State ex rel. Com'rs of Land Office v. Reynolds

1949 OK 65, 206 P.2d 184, 201 Okla. 400, 1949 Okla. LEXIS 303
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedApril 5, 1949
DocketNo. 32726
StatusPublished
Cited by22 cases

This text of 1949 OK 65 (State ex rel. Com'rs of Land Office v. Reynolds) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State ex rel. Com'rs of Land Office v. Reynolds, 1949 OK 65, 206 P.2d 184, 201 Okla. 400, 1949 Okla. LEXIS 303 (Okla. 1949).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

Essential facts are stated as follows: During 1927 and subsequent years the land involved was owned in fee by defendants Reynolds and wife. On July 27, 1927, they conveyed to the defendant Neff by mineral grant an undivided half interest in the oil, gas and mineral rights therein. That conveyance was duly recorded in the county clerk’s office on July 29, 1927.

Thereafter Neff conveyed a portion of this interest to defendant Sykes and a portion to defendant Beard and the interests which are involved in this controversy were owned of record by defendants Sykes and Beard at the time of the commencement of this foreclosure action.

On March 3, 1928, Reynolds and wife mortgaged the real estate to the Commissioners of the Land Office as security for a loan. Defendants Sykes and Beard were not parties to the mortgage and neither they nor their grantees thereafter did any act which would result in a subordination of their interest to the mortgage. The mineral grant was duly of record when plaintiff’s mortgage was taken.

With commendable frankness counsel for plaintiff concede both in their briefs and in the oral argument that as to this outstanding interest in the mineral rights, plaintiff did not in fact acquire a lien on it by their mortgage. No reason has ever been given for making them parties and intentionally seeking to foreclose them of their admittedly superior interest.

On January 28, 1933, the defendants Reynolds being in default, the Commissioners of the Land Office commenced suit in the district court of Marshall county to foreclose this mortgage. In addition to Reynolds and wife, the plaintiff named as parties defendant all persons who had acquired interests from Reynolds and wife subsequent to the mortgage, and also by inadvertence or otherwise joined as defendant these parties Sykes and Beard, who as aforesaid had acquired their interest and shown it of record long prior to the execution of plaintiff’s mortgage.

There was no specific allegation as. against defendants Sykes and Beard and no suggestion of any reason why this prior acquired interest of Sykes and Beard would be subject to the lien of plaintiff’s mortgage and no specific claim that such interests were so subject to plaintiff’s mortgage. There was the general allegation, clearly applicable to all defendants who had acquired [402]*402interest from Reynolds subsequent to the mortgage, that such interests were “junior and inferior to the right, title and lien of this plaintiff,” and by general listing of the names of Sykes and Beard along with all the defendants, the above-quoted statement of inferiority of title was purportedly made to apply to these two defendants. While that could hardly have been the deliberate intention of the members of this agency of the state, the literal effect was either to include the names of Sykes and Beard in that class of defendants by mere inadvertence, or to allege generally that the interests of Sykes and Beard were junior and inferior to the rights of plaintiff, which has never been actually contended or claimed or asserted.

At any rate, upon that state of the allegations of plaintiff’s petition, constructive service was had upon the defendant Sykes with affidavit of non-mailing, though this defendant was at the time a resident of an adjoining county, a prominent citizen, and at the time a state official, being a member and chairman of the State Fish and Game Commission. And there was purported personal service on the defendant Beard, though in further proceedings proof was offered that such service was not in fact made as will be discussed further.

Neither Sykes nor Beard appeared in the action, both claiming no notice thereof, and in fact no defendant appeared to resist plaintiff’s foreclosure action in any manner.

In taking default judgment the plaintiff not only took judgment against the defendants Reynolds and wife, but also against all defendants who had acquired interests from Reynolds and wife since the execution of plaintiff’s mortgage, and by naming defendants Sykes and Beard with the other defendants, the purport of the journal entry was also to treat them as holders and owners of interests, as junior and inferior to plaintiff’s mortgage, and the result therefore was to foreclose, or decree foreclosure of, admittedly prior interests of these defendants.

At subsequent foreclosure sale, the plaintiff purchased the land so that upon the face of the matter, since this judgment contained the usual provision that after foreclosure sale the interests of all defendants would be barred, it appeared that the ultimate result was that the admittedly prior interests of these defendants had been foreclosed in the above manner for the benefit of this plaintiff, or, at any rate, the present attorneys for the School Land Commission deem it their duty to so contend in behalf of this agency of the state.

When these defendants discovered such purported foreclosure of their interests, which were at all times prior to plaintiff’s mortgage, they sought adjustment of their rights, or such correction as would permit their interests to remain superior to plaintiff’s mortgage and plaintiff’s interest. But perhaps upon thought of lack of authority, either in the plaintiff or its attorneys, no such adjustment was made or could be made, and these defendants sought by their present motion to vacate this foreclosure as to them and as to their superior interests above set out.

Upon trial of this motion to vacate, the court considered two contentions as to ground to vacate: (1) that the defendants Beard and Sykes had never been served with process and thus brought within the jurisdiction of the court, and (2) that the court was without jurisdiction to render the judgment which was rendered, foreclosing the mortgage as to this outstanding adverse and paramount title.

There was evidence offered sufficient to justify a finding of the trial court that Beard was never served with process. She so testified herself and there was corroboration of her testimony from the face of the judgment roll. The same is true as to defendant Sykes. The trial court made general findings in favor of the defendants and rendered [403]*403judgment in their favor vacating and setting aside the judgment, the order confirming sale, and the deed, as to them, and permitting them to answer. On the same day they did answer, and from the order vacating the judgment and the aforesaid proceedings subsequent to the judgment, the plaintiff prosecutes this appeal.

It is urged by plaintiff that the defendants’ rights are barred by the five year statute of limitations, 12 O.S. 1941 §93, subd. 1, and by the three year statute of limitations, 12 O.S. 1941 §176. It further urges that the district court in a foreclosure action has complete jurisdiction to litigate the validity of an outstanding adverse and paramount title, and jurisdiction to foreclose such title; and contends further that the judgment rendered against these defendants was an adjudication barring them from asserting the rights contended for in this motion to vacate. We need not consider the contentions last stated for, of course, if the judgment was properly vacated, it is no bar, while, on the other hand, if the motion to vacate was erroneously sustained, plaintiff does not need to rely on any contention that the judgment barred the assertion of these rights, as the judgment would then stand as a permanent adjudication.

Defendants contend that the controlling statute is 12 O.S.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
1949 OK 65, 206 P.2d 184, 201 Okla. 400, 1949 Okla. LEXIS 303, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-comrs-of-land-office-v-reynolds-okla-1949.