracts.

Some time in November, 1931, the Plaintiff commenced an action for the cancellation and annulment of the sheriff’s certificate of sale and the order -confirming the sale and the -cancelling of the record relating to the records thereof. Defendant answered and plaintiff replied, and upon the issues tendered by the complaint, answer, and reply a trial was had in the circuit court, which trial resulted in findings of fact and conclusions of law and a judgment for the defendant bank. Thereafter a motion for new trial was made, which was denied. The plaintiff has appealed from the judgment and order ¡denying the motion for new trial.

The trial court made findings of fact favorable as to the regularities of the sale, including the notice, the method and manner of conducting the sale, and in selling the property in three 'different tracts, and further found that after the sale the circuit -court had confirmed the sale of said property and that no objections had ever been made by the plaintiff or by any one- for her. It also found that no objections were made as to the prices paid, and that not until the 10th day of November, 1931, was there any question raised as to the bids, and that there was no redemption from said *4 sales, and that a sheriff’s deed was issued to the Bank of Clear Lake on September 4, 1931.

The court also found that a large amount of taxes, insurance premiums, and other expenses had been paid by the defendant bank. It further found that the plaintiff herein and all concerned were fully advised and' knew of the amount paid for said property, and that thereafter they asked for certain extensions of time within which to redeem from said execution sales, and that an extension of time was granted up to April 29, 1931, and that at certain dates thereafter the plaintiff was notified and that as late as September 3, 1931, the plaintiff was notified that no further time would be granted in which to redeem from said execution sales. The court further found that no objections to the sales were ever made by the plaintiff or any one for her, nor was there ever any objection to the price for which said properties were sold at said execution sales, and that no protest was ever made to the Superintendent of Banks that the sales 'had been improper^ made or that the purchase price of the respective tracts was. inadequate.

The appellant urges by assignment of error that the statutes of this state require the sale of property to be by separate lots and tracts, and that the mere offering of the tracts of land or lots or recital that no bid was received- for them and the sale in one bid is not in compliance with our statutes, and especially section 2676, South Dakota 1919 Revised Code, as amended by chapter 120, S. D. 1929 Session Laws, which read's in. part as follows: “ * * * When the sale is of real property, consisting of several known lots or parcels, they must be sold separately unless the same consist of platted lots having a structure partly upon each, in which case such lots must be sold in one tract; provided, that whenever there be a paramount lien upon two or more lots or parcels of land not contiguous, which paramount lien covers two- or more of such separate lots or parcels, the separate lots or parcels so levied upon may be sold in one parcel subject to such paramount lien. * * * ”

This matter has been before our court several times. Some of the matters contended for by the assignment of error have been decided and eliminated by a former decision in Fienup v. Kleinman, 42 S. D. 43, 172 N. W. 804. We think it may be conceded that the mere offering of property in lots and parcels and that no bids were received would not be a substantial compliance with the stat *5 utes if we were to hold that sales in parcels were necessary, but this last matter was reviewed and covered in the Fienup v. Klein-man Case, and need not be further treated. It would seem that in the Fienup v.

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

Related

Heimes v. Heimes
24 N.W.2d 335 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1946)
Federal Land Bank v. Fenske
291 N.W. 596 (South Dakota Supreme Court, 1940)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
250 N.W. 349, 62 S.D. 1, 1933 S.D. LEXIS 103, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lockhart-v-ruden-sd-1933.