Palatka Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Raczkowski

263 So. 2d 842, 1972 Fla. App. LEXIS 6677
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJuly 13, 1972
DocketNo. O-306
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 263 So. 2d 842 (Palatka Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Raczkowski) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Palatka Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. Raczkowski, 263 So. 2d 842, 1972 Fla. App. LEXIS 6677 (Fla. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

SPECTOR, Chief Judge.

Appellant seeks reversal of a final judgment in favor of appellees Frank A. Bur-[843]*843ney and Nellie S. Burney, his wife, which was entered in a mortgage foreclosure suit,

The undisputed facts underlying this controversy reflect that appellee Racz-kowski owned a parcel of land which he mortgaged to appellant, Palatka Federal Savings and Loan Association. Subsequently, Raczkowski sold the mortgaged property to Emory Townsend Realty, Inc., which in turn sold a portion of the mortgaged property to the Burneys. The parent tract consisted of some fifteen acres of land on which there was situated a dwelling house. The parcel sold by Townsend to the Burneys consisted of two acres on which the dwelling house was situated.

No challenge is made to the validity of the mortgage given by Raczkowski to the appellant savings and loan association. Said mortgage had been duly recorded and remained unsatisfied at the time of the conveyance from Raczkowski to Townsend of the entire subject property, as well as when the conveyance from Townsend was made to the Burneys of the two acres on which the house was located. Accordingly, both conveyances were, as a matter of law, subject to the lien of the outstanding mortgage held by appellant.

In November 1967, the Burneys spoke with Mr. Emory Townsend of Townsend Realty about buying the two acres on which the house was located and learned that the asking price was $8,000 cash. This amount seemed agreeable to the Bur-neys who evidenced their intention to purchase the property as soon as they received the proceeds from an insurance policy on their deceased son, who had lost his life in the Viet Nam war. Townsend advised the Burneys at this time to return when they received the money and they would then formalize the transaction. In about a month, the Burneys contacted Townsend and told him the money was now available and reaffirmed their desire to purcháse the house. Townsend seized on the Burney’s eagerness and informed them that it was unnecessary for them to employ an attorney to represent them and that they could save money by using Townsend’s attorney.

On December 23, 1967, the Burneys, having ascertained the name of Townsend’s attorney, appeared at the office of the attorney without an appointment and met with him briefly. They introduced themselves and advised the attorney that they were buying some property from his client, Townsend, and that he was to do the legal work according to Townsend. The Burneys did not at that time employ the attorney, although they testified that they assumed that he was representing them because of the representation to them by Townsend. At that time, the Burneys were advised by the attorney that he had no knowledge of the transaction, that he did not know what particular property they were being sold by Townsend, and that he had no details as to the terms of the transaction. He took down their name and address and they departed. There is no evidence in the record that at this time the Burneys advised the attorney that they were about to pay the purchase money to Townsend directly nor is there any evidence that the attorney told the Burneys to go on and pay their money directly to Townsend before anything further was done. Nonetheless, the record does reflect that on the same day the Burneys appeared at Townsend’s office and gave him a cashier’s check for the entire purchase price of $8,000, receiving from Townsend only a receipt for the money. Apparently, Burney, through lack of education or understanding of the importance of the transaction, elected not to employ an attorney to represent his interests but rather relied on Townsend’s attorney to see that everything was done in a proper manner. Unfortunately, through the same lack of understanding or perhaps a misplaced reliance on Townsend’s integrity, Burney parted with his money without first determining that he would receive what he paid for.

The attorney selected by Townsend to prepare the deed of conveyance was one whose law firm did work for Palatka Fed[844]*844eral Savings on an item-by-item, case-by-case basis, but was not a regularly retained attorney of the appellant association. The deed conveying the land from Townsend to Burney which was prepared subsequent to the time that Burney had delivered the purchase money to Townsend recited that the conveyance was made subject to the outstanding mortgage held by Palatka Federal, which the grantor Townsend agreed to pay from the purchase price paid by Burney.

In due course, appellant filed this action to foreclose its mortgage against the entire parcel given as security by Raczkowski, which of course includes the house and two acres purportedly sold by Townsend to Burney. The foreclosure action was in the usual form, alleging a default in the note and mortgage by reason of nonpayment of the monthly payments. By their answer, the defendants Burney contended that the plaintiff was estopped from foreclosing the mortgage herein on their property by application of the doctrine of equitable estop-pel. They also contended by their answer that the attorney was an agent of the plaintiff Savings and Loan Association and that by reason thereof his knowledge that the property sold by Townsend to the Bur-neys was under lien was imputed to the association in that since the deed that the attorney prepared conveying the property from Townsend to Burney contained the recitation that Townsend assumed the obligation to pay the mortgage off, such recitation estopped the association from enforcing the mortgage against Burney.

The trial court held appellant’s mortgage to be valid as to the parcel of land retained by Townsend by reason of the conveyance to him from Raczkowski but held that appellant was equitably estopped from foreclosing its mortgage against the two-acre parcel with the house that was purchased by Burney.

In the case of Aetna Casualty and Surety Company v. Simpson, 128 So.2d 420, 425, 426 (Fla.App.1961), this court held the essential elements of equitable estoppel to be:

“. . . (1) words and admissions, or conduct, acts and acquiescence, or all combined causing another person to believe in the existence of a certain state of things; (2) in which the person so speaking, admitting, acting and acquiescing did so wilfully, culpably or negligently, and (3) by which such other person is or may be induced to act so as to change his own previous position injuriously. The parties sought to be es-topped must be guilty of conduct which amounts to a false representation or concealment of material facts at a time when he has knowledge, actual or constructive, of the real facts. . . . ”

The record in this case contains no evidence, either express or implied, from which it can be reasonably inferred that appellant Palatka Federal Savings, through any authorized agent or attorney, uttered any words, admissions, or engaged in any conduct which caused appellee Burney to believe in the existence of a certain state of things or that it committed any act in a willful, culpable or negligent manner. There is no evidence of any word or act on the part of Palatka Federal Savings, by any of its agents or attorneys, which can be said to have induced Burney to act in such manner as to change his own previous position injuriously. As a matter of fact, it is admitted that no agent or attorney authorized to speak for Palatka Federal Savings ever had any contact with Burney either before, during or after he purchased his land from Townsend and received a deed’of conveyance therefor.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Opler v. Wynne
402 So. 2d 1309 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1981)
Small v. Kapsher Realty, Inc.
353 So. 2d 164 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1977)
Walter Harvey Corp. v. O'KEEFE
346 So. 2d 617 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 1977)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
263 So. 2d 842, 1972 Fla. App. LEXIS 6677, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/palatka-federal-savings-loan-assn-v-raczkowski-fladistctapp-1972.