Reed v. Meaux

262 So. 2d 570, 1972 La. App. LEXIS 6617
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 10, 1972
DocketNo. 3830
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 262 So. 2d 570 (Reed v. Meaux) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Reed v. Meaux, 262 So. 2d 570, 1972 La. App. LEXIS 6617 (La. Ct. App. 1972).

Opinion

DOMENGEAUX, Judge.

The excellent written reasons rendered by the district judge in this case are fully dispositive of the issues presented. Therefore, with some omission, we adopt them as our own.

This is a suit to annul a mortgage foreclosure by executory process and to recover damages on the grounds that part of the evidence on which the Court based its order for seizure and sale of the property was not authentic in form and no notice of demand for payment was ever issued. It has been brought by the mortgagors (or the heirs of one) against the mortgagee, who purchased the property at the sale and apparently is still in possession thereof. Exceptions of res judicata and no right or cause of action, based principally on the plaintiff’s failure to suspensively appeal from the order for seizure and sale or to arrest same through an injunction proceeding, have been referred to the merits.

In suit No. 4508 on the docket of this Court John H. Meaux, defendant herein, proceeded to foreclose via executiva on three mortgage notes made payable to his order one year after their respective dates. One in the sum of $300.00 was executed by Henry Reed on April 22, 1963. Another for $700.00 was signed by Mrs. Cordelia R. Reed, as tutrix of the minors, Robert, Paul, Doris, Helen and Hazel Reed, on January 14, 1966. And the third for $600.-00, dated June 14, 1966, was executed by Mrs. Reed, as tutrix of the said minors and by Mrs. Patricia Reed Baptiste and Mrs. Betty Reed Young. Apparently, the latter two persons and the minors were the only children of Henry Reed, who died intestate on May 5, 1964. Although Mrs. Cordelia R. Reed was duly confirmed as natural tutrix of the minors and obtained Court authority to execute the notes, the Succession of Henry Reed was never opened and no succession representative was ever appointed. All of the defendants in the foreclosure proceedings were nonresidents of this state and therefore an attorney at law practicing in Cameron was appointed to represent them. He accepted service of the petition and order, waived citation, but reserved all of the defendants’ other rights. The curator ad hoc wrote letters to the defendants informing them of the proceedings and mailed same to Texas addresses furnished by the mortgagee’s attorney. However, these letters were returned unclaimed as the defendants no longer resided at such addresses.

[572]*572The first two notes mentioned were properly described in and paraphed for identification with the respective authentic acts of mortgage securing same. However, the third note was not paraphed by the notary for identification with the mortgage and there is a variance between the date of the note, June 14, 1966, and that of the mortgage, June 9, 1966, which appears just above the signature of the notary public.

The petition for executory process was not verified. However, attached thereto was an affidavit by Mr. Meaux dated January 7, 1970, reciting his ownership of the notes and the amounts due thereon in principal, interest and attorney’s fees. The principal sums declared to be due were the same as in the notes, indicating that no payments had been made on the principal of any of the notes. The affidavit further recited that the interest on Note No. 1 was paid up to April 22, 1965. The petition contained unverified allegations setting forth that the makers were in default, the death of Henry Reed and the necessity for appointment of an attorney to represent the absent defendants.

The order for executory process was signed on January 9, 1970, but the proceeding was not filed with the Clerk of Court until January 13, 1970, on which date a writ of seizure and sale was issued without any notice of demand for payment. Seizure was made and after due advertisement the property was sold without ap-praisement to the mortgagee for $300.00 on March 4, 1970. The mortgagors took no action in connection with the foreclosure until the present suit to annul same was filed on May 26, 1970.

The defendant-mortgagee contends in this suit that the plaintiffs’ remedies, if any, were either to take a suspensive appeal from the Court’s order for executory process or to enjoin same, and having failed to do so timely it has become final and res judicata. His exception of no right or cause of action is based on the contention that the plaintiffs have not alleged any of the grounds for nullity of judgment provided in Articles 2002 and 2004 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure. Alternatively, the defendant contends sufficient authentic evidence was presented to justify the issuance of the order for seizure and sale on the basis of the first two notes and mortgages even though the third note may not be deemed to be authentic for the purpose of executory process. On the other hand, the plaintiffs contend they were unaware ó'f the' fofe’&'osure sale, and since the property is still in the hands of the mortgagee-adjudicatee they are entitled to establish the nullity of the sale in this subsequent action despite their failure to appeal or enjoin same.

The defendant’s exceptions of res judi-cata and no right or cause of action must be overruled.

Aside from the fact that the present suit contains the additional issue as to nullity vel non of the order for executo-ry process, as this Court appreciates the jurisprudence, a mortgagor may in a subsequent action successfully attack the validity of such an order when issued without sufficient authentic evidence despite his failure to suspensively appeal therefrom or to enjoin the proceedings where the mortgagee was the adjudicatee at the sale and the property has not passed out of his hands.

Although innocent third parties will be protected if the mortgaged property passes into their hands without the mortgagor availing himself of the remedies of appeal or injunction, it seems rather clear to this Court that where the property remains in the hands of the mortgagee-adjudicatee the mortgagor is entitled to nullify such a sale in a subsequent suit even though no appeal or injunctive action was taken previously. [League Central Credit Union v. Montgomery, 251 La. 971, 207 So.2d 762 (1968), Tapp v. Guaranty Finance Company, 158 So.2d 228 (La.App. 1 Cir. 1963), Doherty v. Randazzo, 18 So.2d 669 ([La.App.] 1961)]

[573]*573Since in this case the mortgagee was the purchaser of the property at the foreclosure sale and no rights of innocent third parties have intervened, the defendant’s exceptions are unavailing.

Turning now to the merits, unquestionably the third note mentioned above was not authentic for the purpose of exec-utory process because it was not paraphed for identification with the act of mortgage securing same and there is a variance between it and the mortgage as to the note’s date. LSA-C.C.P. Art. 2636 and the authorities cited in Comment (c) under Art. 2635. Consequently, the executory proceedings would be null and void unless the other two notes and mortgages are a sufficient basis therefor.

As mentioned hereinabove, each of these notes was duly described in and par-aphed for identification with the respective authentic act of mortgages securing same. As the original notes and duly certified copies of the mortgages were attached to the petition, the requirements of Article 2635 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure in regard to the authentic evidence necessary to prove the plaintiff’s right to use executory process to enforce the mortgages were complied with.

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Related

United Mercantile Bank v. Schwartz
513 So. 2d 518 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1987)
France v. American Bank
505 So. 2d 1175 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1987)
Reed v. Meaux
292 So. 2d 557 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1974)

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Bluebook (online)
262 So. 2d 570, 1972 La. App. LEXIS 6617, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/reed-v-meaux-lactapp-1972.