Marston v. Catterlin

192 S.W. 413, 270 Mo. 5, 1917 Mo. LEXIS 2
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedFebruary 2, 1917
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 192 S.W. 413 (Marston v. Catterlin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Marston v. Catterlin, 192 S.W. 413, 270 Mo. 5, 1917 Mo. LEXIS 2 (Mo. 1917).

Opinion

WILLIAMS, J.

— This is a proceeding by a supplemental bill to have the title to certain land decreed to be in the plaintiff or, if the land should be found to be beyond the reach of the court, then to have the defendant Catterlin account to the plaintiff for the proceeds of the sale of said land. This is the second appeal in the case. The first appeal is reported in the 239th Missouri Eeport, at page 390. The opinion in that case should be read in connection with this opinion in order to have a correct understanding of the facts. Upon the first appeal, this court reversed the judgment of the trial court and held that the plaintiff should be vested with the title to the real estate in question. Defendant Hodnett was not a party to the original suit. Before final judgment was had upon the first trial, in the trial court, defendant Catterlin conveyed the land in suit, and when the mandate was returned to the trial court this supplemental bill was filed by plaintiff which brought in Joseph Hodnett as an additional defendant. Hodnett was the record owner of the land.

Trial was had in the circuit court of Bates County. The trial court denied plaintiff’s right to recover from Catterlin the proceeds of the sale of said land by him, but [10]*10found that plaintiff was entitled to recover the land from defendant Hodnett, upon the payment to said Hodnett of the sum of $348.10. Prom this judgment both the plaintiff and defendant Hodnett duly perfected an appeal to this court.

The supplemental petition, after stating the facts embraced in the first appeal, alleges that after the filing of the original petition and on the third day of September, 1904, defendant Catterlin conveyed the land to Lyman Lyons and that on the same day said Lyons conveyed the premises to Ray Wolfe; that on November 18, 1904, said Wolfe conveyed said premis'es to Ralph Earhart; that on January 23,1906, said Earhart conveyed said premises to defendant Joseph Hodnett; that all of said conveyances were without consideration and did not represent bonafide transactions between the parties, and that the grantees purchased with full notice of the claim of plaintiff, as set up in his original petition in this action. The prayer of the petition asks that all of the said conveyances be canceled and that the title to said real estate be vested and quieted in the plaintiff. The following was also a part of the prayer; “That if upon final hearing of the cause, the court shall find that the defendant Hodnett is a purchaser in good faith and for value of said property so that the said plaintiff shall have no right of redemption against him, said defendant Catterlin shall be decreed to account for and pay over to the plaintiff the proceeds of the said property so conveyed by him since the filing off the original petition herein, in addition to the rents and profits from said property.” This was followed by a plea for general relief.

The separate answer of defendant Hodnett stated that he purchased the property in January, 1905, for a valuable consideration, from one Earhart, the record owner thereof. Said separate answer also contained a general denial of the allegations of the supplemental bill.

The separate answer of defendant Catterlin pleads the judgment of the Supreme Court on the former appeal in this case, wherein it was held that plaintiff was entitled to the land upon paying said Catterlin said redemption [11]*11money. The separate answer further alleges that Catterlin has sold all his right, title and interest in said land and now has no further interest therein except certain deed of trust liens thereon given him by purchasers of the land. He prays that the .court ascertain the' amount of money which the plaintiff ought to pay under the former ruling of the Supreme Court and asks that he have judgment for that amount against the plaintiff.

The evidence tends to show that on September 3,1904, and while this suit was pending on the original petition, in the circuit court of Bates County, the defendant Catterlin conveyed the land in suit, by special warranty deed, to one Lyons. However, this deed from Catterlin to Lyons, as recorded by the Eecorder of Deeds, appears upon the records in the Eecorder’s office, in effect at least, as a general warranty deed! Thereafter, and on the same day, said Lyons executed a deed of trust on said land to secure a note for twelve hundred dollars, payable to said Catterlin, and, thereafter, and on the same day, by warranty deed, conveyed the property to one Wolfe. It appears that neither Lyons nor Wolfe paid anything for this proprty, but acted merely as accomodation holders of the title for said Catterlin. On November 18, 1904, said Wolfe, by warranty deed, conveyed the land to one Earhart, subject to this deed of trust' for twelve hundred dollars. On November 25, 1904, said Earhart executed a second deed of trust on said land to secure a note for $250, payable to said Catterlin. There was some evidence tending to show that the deal with-Earhart was between defendant Catterlin and Earhart and that in exchange for the land involved in this suit, which was then owned by Catterlin, Earhart, through mesne conveyances, conveyed to defendant Catterlin, three and one-half acres of land in Jackson County, Missouri, which was then subject to a deed of trust for $1670.' On January 23, 1905, said Earhart conveyed, by warranty'deed, the land involved in this suit to defendant Hodnett, who was then an attorney of Illinois and who had gone to Kansas City for the purpose of selling some oil stock then owned by him.; The trade between Hodnett and Earhart was negotiated by Mr. C. B. Ehodes, a real es[12]*12tate dealer of Kansas City. Defendant Hodnett gave one hundred dollars in cash and seven thousand shares of the Hudson Oil and Gras Company stock for the land. There is some evidence that the oil stock proved, afterwards, to he valueless. Defendant Hodnett testified that the oil stock was then worth about thirty cents a share and he considered that he was paying about four thousand dollars for the land involved in this suit. Defendant Hodnett admitted that he examined an abstract of title to this land. On the abstract sheet showing the deed from Catterlin to. Lyons the words “special warranty deed” were written. No other or further words describing or defining the deed were used in the abstract. It also appears from the evidence that defendant Hodnett, before he purchased the land from Earhart, talked with defendant Catterlin over a long-distance telephone line from Kansas City to Butler. The witnesses disagree as to what was said in this talk over the telephone. Defendant Catterlin testified that Hodnett asked him why he gave a special warranty deed, and that he replied that the land was in litigation and that the sale under the deed of trust was being questioned. Hodnett testified that he talked to Catterlin to inquire about the character of the land- and about the title in general and that Catterlin told him over the ’phone that the title was good. Defendant Hodnett testified that he had no infor-r mation concerning this litigation at the time that he bought the land. After buying the land he paid to defendant Catterlin the sum of $1920.80. This was the amount of the two mortgages against the property plus interest. This was not all paid at one time, but was paid at several different times until both mortgages were finally paid. It is admitted that no notice of Us pendens was ever filed in the cause until 1912, which'was long after these convey-' anees were made.

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Related

Hunott v. Critchlow
285 S.W.2d 594 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1955)
McAboy v. Packer
187 S.W.2d 207 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1945)
Marston v. Catterlin
234 S.W. 816 (Supreme Court of Missouri, 1921)

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Bluebook (online)
192 S.W. 413, 270 Mo. 5, 1917 Mo. LEXIS 2, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/marston-v-catterlin-mo-1917.