Perry v. Marbury Lumber Co.

103 So. 580, 212 Ala. 542, 1925 Ala. LEXIS 94
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedMarch 26, 1925
Docket6 Div. 235.
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 103 So. 580 (Perry v. Marbury Lumber Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Perry v. Marbury Lumber Co., 103 So. 580, 212 Ala. 542, 1925 Ala. LEXIS 94 (Ala. 1925).

Opinion

*544 MILLER, J.

This is a suit brought by A. A. Perry and J. P. Perry against the Mar-bury Lumber Company, a corporation, for •breach of a warranty in a deed conveying to them 180 acres of land, more or less, particularly described in the complaint. Count 1 of the complaint alleges defendant for $1,-800 sold by deed, dated November 7, 1918, this land to the plaintiffs; that the land intended to be conveyed was incorrectly described in the conveyance, and to correct the errors therein the defendant made another deed conveying the land to plaintiffs by correct description on June 14, 1923. The defendant covenanted with the plaintiffs that it was lawfully seized in fee of the lands, which was to be binding as of November 7, 1918, the date of the first conveyance, and that defendant was not lawfully seized in fee simple of said lands; that at said time there was an outstanding lawful right and title to said land in one J. C. Street, and they were required to, and did, purchase from the said J. C. Street his right and title to the land before filing this suit, and paid him $1,900, which was necessary to putchase and hold the land.

Count 2 is practically the same as count I, except it avers the covenant therein was as follows, “Said lands were free from all incumbrances,” which was breached because at the time the lawful right and title to the land was in J. C. Street.

Count 3 is practically the same as count 1, ■except the covenant therein was, “That it had a good right to sell and convey the said land to these plaintiffs,” and this was not true, and the covenant was breached because J. C. Street at that time had an outstanding lawful right and title to the land, superior to the right and the title of defendant.

Count 4 is practically the same as count 1, except the covenant therein was, “That it will warrant and defend said land to plaintiffs forever against the lawful claims of all persons,” and this was not true, because at that time there was an outstanding title to the land in one J. C. Street, which was superior to the title of the defendant, and plaintiffs have purchased this superior title of said street to the land.

Each count avers, in substance, that plaintiffs were required to, and did, purchase the title of Street to this land before filing the suit, and they did have to pay him $1,900 to secure the title, and this was necessary for them to hold the land.

The cause was tried by the court without a jury on the general issue, filed by defendant to the complaint, and from a judgment by the court in favor of'the defendant this appeal is prosecuted by the plaintiffs.

Under the averments of each count of the complaint, no eviction of the plaintiffs by J. C. Street, actual or constructive, of any part of the land, is averred, and there is no proof showing an eviction by legal process. Neither was necessary because the counts allege a hostile assertion of an irresistible, paramount title to the land by J. C. Street, and the plaintiffs aver they yielded to it without awaiting suit by purchasing this superior right and title of Street to the land. This places on the plaintiffs the burden of proving that the title of J. C. Street to the land when they purchased it from him was really paramount to their title to the land secured by deed from the defendant, and that Street could have evicted them by legal process. Copeland v. McAdory, 100 Ala. 553, 559, 13 So. 545; Tiedeman on Real Property, § 855. In the case of Copeland v. McAdory this court wrote:

“An eviction, actual or constructive of the whole or a part of the premises, is an essential constituent of the breach. But it is not intended that there must be an eviction by legal process. If there is a hostile assertion of an irresistible, paramount title, the grantee may yield to it, not awaiting suit and judgment. If-he yields, it is at his peril, and he takes upon himself in an action for a breach of the covenant, the burden of proving the title really paramount. Tiedeman on Real Property, § 855.”

The plaintiffs offer evidence showing that George W. Beaird was in possession of this land claiming it in 1889, and sold and conveyed it'by deed September 30, 1889, to John S. Turner. It was filed and recorded in the probate office, and John S. Turner went into possession of the land under that conveyance, and on February 15, 1900, by deed, sold and conveyed it to J. C. Street, which deed was duly recorded. On June 19, 1923, J. C. Street and wife for a consideration of $1,900 sold and conveyed this land to J. P. Perry, one of the plaintiffs in this cause.

It is to be observed that J. C. Street sold and conveyed the land to only one of the plaintiffs, and each count avers it was sold and conveyed by him to the plaintiff [both]; but no objection to its introduction was made on that account, and the parties raise no point on it in their argument, but have considered the ease on its merits.

The plaintiffs also introduced in evidence a warranty deed to them executed by defendant on November 7, 1918, describing incorrectly a part of this land, and a warranty deed correctly describing the land was after-wards executed by defendant to plaintiffs on *545 June 14, 1923, binding as to warranty as of date of the former deed, which conveyances were duly filed and recorded in the proper probate office. The plaintiffs also introduced in evidence a certified copy of the delinquent tax sale and redemption record docket showing decree of sale of this land for nonpayment of taxes amounting to $5.72, assessed against J. O. Street, and for other fees, charges, and costs mentioned in the decree. This record shows the decree was rendered at the May term, 1906, for the taxes assessed, $5.72, “for year 1906, and that same are still due and unpaid.” It is evident from this record and other evidence that the decree of sale was for taxes for the yeár 1905 and not 1906; that “1906” instead of 1905 was a clerical error and inadvertently written in the decree. This record shows the sale was on June 18, 1906, that the defendant, Marbury Lumber Company, was the purchaser, and the amount bid and paid for it was $112. The plaintiffs introduced in evidence a deed executed by the judge of probate of Randolph county, conveying this land to the purchaser at the tax sale, the Marbury Lumber Company, the defendant in this cause. It is dated August 8, 1908, and was imperfectly acknowledged by the judge of probate before a notary public. Said deed was duly filed and recorded on the date it was executed in the proper probate office.

J. C. Street, witness for the plaintiffs, testified that he “learned in 1908 that Marbury [defendant] had bought the land fox-taxes, * * * when I found out that my tenants had paid rent to Marb.ury Lumber Company on these lands. I knew Mr. Lewis, the land agent of the Marbury Lumber Company, in that section of the country at that time. I saw him about the land and the rents shortly after I learned of the claim of the Marbury Lumber Company to the land.” Plaintiffs then asked the witness the following question: “What did he tell you with reference to it?” The court properly sustained the objection to this question on the ground it is not shown that this agent had any authority to make any admissions to bind the Marbury Lumber Company. This proof of agency and authority was necessary to make the conversation relevant and competent. At that time there was no such proof before the court. Stanley v. Sheffield, 83 Ala.

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Bluebook (online)
103 So. 580, 212 Ala. 542, 1925 Ala. LEXIS 94, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perry-v-marbury-lumber-co-ala-1925.