Narváez v. González

16 P.R. 182
CourtSupreme Court of Puerto Rico
DecidedMarch 28, 1910
DocketNo. 461
StatusPublished

This text of 16 P.R. 182 (Narváez v. González) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Narváez v. González, 16 P.R. 182 (prsupreme 1910).

Opinion

Mr. Justice MacLeary

delivered the opinion of the court.

[184]*184In this case the plaintiff made an application to a district judge for a preliminary writ of injunction, which was granted, bnt which was afterwards dissolved on the motion of the defendant'. The order dissolving the said injunction from which this appeal was taken reads as follows:

“Order. — By deed of April 8, 1907, Antonio Chinea Rodríguez acknowledged that he owed Mr. Francisco Carrero y Alvarez the sum of $900 on a loan bearing no interest, and for the term of one year; and in order to secure the debt and $200 more for expenses he mortgaged the properties of said Chinea. The deed wherein such mortgage appeared was presented in the Register of Properties of San Juan on April 15 of said year 1907, and recorded on August 14, thereafter.
“While the recording of said mortgage was pending said Antonio Chinea Rodríguez sold the two properties to Julián Navárez by deed of May 30, 1907 — that is to say, one month after the execution of said mortgage and some days after the presentation of same in the registrar’s office for inscription. Nothing is said and no mention is made in such sale of the mortgage previously executed upon the properties. On January 23, 1909, Francisco Carrero y Alvarez transferred said mortgage to Antonio González y Fernández by a deed which was recorded in the register of properties. On March 19 the grantee or assignee, Antonio González, instituted the summary proceedings provided for in the Mortgage Law against Julián Narváez, the present owner of the property, whicli proceeding was discontinued by an order rendered by the second section of this district court, issued by virtue of an application for injunction made by Julián Narváez against Antonio González y Fernández, in a suit previously instituted by the former against Francisco Carrero y Alvarez in order that the mortgage deed and the inscription thereof might by declared null.
“It is stated in said suit, seeking the nullity of the mortgage, that when he bought from Chinea, it was not stated that any mortgage had been constituted upon the properties sold, but that thereafter he heard it, and it is a matter of which he is certain, that said properties appear to be mortgaged by Francisco Carrero for the sum of $900 as principal and $200 for expenses, such incumbrance appearing in the register of properties; and it is further alleged that in said mortgage deed Antonio Chinea appears as a widower, he then being and is now married to Aquilina Cheveres, who has not given her express [185]*185or implied consent for tbe execution of sucb lien, for which reason he prayed the nullity referred to.
“The application for injunction against Antonio González Fer-nández to stop the mortgage proceedings contains the same statement of facts as is contained in the summary proceedings instituted by the said Antonio González y Fernández, grantee of Francisco Carrero,' that the properties will be sold at public auction and that irreparable and great damages will be occasioned to the petitioner.
• “Antonio González has taken an appeal from the order rendered by the court suspending the mortgage proceedings, requesting the annulment and revocation of said order.
“Although the petition for injunction was not sworn to when it was presented, however, the court permitted and admitted the presentation of the oath when the petition in which the revocation was Requested was discussed.
“From the foregoing we arrive at the conclusion that the present owner of the property, Julián Narváez, acknowledges that the mortgage was established by a public deed which was recorded in the register of properties, although this fact was not known by him when hie bought said property and, therefore, that the reason he might h.ave for refusing to make the payment would be that the document •containing a loan and mortgage might be void because the consent •of the wife did not appear therein, since Antonio Chinea was married .and not a widower when he bound himself.
“In order that an injunction may issue, it is necessary that a ■clear right to the thing claimed appear prima facie on the petition, and in this case we do not think such a right appears, inasmuch as the reason alleged for the nullity of the mortgage is that Antonio 'Chinea was married and not a widower when he encumbered his properties, which fact is only apparent from the sworn application requesting the injunction, but, on the other hand, it is evident that the public deeds aver that he was a widower at the time the contract was executed, and further that the mortgage was recorded in the register of properties, which could not have been effected if it certainly appeared in such documents that the properties belonged to the conjugal partnership, and this is so, because we have to suppose, under the law of evidence, that all officials comply with their duties, and, therefore, that in this case the registrar complied with his duties; so that, if he recorded the mortgage, it was for the reason that the properties appeared in his books in such a condition that the consent of the wife was unnecessary to encumber the properties'. Besides, in ■order that a right may be had to the extraordinary remedy of the [186]*186injunction, it is necessary that the party applying for it must not have incurred any fault, and from the foregoing it appears that when Julián Narvaez bought the properties from Antonio Chinea he should have had knowledge of the fact that they were mortgaged,, inasmuch as the deed of loan and mortgage had already been presented in the register and the books of that office can be inspected by the public.
“Furthermore, the complaint and petition for injunction are not sufficient per se to establish the necessity of the wife’s appearance in the execution of the deed where the nullity is requested and on which the injunction • depends, inasmuch as it is alleged that Aquilina Cheveres did not give her express or implied consent to levy such incumbrance and said consent was necessary because Antonio Chinea, acquired the properties during his marriage to Aquilina Cheveres; and even if it was true, this fact by itself would not be sufficient,. prima facie, to support of the petition, inasmuch as he could have acquired the properties during' his marriage, and yet they might not; belong to the conjugal partnership for the reason that they were his. private properties.
“Furthermore, it is not sufficient to allege that petitioner might have suffered great and irreparable damages, but it is necessary to set forth the facts and circumstances whereby the damages became of such a nature, especially when in cases like the one at bar the petitioner might obtain from his vendor a pecuniary compensation on account of his having concealed from him the fact the property was; encumbered.
“For these reasons we are of the opinion that the writ of injunction issued by this court on May 20, 1909, second section, discontinuing the summary proceedings instituted by Antonio González; against Julián Narváez which are now being prosecuted in the first, section, must be and is hereby dissolved without any special assessment of costs.”

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Bluebook (online)
16 P.R. 182, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/narvaez-v-gonzalez-prsupreme-1910.