Strangi v. Wilson

77 So. 2d 697, 223 Miss. 122, 1955 Miss. LEXIS 360
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 7, 1955
DocketNo. 39347
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 77 So. 2d 697 (Strangi v. Wilson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Strangi v. Wilson, 77 So. 2d 697, 223 Miss. 122, 1955 Miss. LEXIS 360 (Mich. 1955).

Opinion

Kyle, J.

This case is before us on appeal by Sam Strangi, complainant, from a decree of the Chancery Court of Jackson County establishing the order of priorities of the [131]*131claims of the appellant and other materialmen and subcontractors against the funds due and owing to the contractor, Gr. A. Marshall, for the construction of a dwelling house in the City of Ocean Springs for W. C. Wilson and his wife.

The record shows that during the summer of 1950 Frank Haviland and Eose Mary D. Haviland, his wife, agreed to convey to William C. Wilson the land described as Lots 6 and 17 of the Edgewater Court Subdivision of the City of Ocean Springs, for the sum of $1,150. Wilson was a member of the armed forces of the United States at that time and was stationed at Keesler Field near the City of Biloxi; and after making arrangements for the purchase of the lots Wilson applied through William E. Barber of G-ulfport for a Veterans Administration loan to enable him to purchase the lots and construct the dwelling house. A tentative approval of the loan for the sum of $8,800 was obtained. The value of the lot on which the building was to be located was fixed at $1,000. Wilson was to provide the sum of $1,200 in cash to be applied to the payment of the construction cost of the building which was not to exceed the sum of $9,000. Wilson then entered into a contract or agreement with Gr. A. Marshall, doing business as The Marshall Engineering-Company, for the construction of a dwelling house on Lot 6 for the sum of $9,000.

After work had been started on the building, Joe Walsh, Marshall’s foreman, learned that the Marshall Engineering Company would be unable to obtain a temporary loan for the financing of the project through William E. Barber; and Walsh approached the appellant, Sam Strangi, who operated a lumber yard in the City of Biloxi, for the purpose of having Strangi advance the necessary funds to defray the balance of the construction cost. Strangi agreed to finance the construction cost in an amount not to exceed $7,500 upon the condition that Wilson and his wife execute a note for that amount and a mortgage deed of trust on the lot on which the build[132]*132ing was being erected to secure tbe payment of same. Walsb had tbe note and deed of trust prepared by William R. Barber, and bad tbe Wilsons execute tbe note and deed of trust on February 16, 1951. Tbe deed of trust was not filed for record, however, until July 30, 1951.

After tbe note and deed of trust bad been executed, Strangi furnished building materials, upon Walsh’s orders, and also money which was used in paying for labor on tbe job, and tbe work on tbe building proceeded without interruption. Strangi’s bills for lumber and other building materials amounted to $3,106.59. The sums advanced by him for labor amounted to $4,487.08, making a total advancement of materials and money in tbe sum of $7,593.67.

Tbe building was completed during tbe month of July, and at that time Strangi learned that there were claims due and owing by Marshall to other materialmen in tbe total amount of $2,916.56.

The $7,500 note signed by Wilson and his wife and payable to Strangi became due ninety days after date, and Strangi being unable to foreclose bis deed of trust, because tbe legal title to tbe lot was still vested in tbe Havilands, filed bis bill in tbe Chancery Court for tbe purpose of having tbe property subjected to tbe payment of the mortgage indebtedness due and owing to him. W. C. Wilson and bis wife, Frank Haviland and his wife, G-. A. Marshall, and William R. Barber, who had been named as trustee in tbe above mentioned mortgage deed of trust, and tbe above mentioned materialmen were named as parties defendant. Tbe complainant in bis bill asked that the deed of trust executed by Wilson and his wife to secure tbe payment of said note be held to constitute a first lien upon said Lot 6 of tbe Edgewater Court Subdivision, together with tbe improvements thereon, except as to the amount due Frank Haviland on tbe purchase price of tbe lot; and tbe complainant asked, that tbe legal title to tbe property be divested out of tbe [133]*133Havilands and be vested in a special commissioner for the purpose of having the property sold to satisfy the indebtedness due and owing to him. The complainant also asked that a decree be entered in favor of the complainant against Wilson and his wife for the amount due on the note. The complainant asked for a discovery by the defendants, Frank Haviland and William C. Wilson, as to the terms of the written contract entered into between them for the sale of said lot by Haviland to Wilson, and that the defendants be required to produce a copy of the contract.

The Wilsons in their answer admitted that they had entered into a contract with Marshall for the construction-of a dwelling house on the lot which the Havilands had agreed to convey to them, and that they had executed the note and mortgage deed of trust to Strangi, copies of which were attached to the bill of complaint. But the Wilsons in their answer denied that they were liable for the payment of the $7,500 note for the reason that the note and deed of trust were conditionally delivered upon the premise that the building would be constructed and approved by the Veterans Administration and that a G.I. loan would be made “which contingency was prevented from occurring by the deliberate act of the complainant, Sam Strangi, in filing this suit.”

The Wilsons made their answer a cross bill, and in their cross bill alleged that they had contracted with Marshall for the construction of the dwelling house for the sum of $9,000, that they had paid to Marshall the sum of $1,200, and that the balance which they owed to Marshall was $7,800; that the materialmen named in the original bill as codefendants had dealt directly with Marshall and had not given the required notice of their claims to the cross-complainants and were not entitled to a lien of any kind upon the property. The cross-complainants asked that their total liability to Strangi and the other materialmen be limited to the $7,800, and that the court determine the rights of priority between Strangi and the [134]*134other claimants, and that the cross-complainants he granted a reasonable time within which to effectuate a loan to satisfy the liens.decreed by the court; and the cross-complainants asked that the deed of trust executed by them on February 16, 1951, to secure the payment of the $7,500 note be cancelled.

The materialmen, who had been named as parties defendant, filed their petitions of intervention under the materialmen’s lien statute. The cause was heard by the chancellor on the pleadings and proof, and at the conclusion of the testimony the chancellor incorporated in his decree his findings of fact and his conclusions of law.

The chancellor found that Marshall had agreed to construct the house fo(r Wilson for the sum of $9,000; and that Wilson had paid to Marshall during the months of January and February, 1951, the sum of $1,200 on the contract price, leaving a balance of $7,800 to be paid. The chancellor found that after Marshall’s foreman had failed in his effort to obtain temporary financing of the project through William R. Barber, Strangi agreed to finance the balance of the construction cost of the building, not to exceed the sum of $7,500, provided Wilson and his wife would execute and deliver to him a note for that amount and a mortgage deed of trust on the property to secure the payment of same; and that Wilson and his wife executed the note and the mortgage deed of trust on February 17,1951.

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Bluebook (online)
77 So. 2d 697, 223 Miss. 122, 1955 Miss. LEXIS 360, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/strangi-v-wilson-miss-1955.