Mariner v. Ingraham

127 Ill. App. 550, 1906 Ill. App. LEXIS 422
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJuly 2, 1906
DocketGen. No. 12,576
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 127 Ill. App. 550 (Mariner v. Ingraham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mariner v. Ingraham, 127 Ill. App. 550, 1906 Ill. App. LEXIS 422 (Ill. Ct. App. 1906).

Opinion

Mr. Presiding Justice Adams

delivered the opinion of the court.

The plaintiffs in error will be referred to in this opinion as plaintiffs, and the defendants in error as defendants, omitting the words “in error.”

1. Plaintiffs’ counsel contend that the decree of April' 15, 1902, is erroneous, in that it gives priority to the payment from the proceeds of the sale of the taxes and expenses paid by the defendants, over those paid by plaintiffs, whereas the decree of July 6, 1900, gave no such priority. The part of the decree referred to is as follows:

“The court further finds that upon the sale of the property there shall be paid from the proceeds thereof, -
First. To Mariner, Underwood, or to the holder thereof, the principal of said note secured by sáid mortgage of §30,000 and current interest only accruing, but not due, from the 2nd day of January or of July, as the case may be, next preceding the date of the sale of the lands.
Second. There shall be paid to the executors and trustees of the Ingraham estate §70,000, with interest at the rate of six per cent, from the 2nd day of January, 1889, down to the date of sale.
Third. There shall be paid to the said executors and trustees all taxes, special assessments and expenses of any description which have been paid by the said Ingraham, or by themselves as his executors and trustees, in respect to the premises in question, and in carrying the same since January 2, 1889, with interest at six per cent, upon the several amounts paid as aforesaid, from the time of payment thereof up to the date of sale.
Fourth. There shall be paid to Mariner, Underwood and Gartside, as assignees of Cooper, all taxes, special assessments or expenses of any description, other than interest on said §30,000 note, paid or incurred by them respectively, since the 2nd day of January, 1889, with interest at six per cent, from the date thereof to the date of sate.
That the balance of the proceeds of sale constituted profits under the contract, and should be divided equally, one-half thereof to the executors and trustees, and the other half to Mariner, Underwood and Gartside.”

It is evident that the language quoted was used in contemplation of the possibility that the proceeds of the sale might be sufficient to pay profits. The decree in this respect is in entire harmony with the opinion in Ingraham v. Mariner, 194 Ill. 282-283, in which the court, also in contemplation of the possibility of profits, prescribes deductions in the same order. Assuming, but not deciding, that priority was intended by the language used in the decree, it is pertinent to consider that while Ingraham was bound by the agreement to pay the carrying charges of the land, including taxes and assessments, Cooper was not, nor were his assignees, so bound. His and their obligation was merely to pay the interest on the $30,000 encumbrance on the land. Such payment was, as said by the court in Ingraham v. Mariner, supra, p. 280, “as a consideration for the half interest which he was to have in the profits.” The Supreme Court, in its opinion, states the order in which deductions are to be made, in ascertaining profits, if any, precisely as does the decree, using this language :

“ In order to determine the amount of the profits, which are to be divided between these parties, there should be deducted from the proceeds of the sale, first, the principal of the mortgage; amounting to $30,000, and the current interest due thereon betvveen'the date of the maturity of the last installment of interest and the date of the sale; second, $70,000, balance of the capital stock, and interest at six per cent, thereon from the date of the contract to the date of the sale; third, taxes and expenses paid by Ingraham, and interest at six per cent, thereon from the time of payment up to the day of sale; fourth, taxes and expenses, if any, paid by Cooper or his assignees, and interest thereon at six per cent, from the time of payment up to the date of sale. After deducting these amounts, the remainder will be the profits which are to be divided between the parties. The deductions so to be made, in order to reach the amount of the profits, are to be distributed as follows: To the holders of the note and mortgage, $30,000 and interest thereon since the maturity of the last installment of interest; to the estate of Ingraham, $70,000 and six per cent, interest thereon up to the date of sale; also to said estate the taxes and expenses paid by Ingraham or his representatives, and interest thereon up to the date of sale; and to the appellees, such taxes and expenses, with interest at six per cent., as they have paid out.”

Counsel for plaintiffs, after referring to- the part of the opinion above quoted, say: “But the opinion does not say, in either connection, that such payments are to be made'in that order, or that Ingraham is entitled to be repaid the balance of $70,000 of his so-called capital and interest thereon, before the payment of the carrying charges—or that Ingraham is to be repaid his advances for carrying charges, with interest thereon, before Cooper and his assigns are to be repaid theirs, if they have made any advances. On the contrary, the obvious -meaning is, that the loan secured by mortgage on the premises, which is a lien upon the property, shall be first removed, because in no other wise could title be given; that next the carrying charges, the so-called expenses of the enterprise should be repaid; and then, out of the remainder, should be paid the so-called $70,000 of capital with interest thereon, if the proceeds were sufficient therefor.”

If this is true of the opinion, we cannot perceive why it is not also true of the decree, which follows the opinion.

2. Counsel for plaintiffs contend that the decree is erroneous, in that it provides “ that in case there should be no profits, and there should not be sufficient to repay the capital, interest and expenditures aforesaid, each of the parties shall pay his^ro rata share of the losses, according to the contribution made by each.” In view of the opinion in In-graham v. Mariner, supra, that “ Cooper contributed no capital at all,” ib. 280, which is equally true of the plaintiffs, his assignees, we cannot perceive how the language criticised can injuriously affect the plaintiffs. It must be presumed that the Circuit Court in carrying the decree into effect will be guided by the opinion in Ingraham v. Mariner. But the same provision, in precisely the same language, is contained in the decree of July 6, 1900, which decree, as has been shown, was affirmed in Ingraham v. Mariner, supra, except in one respect, which does not affect the effect of the affirmance. That the provision did not escape the attention of the court, on appeal, is evidenced by the fact that it appears in the statement preceding the opinion. 194 Ill. p. 275.

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Related

Ingraham v. Mariner
165 Ill. App. 200 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1911)

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Bluebook (online)
127 Ill. App. 550, 1906 Ill. App. LEXIS 422, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mariner-v-ingraham-illappct-1906.