Robertson v. Penn Mut. Life Ins. Co.

123 S.W.2d 848, 22 Tenn. App. 387, 1938 Tenn. App. LEXIS 38
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedSeptember 24, 1938
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 123 S.W.2d 848 (Robertson v. Penn Mut. Life Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Robertson v. Penn Mut. Life Ins. Co., 123 S.W.2d 848, 22 Tenn. App. 387, 1938 Tenn. App. LEXIS 38 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1938).

Opinion

*389 PELTS, J.

This is a controversy as to what judgment the circuit court should have rendered, upon dismissing O. J. Robertson’s petition for certiorari and supersedeas in an unlawful detainer proceeding.

On May 8, 1936, the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company brought an unlawful detainer suit before a justice of the peace against 0. J. Robertson to recover possession of a certain house and lot, located in Davidson County, and to recover a judgment for the rents in arrears. On May 16, 1936, the justice rendered judgment in favor of the insurance company against him for the possession and for $340, the past due rents.

On May 21, 1936, he filed a petition for certiorari and super-sedeas in the circuit court, alleging that he had formerly owned the house and the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company had foreclosed its mortgage thereon and purchased it; that he had then rented it from the company at an agreed rental of $40 per month, with an understanding that he was to remain in possession of it for a reasonable time to give him an opportunity to re-finance the indebtedness and re-purchase the property; that such reasonable time had not expired and would not expire before August 1, 1936, by which time he would be able to re-finance the indebtedness and repurchase the property; and that notwithstanding this agreement the company had brought the unlawful detainer suit and recovered judgment for the possession of the property, which judgment was wholly unjust for the reason that the time for which he had rented the property had not expired. And the petition prayed for a writ of certiorari to bring the cause to the circuit court to be there retried and for a writ of supersedeas to stay all further proceedings on said judgment.

The circuit judge granted a fiat directing the issuance of the writs of certiorari and supersedeas, as prayed lor, upon petitioner giving a bond and security according to law in the sum of $500.

He made a bond, with Mrs. Willie B. Lackey and Moreau P. Estes as his sureties thereon. This bond appears on its face to be in the sum of $200, but recites that “Moreau P. Estes qualified for $500.”

Thereupon writs of certiorari and supersedeas issued and were served, further proceedings on the judgment were stayed, Robertson continued to remain in possession of the property, and the justice set up the record.

On November 14, 1936, the circuit court, upon motion of the insurance company, entered an order requiring Robertson to make a certiorari and supersedeas bond for the total amount of $1000, with good and sufficient security as required by law, on or before November 20, 1936, and providing that upon his failure to do so his *390 petition for certiorari, and supersedeas “will upon motion be dismissed.”

On November 23, 1936, it appearing that Robertson had failed to execute the bond required, the court, upon motion of the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company, dismissed his petition for cer-tiorari and supersedeas, awarded a writ of possession to put the insurance company in possession, and entered judgment against him for $597.15 ($340, the amount of the justice’s judgment, $10.48 interest thereon, and $246.67, the rents accruing since the date of the justice’s judgment), together with the costs of the cause; and the court rendered a judgment against Mrs. Lackey for $200 and against Moreau P. Estes for $500, as sureties upon the bond.

The writ of possession issued and the insurance company was put in possession.

Robertson and his sureties moved for a new trial, and their motion being overruled, he appealed in error in forma pauperis, and has assigned errors; and the sureties have filed the record for writ of error.

Before the case was reached for hearing in this court Robertson moved to transfer it to the Supreme Court for the reason that “the record consists only of the technical record without any bill of exceptions or other proof.” In a memorandum opinion by Faw, P. J., the court overruled this motion for the reason that it appeared from the record that the judgment of the circuit court was based in part upon “evidence introduced by the plaintiff,” and the motion for a new trial was overruled “after hearing evidence introduced in open court.”

No complaint is made against so much of the action of the circuit court as dismissed the petition, dispossessed Robertson of the premises, and allowed a recovery against him for $340, the amount of the justice’s judgment for the rents in arrears. The complaint is against the rest of the court’s action, i. e., the allowance of a recovery against Robertson for $246.67, as the value of the rents during the litigation, and the allowance of any recovery against the sureties.

It is insisted that the circuit court, upon dismissing the petition, had no jurisdiction to allow any recovery against Robertson except for $340, the amount of the justice’s judgment for the rents which were past due when the litigation was begun; and that no recovery for these rents could be allowed against the sureties because the obligation of their bond was to pay only the rents accruing during the litigation and not rents which had already accrued and were past due before the litigation was begun. This insistence is based upon secs. 9005, 9266, and 9267 of the Code, which follow:

Sec. 9005: “Upon affirmance of the judgment or decree below *391 or recovery of a larger amount, or upon dismissal of tbe certiorari for want of prosecution, or for any other cause, the court shall enter judgment for the amount recovered against the principal and the sureties on the prosecution bond, with interest at the rate of sis per cent, per annum from the date of the judgment or decree below, and all costs.”

Sec. 9266: “The proceedings in such actions [forcible entry and detainer, forcible detainer, and unlawful detainer] may, within thirty days after the rendition of judgment, be removed to the circuit court- by writs of certiorari and supersedeas, which it shall be the duty of the judge to grant, upon petition, if merits are sufficiently set forth, and to require from the applicant a bond, with security sufficient to cover all costs and damages; and, if the defendant below be the applicant, then the bond and security shall be of sufficient amount to coyer, besides costs and damages, the value of the rent of the premises during the litigation.”

See. 9267: “If the defendant obtain certiorari, and, upon trial in the circuit court, the jury find that the plainiff is entitled to the possession of the land, they shall also ascertain the value of the rents during the time the plaintiff has been kept out of possession, and such other damages as the plaintiff is entitled to, and the court shall give judgment against the defendant and his sureties for the amount.”

It is argued that sec. 9267 afforded no authority for the circuit court’s judgment, because there was no trial on the merits by a jury, as contemplated by this section; that the only authority for the court’s judgment, upon dismissal of the certiorari, was sec.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
123 S.W.2d 848, 22 Tenn. App. 387, 1938 Tenn. App. LEXIS 38, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/robertson-v-penn-mut-life-ins-co-tennctapp-1938.