Morris v. Southwest Savings and Loan Association

449 P.2d 301, 9 Ariz. App. 65, 1969 Ariz. App. LEXIS 361
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedJanuary 6, 1969
Docket1 CA-CIV 696
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 449 P.2d 301 (Morris v. Southwest Savings and Loan Association) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Morris v. Southwest Savings and Loan Association, 449 P.2d 301, 9 Ariz. App. 65, 1969 Ariz. App. LEXIS 361 (Ark. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

STEVENS, Judge.

The issue presented to this Court is the propriety of the after judgment order entered by the trial court which denied the appellant’s motion to intervene and which order in effect also denied other requested relief.

On 1 February, 1965, Southwest Savings and Loan Association, hereinafter referred to as Southwest, filed a mortgage foreclosure action. Among the defendants were Metropolitan Trust, a corporation, Union Title Company, a corporation as trustee and Union Title Company, a corporation, as well as other named and fictitious parties. The action sought to foreclose a *67 mortgage dated 7 June, 1963, wherein Metropolitan was the mortgagor and Southwest was the mortgagee. The mortgage related to lots 10 and 12, block 35, original townsite of Phoenix and was recorded on 28 June, 1963. One Ewing was appointed as the receiver in the foreclosure action, his certificate of appointment being dated 12 March, 1965.

Bushnell was later appointed as the receiver for Union Title and a pleading filed by him on 25 May, 1966, recited that he was appointed as receiver on 5 April, 1965.

Shortly after the commencement of the foreclosure action, Mr. and Mrs. Fogel were served. They filed a pleading on 27 May, 1965, whereby they placed in issue the consideration for the mortgage and the note thereby secured; the title and legal capacity of Metropolitan to execute the mortgage; their contention that the mortgage conveyed no interest whatsoever in the property; and their contention that Union Title held the property under trust No. H-105, Mr. Fogel claiming to be the sole beneficiary under said trust for himself and for others.

There were other issues between parties to the litigation which need not be recited in this opinion.

On 28 June, 1966, a judgment of foreclosure was entered which determined the Fogels’ contentions adversely to the Fogels. Among other matters included in the judgment was a decision, “ * * * that the mortgage is a valid and existing lien on the property covered by such mortgage and is a first lien on such property * * * The judgment further contained a Rule 54(b), Rules of Civil Procedure, 16 A.R.S., determination. This judgment became final. On 28 March, 1967, further issues between other parties were reduced to formal written judgments. Receiver Ewing then filed his account and report of his receivership which was noticed for hearing for 21 April, 1967.

On 20 April, 1967, the appellant in his representative capacity, as noted in the caption to this opinion, made his first appearance in the cause by pleading entitled “MOTION TO INTERVENE, OBJECTION TO RECEIVER’S REPORT — MOTION TO VACATE JUDGMENT * * * He urges that he had no prior notice of the foreclosure action and this assertion is not controverted. The pleading was verified. Morris alleged that he was “ * * * the duly appointed, qualified and acting trustee, as a successor trustee, in certain indenture trust some, or all of which affect the property which is the subject of this cause of action”. He further alleged that the foreclosure was void for want of indispensable parties. In this connection he alleged that the indispensable party was the Vinco Corporation. He alleged that prior to the mortgage in question, Union Title as trustee, sold the property in question to Vinco; that an escrow was established with Union Title and the escrow number was alleged; that a down payment was made and the amount thereof was alleged; that prior to the foreclosure action Vinco became the subject of a Chapter X reorganization proceeding in the United States District Court in Michigan and the pleading alleged the court and case number; that a restraining order was issued in connection with that proceedings; and that the property in question was included with the Chapter X proceeding. Morris further alleged that in a separate and distinct action, namely Maricopa County Cause No. 168136, Union Title as trustee, admitted that it had wrongfully permitted the property in question to be mortgaged.

Morris did not attach any exhibits to his pleadings. The motion was heard on 5 May, 1967 and at the conclusion of the hearing, the following order was entered, namely: “IT IS ORDERED that the Motion to Intervene is denied.” The minutes of the hearing are silent as to any evidence being introduced and they are silent as to any request that the trial court take judicial notice of any other proceeding. The Court of Appeals reviews the action of the trial court in the light of the record pre *68 sented to the trial court as the same appears in the record presented to the Court of Appeals.

There is no showing as to the source or extent of the Morris authority as successor trustee. There is no showing that Morris became successor trustee in the action now under consideration. There is no showing as to matters which relate to the property in question in connection with the Michigan bankruptcy proceeding. There is no showing as to the privilege of Morris to appear in the action now under consideration and to raise issues on behalf of Vinco. Persons who do not demonstrate their right to intervene are not entitled to intervene.

Rule 24(a), Rules of Civil Procedure, 16 A.R.S., amended as of 31 October, 1966, provides in part that:

“[u]pon timely application anyone shall be permitted to intervene in an action: * * * (2) when the applicant claims an interest relating to the property or transaction which is the subject of the action and he is so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest.”

In connection with the amendment, the note of the State Bar Committee found in the annotations to the rule contains the following comment:

“Whether a party is in fact so situated that the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect his interests is a question to be determined by the court; it is not sufficient that such an impairment or impedement is pleaded.”

We deem the following statement contained in Miller v. City of Phoenix, 51 Ariz. 254, 75 P.2d 1033 (1938) to be pertinent even though Miller was decided prior to the time that Arizona conformed its civil rules to the federal rules;

“We hold, therefore, that the interest which an intervenor must have is a direct and immediate interest in the case, so that the judgment to be rendered would have a direct legal effect upon his rights, and not merely a possible and contingent equitable effect.”

In our opinion the record is not sufficient to demonstrate Vinco’s right to intervene or the Morris right to appear on behalf of Vinco.

The appellant urges that the case of Siler v. Superior Court, 83 Ariz. 49, 316 P.2d 296 (1957) is controlling. In that case Siler was the person who held a beneficial interest in the liquor license in question and was the same person who sought to intervene. This Court considered Siler in the case of City of Flagstaff v. Babbitt, 8 Ariz.App. 123, 443 P.2d 938 (1968).

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Bluebook (online)
449 P.2d 301, 9 Ariz. App. 65, 1969 Ariz. App. LEXIS 361, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/morris-v-southwest-savings-and-loan-association-arizctapp-1969.