Malmgren v. Phinney

52 N.W. 915, 50 Minn. 457, 1892 Minn. LEXIS 340
CourtSupreme Court of Minnesota
DecidedJuly 14, 1892
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 52 N.W. 915 (Malmgren v. Phinney) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Malmgren v. Phinney, 52 N.W. 915, 50 Minn. 457, 1892 Minn. LEXIS 340 (Mich. 1892).

Opinion

Mitchell, J.

April 3, 1890, defendants Berryhill and Davison, being the owners of a certain lot in St. Paul, (one hundred and sixty-four [164] feet in length from north to south,) contracted to sell it [461]*461to one Wick for $2,500, of which $1,500 was to be paid in cash on delivery of the deed, and the remaining $1,000 to be secured by mortgage on the lot.

This contract also provided “that, if Wick shall erect, or cause to be erected, a dwelling house on said lot, he may incumber said lot by a mortgage in an amount not exceeding $3,000, which said mortgage said Berryhill and Davison agree may be superior and paramount to the mortgage to be executed to them, as hereinbefore described, provided said house.so to be erected upon said lot shall cost at least as much as the amount of said first mortgage. Said Wick is to, and hereby agrees to, protect said premises from all claims and liens of laborers or material men, and to pay the same; and it is expressly agreed that the title and lien of the said second mortgagees in and to said lot shall not be affected by any claims or liens of material men or laborers for material or labor furnished or performed for and in the erection of said house.”

May 1, 1890, defendant Phinney, who succeeded to Wick’s interest in this contract, took possession of the lot, and commenced the erection of a dwelling house, and also a barn, thereon; the house being located on the north one hundred and four (104) feet of the lot, and the barn on the twenty (20) feet immediately south of the one hundred and four (104) feet.

The following parties furnished Phinney labor and material for the construction of the dwelling house, except that that furnished by plaintiff was for the barn. The dates show when each party furnished tlje first item of labor or material: Burns & Shaw, May 19, 1890; Anderson & Plaster, June 8, 1890; Shandrew & Scheible, June 11, 1890; St. Paul Glass Co., July 29, 1890; Knauft, October 2, 1890; Malmgren & Hokanson, (plaintiffs,) November 1, 1890.

July 3,1890, Berryhill and Davison conveyed the lot to Phinney, who on the same day executed a first mortgage to defendant Hunt-saker for $3,250, and a second mortgage, subject to the Huntsaker mortgage, to Berryhill and Davison for $1,100, the balance of purchase money due them. This second mortgage was subsequently assigned to defendant Resser. The deed and the two mortgages were all promptly recorded. When Huntsaker took his mortgage he had [462]*462actual notice that the house was being constructed and was uncompleted.

July 7th Phinney conveyed the south forty feet of the lot to Wil-gus, who afterwards conveyed it to defendant Konantz.

August 23d Phinney conveyed the north one hundred and four feet to defendant Mahan.

November 1st Phinney conveyed the remaining twenty feet to defendant Peterson.

These deeds were recorded July 8th, September 1st, and November 11th, respectively. The trial court held that defendants Burns and Shaw were entitled to a lien on the whole lot, and that the other lien claimants, including plaintiff, were entitled to liens on the whole lot, except the south forty (40) feet; also that the liens of the Hunt-saker and Resser mortgages were both subject and subordinate to the liens of Burns and Shaw, Anderson & Plaster, and Shandrew & Scheible. The court also directed the sale of the south forty feet and the remainder of the lot to be sold separately. Berryhill and Davison, Huntsaker, Resser, and Konantz, alone appeal, and hence only the alleged errors of which they complain can be considered.

1. The court held that the lien claimants, other than Burns & Shaw, were not entitled to liens on the south forty feet, because the action was not commenced as against Konantz, the owner, within one year from the time of furnishing the last items of labor and material by the claimants. This is fully sustained by Steinmetz v. St. Paul Trust Co., ante, p. 445, (52 N. W. Rep. 915.)

2. The court erred in holding plaintiffs entitled to a «lien on the north one hundred and four feet of the lot. This had been conveyed by Phinney long before they furnished any labor or material. They should have been given a lien only on the twenty feet conveyed to Peterson. This error was doubtless a mere oversight or inadvertence on part of the learned trial judge.

3. It is urged that Peterson, the owner of twenty feet of the lot, and consequently a necessary party, was never served with the summons in this action. He was a nonresident, and service was had upon him by publication for six successive weeks once in each week; and, as one of the publications was made on May 30, (Memorial [463]*463day,) it is claimed that the publication was invalid, because the statute provides that “no civil process shall be served” on that day. Laws 1891, ch. 122. We have not overlooked the case of Sewall v. City of St. Paul, 20 Minn. 511, (Gil. 459,) in which it was held that a notice published six days, one of which was Sunday, was invalid, although there is respectable authority holding the contrary. See Savings & Loan Society v. Thompson, 32 Cal. 347. But we think there is a clear distinction between a publication on Sunday, and one on what we may term a “secular holiday.” ' The Sunday issue is commonly considered as really a distinct paper from the issue on week days, and to a considerable extent circulates among a different class of subscribers. A large and respectable portion of the community who take the week-day issues do not take the Sunday issue. Hence a publication on Sunday would not be so likely to come to the attention of the parties for whom it is intended. It would not be so likely to serve the purpose for which it was designed, to wit, notice. Not so with papers issued on such holidays as Memorial day, the Fourth of July, and the like, which are part of the regular issue, and are distributed among the same subscribers. Again, the publication of a notice does not come within the spirit of the statute. The object of the prohibition against serving process on these holidays is to prevent any interference with their quiet enjoyment or observance, either by the intrusion of officers to serve process, or by the parties being compelled to obey them on those days. This reason applies to personal service, but not to service by publication. Our conclusion is that the service on Peterson was valid.

4. Counsel for appellants contend that both the mortgages are entitled to preference over all the .mechanics’ liens, because of the provision in the contract between Berryhill and Davison and Wick (Phinney’s assignor) that the latter was to protect the property from all such liens, and that the title and lien of these mortgages (which were provided for in the contract) should not be affected by any claims of material men or laborers for labor or material for the erection of the house. It is claimed that the authority of the vendee in such a contract to charge the interest of the vendor rests upon the principle of agency, and that this provision is a limitation upon the [464]*464agency, and that the rights of every one who furnishes labor or material are subject to this limitation. If this is so, it would be a very convenient way to repeal the provisions of the lien law. Such a stipulation' cannot deprive of their rights under the statute persons not parties to it. - It is the law which at once creates the authority to charge the land, and defines its extent.

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Bluebook (online)
52 N.W. 915, 50 Minn. 457, 1892 Minn. LEXIS 340, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/malmgren-v-phinney-minn-1892.