Rubin v. Chicago Title & Trust Co.

249 Ill. App. 486, 1928 Ill. App. LEXIS 83
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedJune 20, 1928
DocketGen. No. 32,550
StatusPublished

This text of 249 Ill. App. 486 (Rubin v. Chicago Title & Trust Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rubin v. Chicago Title & Trust Co., 249 Ill. App. 486, 1928 Ill. App. LEXIS 83 (Ill. Ct. App. 1928).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Wilson

delivered the opinion of the court.

The complainant, Sol Rubin, filed his bill in the superior court of Cook county in chancery, charging that a certain original proceeding had been started in the circuit court of Cook county by the Douglas Lumher Company, to foreclose a mechanic’s lien and that several persons were made parties defendant to that bill and that certain cross-bills were filed therein; that a decree was entered finding that there was due certain lienholders the sum of $18,853.87; charges that said property was sold under said proceedings to satisfy certain trust deeds and liens and that after said sale the said property was redeemed by the Chicago Title .& Trust Company, defendant herein, and that there was paid, as a result of said redemption, approximately the sum of $85,000 which was not sufficient to satisfy the claims; charges that the Chicago Title & Trust Company was the assignee of the owners of the equity and, therefore, entitled to make the redemption, but that after said sum of $85,000 had been applied by the chancellor in the circuit court, there remained $19,000 due to certain lienholders; charges that the said complainant is the assignee of the claims remaining unsatisfied and asking that the Chicago Title & Trust Company, as the assignee of the owner of the equity of redemption, be required to pay the sum of $18,853.87, the amount of the liens unpaid under the circuit court proceedings and that in the event of the failure of the said defendant so to do, that the premises be sold to satisfy said claims in this proceeding in the superior court.

A demurrer was sustained to this bill by the chancellor of the superior court and an amended bill of complaint was filed, setting forth the facts practically as already contained in the original bill with an additional averment, however, that the Chicago Title & Trust Company, as assignee of the equity of redemption, redeemed said property for and on behalf of the original owners thereof, and charging that the assignee became by law liable to pay the unpaid liens found to be due in the suit pending in the superior court.

Attached to the amended bill of complaint and marked as exhibits, are a copy of the bill filed in the circuit court, a copy of the mechanic’s lien filed on behalf of the Douglas Lumber Company, a copy of a notice and claim for lien filed by the Douglas Lumber Company, an affidavit to the effect that certain unknown owners cannot be found, an affidavit to the effect that the places of residence of certain persons are unknown and asking that they be made parties defendant as unknown owners. All other documents in said circuit court proceeding, including the decree therein entered, are by reference made a part of the amended bill, but are not set up in haec verba, nor is there contained in said amended bill any extended description of said documents. A general and special demurrer to this amended bill was filed in the superior court and sustained and the bill dismissed for want of equity.

Writings or documents made a part of written agreement, by reference, may become incorporated and made a part of such agreement. Written documents and writings made part of a bill of complaint, however, are subject to the rules of pleading and the reference to such documents or writings has no effect other than to call their attention to counsel and the court for the purpose of making them admissible as evidence in the case upon the trial of the proceeding after proper proof of their authenticity. The allegation that they are made part of the bill, by reference, carries no weight upon demurrer as the court is not compelled to examine records for the purpose of consideration upon the hearing upon the demurrer. The Supreme Court of this State in the case of Jocelyn v. White, 201 Ill. 16, in its opinion says:

“From the above quotations we understand the rule to be, that if the complainant in the bill relies upon a written instrument, and has so described the instrument as to identify it, and then by apt words specifically refers to the instrument, he may, if demurrer be not interposed, upon the trial of the cause have the benefit of the instrument and all its provisions, but that if the bill, on its face and in apt terms, does not contain all the allegations necessary to show him to be entitled to the relief prayed, the bill will be obnoxious to demurrer, but if the bill be not demurred to, but be answered or default made, and the instrument so referred to, when offered in evidence, shows the right of the plaintiff to his relief, then in such case the bill will be sufficient to support the decree.”

Counsel has sought to supply this failure to set out the instrument in haec verba, or attach same as an exhibit, by setting out in full the decree and various other necessary documents in their brief,' but this court finds no such documents in the record and has no means of knowing the truth or correctness of said instruments and has no legal justification to consider them as properly in the cause. The only allegation in the amended bill, bearing on the question as to whether or not the Chicago Title & Trust Company redeemed said property on behalf of the original owners, is a mere conclusion of the pleader. The bill contains not a single circumstance upon which the court could predicate an opinion that such was the fact. The original bill contains no such allegation, but, on the other hand, directly charged that the Chicago Title & Trust Company became the legal holder and owner of the master’s certificate of sale and obtained the legal title to said property. Courts do not look with favor upon amendments to bills that are clearly in conflict with the allegation set out in proceeding pleadings. If the property was in fact the property of the original owner of the equity and not of the Chicago Title & Trust Company, the proper remedy would have been a creditor’s bill to disclose that fact and subject the property to a satisfaction of claimants’ liens.

The ground for reversal in this case, as set forth in the amended bill, seems to be based upon the fact that where, as a matter of law, the assignee of the equity of redemption redeems property sold under a foreclosure sale, such assignee is liable for any unpaid balances not satisfied by the sale and, in the event of the assignee’s failure to pay said claims, the property may be subjected to a further sale. We do not understand this to be the law. Only such persons who redeem who were primarily liable for the indebtedness, become liable for the balance due, if any, on a foreclosure and then only in the event that a deficiency decree is found against such person primarily liable. The general rule seems to be that the foreclosure clears the property of all claims and the individual primarily liable is so only because of his common-law liability. The creditors may reach any asset belonging to him, subject to execution, and this would necessarily include the property after his redemption of same from the sale.

The Supreme Court of this State in the case of Ogle v. Koerner, 140 Ill. 170, in its opinion says:

“A mortgage, or as in this case, a deed of trust in the nature of a mortgage, vests in the party secured a lien upon the mortgaged premises. By virtue of that lien the mortgagee is entitled to have ,the mortgaged property sold under a decree of foreclosure and the proceeds of the sale applied to the payment of the debt secured.

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Related

Ogle v. Koerner
29 N.E. 563 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1892)
Lightcap v. Bradley
58 N.E. 221 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1900)
Jocelyn v. Charles G.
66 N.E. 327 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1903)
Strause v. Dutch
95 N.E. 286 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1911)
Northern Trust Co. v. Sanford
139 N.E. 603 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1923)
Boothman v. Wulfing
194 Ill. App. 289 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1915)
Easter v. Holcomb
221 Ill. App. 485 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 1921)

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249 Ill. App. 486, 1928 Ill. App. LEXIS 83, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rubin-v-chicago-title-trust-co-illappct-1928.