Lummus v. Alma State Bank

4 S.W.2d 195
Court of Appeals of Texas·Decided March 8, 1928·No. No. 648·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

STANFORD, J.

Alma State Bank, hereafter referred to as the bank, prosecuted this suit against A. J. Hummus and wife, Laura Lummus, for the recovery of a certain house and lot in the town of Alma in Ellis county, Tex., fully described in the bank’s pleading. The bank sought to recover said property by virtue of what purported upon its face to be a warranty deed, duly executed by Lummus and wife, dated January 22, 1922, conveying said property to J. W. Richards, and by deed from Richards to the bank. Lummus and wife contended that said purported deed to Richards was intended as a mortgage; that they understood it to be a mortgage to secure $2,400, which they owed the bank, and that it was so explained to Mrs: Lummus, and at the time she signed same she thought it was a mortgage; that she never acknowledged said instrument, etc. It was admitted that, at the time said instrument was signed, purporting to convey said property to Richards, and by him deeded to the bank, that same was and had for many years been the homestead of Lummus and wife, and they sought in a cross-bill to have said instrument canceled, as a cloud upon the title to their homestead. In response to special issues, the jury found:

“(1) That, at the time A. J. Lummus executed the instrument, purporting to be a deed from himself and wife to J. W. Richards, of date January 22, 1922, he did not believe .said instrument to be a mortgage to secure a debt, and not an absolute conveyance.
“(2) That, at the time Laura Lummus executed the instrument in question, she did not intend and believe the same to be an absolute conveyance of the premises described therein to the bank.
“(3) That, at the time' Laura Lummus executed the instrument in question, she did intend and believe the same to be a mortgage to secure indebtedness of her husband, A. J. Lum-mus, to the bank.
“(4) That A. J. Lummus did represent to his •wife, Laura Lummus, before she executed the instrument in question, that the Alma State Bank was asking that they execute a mortgage on the premises in question to secure the debt he then owed said bank.
“(5) That neither J. W. Richards nor D. B. Munsey caused or requested A. J. Lummus. to represent or explain to his wife, Laura Lummus, that the instrument to be signed by her whs a mortgage and not an absolute deed.
“(6) That the defendant Laura 'Lummus did rely upon the representations made to her by her husband.
“(7) That Geo. W. Collard, the notary public, did not examine the defendant Laura Lum-mus separate and apart from her husband, and he did not explain said instrument (the purported deed) to her, and she did not acknowledge before him that she had executed the same as her act and deed, for the purposes and consideration therein .expressed, and she did not declare that she had willingly signed the same, and that she did not wish to retract it.
“(8) That J. W. Richards did not, by any statement, act, or conduct of his, cause said notary to fail to fully explain said instrument to Laura Lummus, separate and apart from her husband, and to fail to acknowledge to said notary that she had executed said instrument for the purposes and consideration therein expressed, and declare to him that same was her act and deed, and that she had willingly, signed the same, and that she did not wish to retract it.
“(9) That, in the negotiations, as shown by the evidence, between J. W. Richards and the defendant A. J. Lummus, leading up to and culminating in the execution of said instrument, the said J. W. Richards was not acting solely in his individual and personal capacity and interest in making a deal for said premises with A. J. Lummus.
“(10) That the said J. W. Richards, in thp negotiations with A. J. Lummus leading up to the execution of said instrument, was representing the Alma State Bank under instruction of the board of directors or its officers to endeavor to secure better or additional security for the alleged indebtedness of the said A. J. Lummus to said bank.”

In response to special issue No. 2, given at the request of the bank, the jury.found:

“The Alma State Bank was an innocent purchaser for paid value of the land described in the deed from A. J. Lummus and wife to J. W. Richards, without notice that the notary public failed to perform his duty as required by law; and that said deed was intended as a mortgage by the said A. J. Lummus and wife and Ji W. Richards.”

Upon the above findings of the jury, the court entered judgment awarding a recovery of the land to the bank, and refusing Lummus and wife any relief on their cross-bill. Lum-mus and wife, as plaintiffs in error, present the record here for review.

We will first briefly dispose of some preliminary motions. The record discloses that on December 15, 1927, after appeal had been perfected and the record filed in the appellate court, the bank filed a motion in the appellate court to dismiss the appeal, strike out the transcript, statement of facts, and assignments of error, upon the ground that the record failed to show, that the amended motion for new trial by Lummus and wife was ever acted upon and overruled by the trial court. When this motion became known to attorneys for Lummus and wife, said attorneys filed a motion in the trial court, under oath, on January 3, 1928, in due form, alleging that their amended motion for new trial was duly presented to the trial court on May 14, 1927, and that same was by the court on the same date overruled, but that the court had inadvertently failed to enter its order ’so showing, and attached a copy of the order that should have been entered on said date, and prayed that said order then, as of date May 14, 1927, be entered, and requested that the question as to whether the court on said date did announce that he overruled said motion be submitted to a jury. The [197]*197bank objected to said issue being submitted to a jury. Tbe trial court overruled tbe objections of counsel for tbe bank, and submitted to a jury duly impaneled tbe question as to whether or not tbe trial court did, on May 14, 1927, in open court, state that be overruled defendant’s amended motion for a new trial and failed to note such ruling on bis docket: The jury, after bearing tbe evidence, answered in tbe affirmative; whereupon tbe trial court granted said motion of Lummus and wife, and entered bis order as óf May 14, 1927, overruling their amended motion for new trial, after which Lummus and wife filed in this court a motion for a writ of certiorari to bring to this court a certified copy of said order of tbe trial-court — a supplemental transcript containing said order entered nunc pro tunc, and all proceedings by which same was obtained, being attached to said motion — whereupon tbe bank filed in this court a motion to strike out tbe order entered nunc pro tunc, because, as to whether tbe court overruled said amended motion on May 14th, 1927, was a matter that should have been passed upon by tbe court, and tbe court erred in submitting such issue to a jury. So all of said motions are now before us for decision, and we think their disposition should be determined by a decision of tbe above-suggested question.

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Lummus v. Alma State Bank, 4 S.W.2d 195 (Tex. Ct. App. 1928).

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