Murphy v. Teutsch

132 N.W. 435, 22 N.D. 102, 1911 N.D. LEXIS 13
North Dakota Supreme Court·Decided June 5, 1911·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

Orawkord, Special Judge.

The complaint in this case in substance alleges: That at all times mentioned therein plaintiff was the owner in fee of certain lots in the city of Minot of the value of $16,000. That defendants Teutscb and Swenson held mechanics’ liens against said premises, and an action was brought by Teutscb to foreclose tbe same on or about April 16, 1908. Thereafter, and on tbe 27th day of August, 1908, judgment was entered in favor of Teutscb for $190.10, and in favor of Swenson in tbe sum of $838.38; and said defendants were adjudged to have a lien on tbe lots described, and a direction that said premises be sold to satisfy said liens. That thereafter tbe sheriff levied upon said property under special execution, and advertised tbe same for sale, and sold tbe same on October 24, 1908, to Teutscb and Swenson for tbe sum of $1,067.08, and, on tbe 9th day of November following, tbe sheriff executed and delivered a certificate of sale to Teutscb and Swenson jointly, with the usual recitations. That plaintiff bad, at various times prior to tbe expiration of tbe period of redemption, paid to Swenson several sums of money, amounting in tbe aggregate to $350, and subsequent to tbe payment of tbe said money, and •on tbe 20th day of October, 1909, tbe plaintiff, through her agent, interviewed said Swenson relative to effecting a redemption of tbe said premises from said foreclosure sale, and stated to said Swenson that said plaintiff would pay the full amount necessary to redeem said premises on tbe 30th day of October, 1909, to which Swenson agreed, and further informed tbe plaintiff that, if said sum was paid on said date, it would be satisfactory, and at tbe same time stating that tbe period •of redemption did not expire until tbe 9th day of November, 1909, .all of which was communicated to tbe plaintiff by her agent, and the plaintiff relied upon tbe statements, and believed that she bad full legal right to redeem said premises any time prior to November 9, 1909, ■further alleging that, during all tbe times mentioned, Swenson bad tbe custody of tbe certificate of sale, and was at all times fully authorized by tbe said defendant Teutscb to accept and receive money paid by tbe plaintiff for tbe purpose of redeeming tbe premises from tbe ■foreclosure sale. That on tbe 30th day of October, 1909, tbe plaintiff, through her agent, tendered to tbe sheriff of Ward county tbe full amount necessary to redeem said premises, which tender was refused, and thereafter, on tbe same day, deposited tbe amount necessary to [104] redeem in a bank in Minot to tbe credit of said sheriff, and gave notice to the sheriff of the deposit of the money to his credit for the purpose of redeeming the premises from said sale. Two days later the defendant paid defendant Swenson $579, the balance due him, and he executed a certificate of redemption as to his interest in said foreclosure sale. ■

To this statement of facts the plaintiff adds, among other things, her prayer for relief that she be adjudged and decreed to be entitled to redeem said premises from said foreclosure sale within such time as may be fixed by the court. The complaint shows upon its face that the proceedings were regular for the foreclosure of the mechanics’ liens up to and including the issuance of the sheriff’s certificate; that plaintiff had a legal right to redeem from that foreclosure up to October 24, 1909. That right she failed to exercise. For the loss of the right which followed as a consequence of her failure to do so, she seeks redress in this action, and asks the court to permit her to redeem after the year of redemption has expired.

The power of courts of equity give relief in certain class of cases, and permit a redemption of real estate sold under execution after the statutory period of redemption has expired, has been generally recognized, and such power has been exercised when a proper state of facts required it. See Prondzinski v. Garbutt, 8 N. D. 191, 77 N. W. 1012; Laing v. McKee, 13 Mich. 124, 87 Am. Dec. 738; Wilson v. Eggleston, 27 Mich. 257; Graffam v. Burgess, 117 U. S. 180, 29 L. ed. 839, 6 Sup. Ct. Pep. 686; Schroeder v. Young, 161 U. S. 334, 40 L. ed. 721, 16 Sup. Ct. Rep. 512; Hart v. Seymour, 147 Ill. 598, 35 N. E. 246. Such power has been exercised by courts of equity most frequently upon a sufficient showing of either fraud, accident, or justifiable mistake.

The defendant Teutsch relies mainly upon two propositions: (1) That the plaintiff allowed the statutory period of redemption to expire, and has not brought herself within any of the rules in which courts of equity will afford relief. (2) If the acts of Swenson were sufficient, such acts are not chargeable to nor binding upon him.

All the transactions had concerning the redemption from said sale prior to the expiration of the period of redemption were with Swenson, who accepted $350 prior to the expiration of the period and the bal[105] anee due him on October 30, 1910, in accordance with his agreement to extend the time for redemption to that date.

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Murphy v. Teutsch, 132 N.W. 435, 22 N.D. 102, 1911 N.D. LEXIS 13 (N.D. 1911).

132 N.W. 435 (Murphy v. Teutsch) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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