Richter v. Schuett

145 N.E. 402, 314 Ill. 127
CourtIllinois Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 28, 1924
DocketNo. 15131
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 145 N.E. 402 (Richter v. Schuett) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Illinois Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Richter v. Schuett, 145 N.E. 402, 314 Ill. 127 (Ill. 1924).

Opinion

Mr. Chief Justice Duncan

delivered the opinion of the court:

On September 5, 1918, appellants, Charles Richter and Frances Richter, his wife, and Charles J. Wolf, trustee, filed their bill in the circuit court of Cook county to foreclose a trust deed on real estate known as 2731 West Lake street, in Chicago, (herein referred to as the Lake street property,) to secure a note of John Schuett and Bertha Schuett, his wife, appellees, for $1000, and also to foreclose a chattel mortgage on certain personal property, etc., used for saloon purposes and located in the Lake street property, given to secure another note of the Schuetts for $1000. The Schuetts on January 18, 1922, filed an amended answer and an amended cross-bill. Complainants filed their answer to the amended cross-bill and issues were joined. By their cross-bill appellees prayed for the cancellation of the trust deed, chattel mortgage and the notes; also of a deed from the Richters to appellees conveying the property mortgaged by the trust deed, and of a deed from the Schuetts to appellants conveying lots 12, 13 and 14, in block 1, in Marsh’s subdivision of the southeast quarter of the northeast quarter of ¡section 16, township 39, north, range 12, east of the third principal meridian, situated in the village of Bellwood, Cook county, Illinois, and herein referred to as the Bell-wood property. On September 26, 1922, a decree was rendered in accordance with the prayer of the cross-bill and dismissing the original bill for want of equity. This is an appeal from that decree.

In 1910 the Schuetts moved to Bellwood and purchased the Bellwood property, which contained about an acre and a half of land, for $800. They bought a small three-room house on an adjoining farm and moved it onto the Bellwood property. For this house, two horses, a cow, some hogs and farm implements they paid $700. A few years later they improved the Bellwood property by adding to the house a second story and a summer kitchen at a cost of $1100, according to the Schuetts. They also built a barn on the property at a cost- of $300. This property is located about a mile from the principal part of the village of Bellwood and there is no other residence near it. About 200 feet from the property is a business establishment which deals in second-hand brick and is known as “the dust factory.” Dust from the factory flies over the Bellwood property and settles on clothes when washed and hung out to dry and on the grass. A creek runs near it, and in times of heavy rains the water stands on about a quarter of an acre of the land. Schuett and his relatives built the barn and the additions to the house on Sundays and at odd times. According to the Richters the house was set on railroad ties, the windows did not.fit and there were no locks on the doors. The house had a hole under it, called a basement, but was not cemented. At the time the Schuetts started to improve the Bellwood property, in 1912, they applied for a loan at the Citizens State Bank of Melrose Park and were loaned $600. The president of that bank, Charles J. Wolf, trustee under the trust deed, stated that he valued the property at that time, considering the improvements to be made, at not more than $1500. He fixed the value.of this property in March, 1917, at $1750. The house, after it was improved, was insured for $1500 by the Schuetts through Wolf, who testified that he had instructions not to insure property against fire loss for more than three-fourths of its value. The house burned down in 1918 and something over $1400 was collected as insurance by the Richters, the then owners, before the foreclosure proceedings were begun. There is no further evidence in the record as to the value of the Bellwood property except the value placed on it for the purposes of the exchange of the two properties by the Richters and the Schuetts. There was a mortgage on the property for $300, held by the Citizens State Bank of Melrose Park, when it was traded to the Richters.

The Lake street property is located in the middle of a block, just opposite Fairfield avenue where it runs into Lake street. Both the elevated and surface cars run in front of it. The lot is 25 feet by about 90 feet and has a two-story brick building on it which is the width of the lot and about 54 feet long. There is also a barn on the rear of the lot. The brick building has a cement basement under it which extends out under the sidewalk built over it, with iron and glass for light under the walk. The walk cost $700. The first story is a business room and the second story is a flat of seven rooms and a bath-room. There is a bakeoven and a bakehouse in the basement for baking bread. The building has two plate-glass show windows in front and a front partition, with an arch over the door opening into the saloon. The lot cost the Richters $1500 in about 1890 and $200 more to clear up tax sales. They built the two-story brick building on the lot in 1891 at a cost of $4200. The lot and building were incumbered by what is referred to as the Greenebaum & Sons building loan for $3200 shortly after construction of the building. According to the testimony of the Richters the building was remodeled in 1913 by putting a steel ceiling in the saloon and installing electric lights in the building. A new hardwood floor was put on top of the old floor and new skylights were put in three rooms upstairs. The back porch was re-built, new waste pipes were put in the kitchen, a new bath tub, toilet and washstand were put in, and also hardwood stairs. On March 19, 1917, when the Lake street property was traded by the Richters to the Schuetts, there was a $2000 mortgage on the property, held by the Greenebaum Bank. The Richters claimed that this property had brought a rental of $50 per month previous to the last named date.

There ís a very marked conflict in the evidence as to the state of the condition of this building and as to the market value of the Lake street property on March 19, 1917. The population in the neighborhood of the property was largely colored people, and some colored people lived next door to it. The evidence for the Schuetts is to the effect that the roof was in bad repair and leaked; that the plaster on the second floor was loose; that the floor of the first story was about worn out; that when it rained the basement became flooded, and that the general appearance of the property was aged and neglected. Two real estate dealers testified for the Schuetts that the value of the property was not to exceed $3000 on the last date aforesaid, and that property in the neighborhood of the same general character had sold for less than $3000. Two real estate dealers testifying for the Richters placed the value of the property at $5000 or more. Charles H. Pfingsten, a real estate appraiser for the Greenebaum Sons Bank and Trust Company, which at the time of the transaction in question held a mortgage on the property for $2000, testified that he inspected the property in July or August, 1917, with a view to ascertain its value for the purpose of renewing the loan to the Schuetts and that he then valued it at $5000, and that it was his opinion that that was the fair market value of the property in March, 1917.

The Richters and the Schuetts entered into a contract on March 19, 1917, for the exchange of properties, whereby the Richters were to convey to the Schuetts the Lake street property in exchange for the Bellwood property. The Lake street property was deeded by the Richters subject to the $2000 incumbrance.

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Bluebook (online)
145 N.E. 402, 314 Ill. 127, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richter-v-schuett-ill-1924.