Savings Bank v. Asbury

48 P. 1081, 117 Cal. 96
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedMay 25, 1897
DocketSac. No. 213
StatusPublished
Cited by32 cases

This text of 48 P. 1081 (Savings Bank v. Asbury) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Savings Bank v. Asbury, 48 P. 1081, 117 Cal. 96 (Cal. 1897).

Opinion

Harrison, J.

The plaintiff seeks herein the foreclosure of a mortgage upon certain land in Fresno county, aud its sale in satisfaction of the debt secured thereby. The complaint alleges that on or about June 1, 1893, the mortgagors made to it their promissory note of that date for the sum of $30,000, payable in three years thereafter, with interest thereon payable semi-annually, and at the same time executed a mortgage upon said lands as security for its payment; that, although the note expressed the sum of $30,000, the actual amount of • the loan to the defendants was only $12,500; that under provisions therefor in the mortgage the plaintiff has paid certain moneys for insurance upon the mortgaged property, and for water appurtenant to the land; that none of the interest that had accrued upon the note had been paid, and that the plaintiff, as authorized by said note, had elected to consider the whole of the debt due. Judgment was prayed for accordingly. The appellants demurred to the complaint upon the ground that it did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action against them, and also that it was ambiguous and uncertain. Their demurrer was overruled, and they then answered the complaint, denying its several allegations, .and also filed a cross-complaint in which they set forth the facts connected with the execution of the note and [100]*100mortgage, and alleged that the plaintiff at that time, and as a part of the same transaction, agreed to pay over and advance to them the full sum of $30,000; that, although requested so to do, it had refused to pay or advance to them $17,500 thereof. In a further cause of action for a cross-complaint they set forth certain facts, and alleged that by reason thereof they had been subjected to great damage. Judgment was asked by them against the plaintiff for the balance due on the loan of $30,000, and also for the damage that they had sustained. The plaintiff demurred to the first of these cross-complaints upon the ground that it did not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, and to the second upon the same ground and also for ambiguity. Although the appellants in their pleading styled their causes of action separate cross-complaints, they in reality are only separate counts of a single cross-complaint, and were evidently so regarded in the court below, as appears from its order that the demurrer to the cross-complaint of defendants be and the same is hereby sustained.” Upon the sustaining of this demurrer no amendment was offered to the cross-complaint, and the cause was tried upon the original complaint and answer. Judgment was rendered for the plaintiff in accordance with its complaint, from which and an order denying a new trial this appeal has been taken.

1. The demurrer to the complaint was properly overruled. The allegations therein of the execution of the promissory note, and the mortgage to secure its payment, and of the amount advanced thereon to the defendants, and the further averment of the nonpayment of interest, and the election by the plaintiff to treat the entire principal sum as due, sufficiently stated a cause of action. The further allegation “ that the said promissory note was executed by the said defendants in the sum of $30,000, as evidence of a debt for a loan, but that the actual amount of the principal sum of such debt and loan was and is the sum of $12,500, and not the sum [101]*101of $30,000,” sets forth with sufficient clearness and certainty the amount of the debt for which the mortgage was executed, and which the plaintiff sought to recover. The allegation of the payment by the plaintiff “ for the water appurtenant to said premises ” sufficiently stated the amount paid by it, and that it was due and had not been paid. If, in fact, this constituted a lien upon the land, it was not necessary to state which of the defendants failed to pay it, or the terms of the agreement by which it had become due. The complaint does not, however, show that this amount was a lien upon the land, or that its payment was secured by the mortgage, and, upon objection thereto by the defendants at the trial, the court should have excluded any evidence of such payment.

2. The court erred in sustaining the demurrer to the cross-complaint. It was alleged therein that prior to the first day of June, 1893, the makers of the promissory note set forth in the complaint applied to the plaintiff for a loan of $30,000 upon the real property described in the mortgage, and that the plaintiff agreed to loan and advance the said sum to them for the time, and at the rate of interest, and upon the terms and conditions set forth in said mortgage; that in pursuance of said agreement said defendants executed and delivered to the plaintiff their promissory note set forth in the complaint, and at the same time, and as a part of the same transaction, and for the purpose of securing the payment of the said promissory note according to the terms and conditions thereof, they executed to the plaintiff the mortgage referred to in the complaint, which was thereafter recorded at the instance of the plaintiff in the office of the county recorder of Fresno county; that at the same time said mortgage was delivered to the plaintiff “ said plaintiff, in and by said note and mortgage, and its separate agreement then and there made and entered into with said defendants, and as a part of the same transaction, agreed to and with the said defendants executing said note and mortgage to loan, pay over [102]*102and advance to said defendants the said full sum of said $30,000 specified and mentioned in said note and mortgage, to wit: $12,000 on accepting,and recording said mortgage, $10,000 within thirty days, and the further sum of $8,000 within sixty days from the date of the acceptance and recording of said mortgage by the plaintiff, and the defendants did agree to accept and receive the same”; that at or about the time of the delivery and recordation of said note and mortgage the plaintiff advanced and paid over to said defendants $12,500, and no more; that the plaintiff, although frequently requested by the defendants, has not advanced the remainder of said sum of $30,000, or any part thereof, and that the sum of $17,500 is still unpaid and due from it to said defendants. In the other count of the cross-complaint the defendants, in addition to the foregoing averments, alleged that by reason of the failure of the plaintiff to pay to them the said sum of $17,500 they were unable to meet certain other obligations of theirs, and that the persons and corporations holding the same had proceeded to enforce and collect them, and had subjected property of the defendants held as security therefor to their payment, so that it had been wholly lost to them, and that they had thereby suffered damage to the extent of $50,000 and upwards. The cross-complainants thereupon prayed judgment against the plaintiff for the balance due to them upon the said loan of $30,000, and for the further sum of $50,000 damages so sustained by them. To each of these counts in the cross-complaint the plaintiff filed a general demurrer, and also demurred specifically upon the ground that there was no consideration for the agreement alleged in the cross-complaint to have been made by it, and in addition thereto demurred on the ground of ambiguity to so much of the second count as claimed special damages for failure to advance the money.

The facts alleged in this cross-complaint sufficiently, stated a cause of action against the plaintiff for the unpaid amount of the loan. The execution to it of the. [103]

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Bluebook (online)
48 P. 1081, 117 Cal. 96, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/savings-bank-v-asbury-cal-1897.