New York Life Insurance v. Breen

289 N.W. 16, 227 Iowa 738
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedDecember 12, 1939
DocketNo. 44928.
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 289 N.W. 16 (New York Life Insurance v. Breen) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
New York Life Insurance v. Breen, 289 N.W. 16, 227 Iowa 738 (iowa 1939).

Opinion

Hale, J.

On the trial of this cause two proceedings were consolidated and tried together in the original real estate foreclosure and decided in one order. The issues in the two actions were: First, petition of Oscar Olson, holder of the sheriff’s certificate, asking for sheriff’s deed; second, motion of Mollie Breen, who was substituted as defendant in the original action, and Paul Felciai, to whom she had contracted to convey the real estate in question, to determine the amount necessary to redeem from sheriff’s sale. In considering these matters we will take them up in the order adopted by the parties to the action.

Prior to 1934 the New York Life Insurance Company was the holder of a real estate mortgage covering the east 20 feet of the west 20% feet of lot 1, block 49, original town of Fort Dodge, which was owned by T. F. Breen. On November 16th of that year the mortgagee commenced a real estate foreclosure against the above-described property, and on November 24, 1934, the defendant T. F. Breen applied for continuance. This application was resisted and a continuance was granted to March 1, 1935. Later, on April 16, 1935, on the application of the owner, a second order of continuance was made. Under the first continuance W. J. Carter of Fort Dodge was appointed assistant receiver, and under the said continuance he was appointed receiver. In March 1936, the plaintiff filed a petition asking the termination of the continuance, and on the 23d of April, 1936, this continuance was terminated and a decree of foreclosure entered. Foreclosure sale was held on June 1, 1936; the New York Life Insurance Company, as judgment creditor, was purchaser on its bid of $15,390.03, leaving a deficiency judgment in the sum of $841.07. Interest provided for in the *741 foreclosure decree was 7 per cent. Costs were paid by the insurance company and certificate of sheriffs sale issued to it. Thereafter the New York Life Insurance Company sold and delivered the certificate of sale to Oscar Olson, who appears as intervener in this proceeding. Thereafter T. F. Breen conveyed the. property involved, with other property purchased by the National Gypsum Company, to his sister Mollie Breen, who now appears in the proceedings as substituted defendant. During the year of redemption a receiver was appointed to retain possession until the expiration of the year of redemption, but prior to June 1, 1937, an order was entered by the court extending the period of redemption to Mollie Breen to March 1, 1939, under the provisions of S. F. 16 of the Forty-seventh General Assembly. In substance such order provided for the appointment of W. J. Carter as receiver, with provisions for renting and the application of the funds to be derived from such rentals, first, for the payment of taxes and special assessments; second, for the payment of insurance; and third, for maintenance, upkeep; or repairs; and the order directed that the balance or balances should be applied on the deficiency judgment. It further provided as follows:

“If the act which this order is entered be repealed or held invalid by any Court of last resort prior to March 1, 1939, or if the emergency shall cease to exist, then this order shall he terminated. ’ ’

From this order no appeal was taken.

This was the situation on January 14, 1939, when the in-tervener Paul Felciai, purchaser from Mollie Breen, paid into the clerk’s office the sum of $17,264.04 in order to redeem the property in question. It was claimed by the redemptioner and the other defendants that the amount should be less, but the full amount demanded by the attorneys of plaintiff was paid in, and there was filed on the same day the motion of Paul Felciai and Mollie Breen under section 11792 of the 1935 Code for the purpose of determining the amount necessary to redeem. The motion also states that on December 31, 1938, demand was made upon the receiver to furnish an accounting, but the accounting and payment into the clerk’s office was not completed until January 10, 1939.

Three days later, on January 17, 1939, Olson, intervener, *742 filed a resistance to tbe foregoing motion, alleging ownership of tbe sheriff’s certificate of sale; actual notice of movants and their attorney; and claiming that all rights of any party to redeem expired on June 1, 1937. He denies the good faith of the motion and the tender of the money; and by amendment filed on January 20, 1939, makes general denial, and alleges demand on the sheriff for deed. He alleges that at no time had Felciai, Mollie Breen, or their attorneys called on him to aid in computing the amount necessary to redeem; that he has authorized no person to compute or negotiate for redemption; denies knowledge of any sale to Felciai; and alleges that the order of extension of time of redemption was made subject to the decision of the supreme court of the state of Iowa; that the moratorium statute, designated as S. F. 15 of the Forty-seventh General Assembly has been held void and that the statute for extension of time of redemption, known as S. F. 16 of the Forty-seventh General Assembly, is unconstitutional and void.

On the same day, January 17, 1939, Olson filed petition of intervention asking for sheriff’s deed; alleging demand of sheriff for such deed; that the time for redemption had expired and no redemption had been made.

On January 20, 1939, Mollie Breen and Paul Felciai filed a reply to Olson’s resistance, setting out the sale to Felciai for the difference between the redemption money and the purchase price, $22,750, such redemption amount appearing to them to be $16,217.61. The sale was by contract and the closing of the sale was to have been on January 3, 1939, but said Mollie Breen was unable to obtain the abstract. At the same time these mov-ants requested of the plaintiff’s and intervener’s attorneys that the receiver report and the same request was made of the receiver, and that he pay over such money as should be on hand, and on the 10th of January 1939, the receiver paid the money into the clerk’s office. The deed from Mollie Breen to Felciai was made January 3, 1939, and the amount computed by the insurance company and Olson was paid into the clerk’s office as stated. The movants deny that the order of extension in the case was ever appealed from and state that on January 14, 1939, such order was in good standing, and still is.

The difference in the amounts computed by the different parties is largely predicated upon taxes which the insurance *743 company claims to have paid and which Felciai and Breen deny; and another difference is in the deficiency judgment. The mov-ants object to the rentals of the property in question as reported by the receiver, and the charges made by the receiver in such receivership.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
289 N.W. 16, 227 Iowa 738, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/new-york-life-insurance-v-breen-iowa-1939.