Prudential Insurance Co. of America v. Foster

30 P.2d 104, 139 Kan. 112, 1934 Kan. LEXIS 250
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedMarch 10, 1934
DocketNo. 31,527
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 30 P.2d 104 (Prudential Insurance Co. of America v. Foster) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Prudential Insurance Co. of America v. Foster, 30 P.2d 104, 139 Kan. 112, 1934 Kan. LEXIS 250 (kan 1934).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Thiele, J.:

This was an action for injunction to prevent a sheriff’s sale, and the appeal is from an order sustaining a demurrer [113]*113to plaintiff’s evidence and setting aside a temporary injunction which had been issued.

The facts out of which the action arose, and as shown by the evidence, are as follows: On December 3, 1920, Frank Blanchat owned a certain tract of land which he mortgaged to the plaintiff for $7,000. On November 26, 1924, Blanchat orally agreed to sell the land to George O. Carothers for $22,000 which was to be paid by assumption of the $7,000 mortgage above mentioned, the balance of $15,000 to be evidenced by a note, executed by Carothers and his wife, secured by a mortgage on the real estate. A deed was accordingly executed by Blanchat; the note and mortgage were executed by Carothers and not by his wife. The deed, note and mortgage, were left at a bank in order that Carothers’ wife might sign, and thereafter the deed was to be delivered to Carothers and the note and mortgage to Blanchat. On July 21, 1925, in anticipation of the $7,000 mortgage coming due, an extension agreement was made, executed by Blanchat and Carothers and wife, whereby the time of payment was extended from December 6, 1925, to December 6, 1935. On August 14, 1931, Blanchat died, and later administrators of his estate were appointed, who commenced to investigate his affairs, and who learned of the deed, note and mortgage transaction, which had never been completed. Iii just what manner he obtained it is not clearly shown, but Carothers obtained the deed from Blanchat to himself and on November 9, 1931, caused it to be recorded; this deed shows the land to be conveyed free and clear of encumbrance “except taxes of 1924 and except mortgage of $7,000 to Prudential Ins. Co. of America, which taxes and mortgage second party assumes ’and agrees to pay.” On May 5, 1932, Blanchat’s administrators filed a suit (No. 7639) to which the plaintiff was not a party, setting up the facts with reference to the deed, note and mortgage; that Carothers and his wife had failed to execute the note and mortgage as agreed on; that the delivery of the deed by the bank to Carothers was without the knowledge and consent of the Blanchat administrators; that the recording of the deed cast a cloud on the title of the real estate to their damage; that Carothers had failed to pay taxes as provided in the mortgage, and they elected to declare the entire purchase price due; that the note for $15,000 provided for interest, payable annually, and it had not been paid. They prayed for judgment for $22,000, less any credits to which Carothers was lawfully entitled, and that the judgment be decreed a first lien on [114]*114the real estate, and that if the judgment be not paid that the real estate be sold in satisfaction.

With the records in the office of the clerk of the court showing the above petition on file, on May 16,1932, the Prudential Insurance Company filed its action (No. 7644) to foreclose the $7,000 mortgage. It made Carothers and his wife, some junior lienholders and “John Doe, tenant in possession” parties defendant, but Blanchat or his administrators wez-e not made parties. In the petition there is no allegation touching the matters set up in action No. 7639 above referred to. The foreclosure suit proceeded to judgment, and at a sheriff’s sale held August 9, 1932, the real estate was bid in by .the company which received a certificate of purchase with an eighteen-months redemption.

In action No. 7639, on January 18, 1933, a judgment was entered finding generally for the plaintiffs therein; that the controversy arose out of a contract for sale by Frank Blanchat to George O. Carothers of the particular land at an agreed price of more than $22,000; that Carothers had not paid as much as one-third of the purchase price, and that there was due to the plaintiffs the sum of $14,378.35 and interest from date of judgment, and it was ordered that plaintiffs have judgment, and the judgment was “established and decreed a lien on said real estate” and in case the judgment be not paid that an order of sale issue. The period of redemption was fixed at six months. An order of sale was issued, the sheriff had given notice, and was about to sell the land on March 8, 1933.

On March 2, 1933, the instant case was filed against the sheriff of Harper county, for an injunction to prevent the above sale being had. The petition alleged the sale of August 9, 1932, to plaintiffs; the judgment of January 18, 1933, to the executoz’s in the action in which-the insurance company .was not a party; and the intended sheriff’s sale on March 8, 1933, under that judgment, and that said sheriff is not advertising to sell said real estate subject to plaintiff’s (insurance company) rights, and—

“That a subsequent sale of said real estate will cloud the title and greatly inconvenience the said plaintiff by reason of said unlawful attempt of said sheriff to sell said real estate under said order of sale as aforesaid, and will place in possession of said real estate some person other than the defendant owner, who is entitled to all of the rights of redemption under the certificate of purchase held by said plaintiff. That it will cause the said plaintiff other and different litigation to perfect said title and remove said clouds, and said plaintiff will suffer irreparable injury, redress for which it has no adequate remedy at law.”

[115]*115On March 3, 1933, a restraining order was issued. The Blanchat administrators filed an application and were permitted to intervene, and filed a motion to set aside the restraining order and a general demurrer to the petition. The demurrer was overruled, and plaintiff then filed an amended and modified motion for a temporary injunction, which was subsequently allowed. Thereafter the interveners filed their answer, which in general set up the history of the various transactions and suits. On the hearing, the pleadings and orders in both of the above suits, Nos. 7639 and 7644, were introduced in evidence, as well as some oral testimony. After the plaintiff rested, the interveners demurred, which demurrer the court first overruled, but after introduction of interveners’ testimony, the court announced he would change his ruling and would sustain the demurrer. The plaintiffs elected to stand on the demurrer, and the temporary injunction was set aside and judgment rendered for the defendants.

The errors assigned are the setting aside of the temporary injunction, the sustaining of the demurrer to appellant’s evidence and the rendering of judgment for the appellees. As the answer to one assignment is the answer to the others, they will be discussed together.

It will perhaps simplify matters to notice the contention of the appellees in support of the trial court’s rulings, that their petition filed May 5, 1932, in action No. 7639 constituted lis pendens under R. S. 60-2601, and that, in any event, the administrators of the Blanchat estate, not having been made parties defendant in action No. 7644, filed May 16, 1932, by the insurance company to foreclose its first mortgage, are not bound thereby, citing in support Stacey v. Tucker, 123 Kan. 137, 254 Pac. 339.

R. S. 60-2601 recites in part:

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

Related

Home Owners' Loan Corp. v. Oakson
173 P.2d 257 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1946)
Williamstown Baptist Church v. Henley
148 P.2d 269 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1944)
Richardson v. Kansas Soldiers Compensation Board
92 P.2d 114 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1939)
Motor Equipment Co. v. Winters
69 P.2d 23 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1937)
New York Life Insurance v. Smith
54 P.2d 803 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1936)
State ex rel. Paulsen v. McKay
36 P.2d 327 (Supreme Court of Kansas, 1934)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
30 P.2d 104, 139 Kan. 112, 1934 Kan. LEXIS 250, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/prudential-insurance-co-of-america-v-foster-kan-1934.