Mullens v. Geo. C. Wright Lbr. Co.

1938 OK 117, 77 P.2d 700, 182 Okla. 355, 1938 Okla. LEXIS 552
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedFebruary 21, 1938
DocketNo. 27812.
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 1938 OK 117 (Mullens v. Geo. C. Wright Lbr. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mullens v. Geo. C. Wright Lbr. Co., 1938 OK 117, 77 P.2d 700, 182 Okla. 355, 1938 Okla. LEXIS 552 (Okla. 1938).

Opinion

OSBORN, C. J.

This action was instituted in the district court of Jackson county by Geo. C. Wright Lumber Company, hereinafter referred to as plaintiff, against the Universal Oil Development Company, Tradesmen’s National Bank, Bert Mullens, and J. Russell Weil, hereinafter referred to as defendants, for the purpose of establishing and foreclosing a materialman’s lien upon an oil and gas leasehold estate and a certain drilling rig. W. C. Baker and Ermon Walden were made parties defendants and each filed a cross-petition against the defendants, alleging liens for supplies and material furnished to defendants and used in the drilling of the oil and gas well involved herein. The parties last named will be referred to as cross-petitioners. The cause was tried to the court and a judgment rendered against defendants Universal Oil Development Company and Mullens and - Weil in favor of plaintiff and in favor of cross-petitioners, establishing the lien claimed by them and decreeing a foreclosure thereof against the oil and gas leasehold estate and the drilling- rig. The defendants Mullens and Weil have appealed from said judgment.

It appears that the defendant Universal Oil Development. Company was the owner of an oil and gas lease in Jackson county and was desirous of drilling a well thereon for oil and gas. On December 7, 1985, said defendant entered into a written contract with the defendants Mullens and Weil whereby said company leased from them a rotary drilling rig for the purpose of drilling said well. By the terms of said contract the Universal Company was granted an option to purchase said rig for a consideration of $6,000; it was further provided that said company should keep said rig free and clear of all liens or incum-brances of any kind or character, including laborers’ liens and materialmen’s liens, and to guarantee faithful performance of said covenant, said company agreed to deliver a cashier’s check in the amount of $1,000, payable to Mullens and Weil, to the Tradesmen’s National Bank in Oklahoma City to be held in escrow for a period of 90 days after the -possession of the drilling rig was returned to Mullens and Weil; it was further provided that if the option to purchase was not exercised and if any liens were filed against the drilling rig, then the bank should deliver the check to Mullens and Weil in satisfaction of any such claims. The contract further provided that the Universal Company should bear the expense of moving the rig to any location designated by Mul-lens and Weil within a radius of 200 miles of the drilling location of said company after the well was drilled. This contract - was recorded in the office of the county clerk of Jackson county on December 10, 1935.

It appears that some contention arose between the parties as to the condition of the drilling rig, it being the contention of the Universal Company that various repairs were necessary, and on January 2, 1936, a supplemental agreement was entered into between the parties in settlement of the controversy regarding the repairs made by the Universal Company. The supplemental agreement provided for some reduction in the rental to be paid for the use of the rig *356 and a reduced purchase price in the event the company elected to exercise its option to purchase, to the sum of $B',500, and further provided that the company might withdraw the cashier’s check in the Tradesmen’s National Bank and deposit a cashier’s check for the sum of $500 for the same purpose as outlined in the previous contract.

Various other supplemental written contracts were entered into between the parties from time to time, the details of which are not germane to the issue involved herein, but on May 7, 1936, after the well was completed, another written agreement was entered into between said parties wherein it was provided that the sum of. $500 on deposit in the Tradesmen’s National Bank in Oklahoma City should be paid to Mullens and Weil in lieu of the expense of moving the drilling rig away from the location pof the defendant company and in further consideration of the sum of $150 which was due said Mullens and Weil for rental. It appears that thereafter the sum of $500 which had been deposited in escrow with said hank was paid to said Mullens and Weil and that they removed the drilling rig from the state of Oklahoma- to the state of Texas. None of the supplemental agreements were recorded.

It appears that the supplies which were sold by plaintiff company to the Universal Company consisted for the most part of repairs and replacements upon the drilling rig. Said company proved its claim for material and supplies furnished in the sum of $286.17. Cross-petitioner Ermon Walden proved a claim in the sum of $305. Cross-petitioner W. C. Baker proved a claim for $177.53.

At the conclusion of the trial, judgment was rendered in favor of the plaintiff, George C. Wright Lumber Company, and the cross-petitioners above named against the defendant Universal Oil Development Company and B. Mullens and J. R. Weil. It was held by the court that the liens of said parties extended to the oil and gas leasehold and the drilling rig. It was further held that, since the defendants Mullens and Weil had removed the drilling rig out of the jurisdiction of the court, said plaintiff and cross-petitioners were entitled to a personal judgment against said defendants. No appeal is prosecuted by the defendant Universal Oil Development Company. The appeal is prosecuted only by the defendants Mullens and Weil.

Defendants insist that, since the title to the drilling rig was retained at all times by them, the same never became subject to materialmente liens and that the court erred in fixing such liens against said property, citing U. S. Supply Co. v. Andrews, 71 Okla. 293, 176 P. 967; Okmulgee Supply Corporation v. Oil Well Supply Co., 167 Okla. 505, 30 P.2d 903; Garber & Pulse, Inc., v. Gloyd, 168 Okla. 88, 31 P.2d 947; Kissinger v. Burgher Oil & Gas Co., 174 Okla. 49, 49 P.2d 1049. The facts involved herein are dissimilar to the facts involved in any of the cited cases. The theory upon which the trial court rendered judgment against defendants is stated in the findings of the court as follows:

“It is the further order and decree of the court that by reason of the terms of the contract * * * as made and entered into by and between the defendant, Bert Mul-lens and J. Russell Weil, on the one part and the said Universal Development Company on the other part, which contract was dated December 7, 1935', and- which was filed of record in the office of the county clerk of Jackson county, Okla., on December 10, 1936, and by reason of the payment and deposit of the sum of $1,000 as provided therein to and for the said Bert Mul-lens and J. Russell Weil for use either as part payment on the purchase price of the said material and equipment if the Universal Oil Development Company should so exercise the right, and option therein granted and take and purchase the same, or, if the said option was not so exercised, then for the only other alternative use of devoting the same to the satisfaction, meaning payment, of any lien claims of any kind or character, which might be filed against said drilling rig and equipment and by reason of the course of handling thereon and all the circumstances involved as shown herein, the equities are with and should be declared and found in favor of the plaintiff and the defendants W. C. Baker and Ermon Walden, as between the plaintiff, and said defendants, ns against the defendants Bert Mullens find ,T. Russell Weil, upon the claim of right to a lien upon said rig.

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Bluebook (online)
1938 OK 117, 77 P.2d 700, 182 Okla. 355, 1938 Okla. LEXIS 552, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mullens-v-geo-c-wright-lbr-co-okla-1938.