Taylor v. San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank

101 S.W.2d 868
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedOctober 21, 1936
DocketNo. 9814
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 101 S.W.2d 868 (Taylor v. San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank, 101 S.W.2d 868 (Tex. Ct. App. 1936).

Opinions

MURRAY, Justice.

This suit was instituted in the’ district court of Nueces county by Kate L. Taylor, administratrix of the estate of her deceased husband, James M. Taylor, against the San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank of San Antonio, seeking, in a trespass to try title suit, to recover the title and possession of 450.4 acres of land situated in Nueces county, Tex., and further to remove a cloud upon the title evidenced by a purported trustee’s deed executed by A. P. Graves, as substitute trustee, to the San Antonio Joint Stock Land. Bank, conveying the 450.4 acres of land in question to the bank.

The cause was tried before the court without the intervention of a jury, and resulted in a judgment denying any recovery to Mrs. Taylor, and awarding the land and premises in question to the San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank.

From this judgment, as administratrix, Mrs. Taylor has appealed.

The sale of this land by A. P. Graves, as ■substitute trustee, to the Land Bank is attacked by the appellant, Mrs. Taylor, upon the ground that the appointment of Graves as substitute trustee was void and that therefore any such attempted sale by him was also void.

The original trustee named in the deed of trust was Wm. B. Lupe, who was also [870]*870president of the San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank, the beneficiary named in the deed of trust.

On January 21, 1931, the board of directors of the San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank adopted a resolution which reads in part as follows:

"Therefore be it resolved by the Board of Directors of said the San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank of San Antonio that when the said Wm. B. Lupe, or any trustee named in any deed of trust held by said the San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank of San Antonio securing; to it the .payment of any note or notes held by it which has matured, or which has been declared due and pay-, able by said Bank, acting by and through its Executive Committee, is requested to enforce the deed of trust, and to execute the trust therein imposed, and should he or they fail or refuse to do so, there shall be and are appointed, and that the President and any of the Vice-presidents of said The San Antonio Joint Stock. Land Bank of San Antonio, be and they are hereby authorized to appoint, with the attestation of its Secretary under its corporate seal, as Substitute Trustee or Trustees, the following:
“S. P. Smith of Dallas, Dallas County, Texas; A. P. Graves, L. H. Hopkins, J. M. Reed and Wm. F. Koch of San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas; and Elmer F. Sanson of Plainview, Hale County, Texas, any one of whom, when so appointed, shall succeed to all of the rights and powers of the trustee named in said deed of trust.
“Be it further resolved that the Executive Committee of said the San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank of San Antonio, is hereby authorized to mature and declare due and payable any and all notes held by said Bank which are now or may hereafter become delinquent, or which may be matured for failure on the part of the maker or makers to perform any condition or requirement provided for in said note or the deed of trust securing the payment thereof.”

On November 5, 1932, at a meeting of the executive committee of the appellee bank, the indebtedness secured by the deed of trust theretofore given by James M. Taylor and others to said bank was declared dué under the acceleration clause contained therein, for the failure to pay 'installments when due, and a foreclosure by the trustee was ordered. The trustee, Wm. B. Lupe; then tendered his resignation and the executive committee of the bank appointed A. P. Graves as substitute trustee, and directed him to foreclose and sell said land under the power,of sale contained in the deed of trust.

On December 5, 1932, the land was sold by A. P. Graves as substitute trustee, and on December 6, 1932, a trustee’s deed was executed by Graves conveying said 450.4 acres of land to the appellee bank.

The question here presented is, Was the appointment of A. P. Graves, as substitute trustee, valid, or was such appointment void and the attempted sale by him likewise void?

The deed of trust provided, among other things, as follows:

“If the said Trustee shall die, or shall remove from the State of Texas, or shall bé disqualified from acting in the execution of this trust, or shall fail or refuse to execute the same when requested by the owner or holder of 'said debt so to do, said owner or holder shall have full power to appoint, without notice to us, by written instrument duly recorded in said County, a Substitute Trustee, and if necessary, several Substitute Trustees in succession, who shall succeed to all the estate, rights, powers and duties- of the said Wm. B. Lupe, Trustee, and we do hereby ratify any and all acts which the said Wm. B. Lupe, Trustee, or his successor or successors in this trust, shall do lawfully by virtue hereof.
“It is stipulated and agreed by the parties hereto, that in any deed or deeds executed by the Trustee hereunder, any and all statements of fact, or other recitals therein made, as to the non-payment of the money secured, or as to the request to the trustee to enforce this Trust, or as to the proper and due appointment of any substitute Trustee, or as to the advertisement of sale, or as to the time, place and terms of sale, and the property to be sold having been duly published, or as to any other preliminary act or thing having been duly done by said Trustee, shall be taken by any and all courts of law and equity, as prima facie evidence that the said statements or recitals do state facts, and without further questioning, shall be accepted as such by us, our heirs, assigns, administrators and legal representatives.”

It is clear from the above provisions of the deed of trust that, in the event the trustee named in the deed of trust should become disqualified from acting in ■the execution of the trust, or should fail [871]*871or refuse to execute the same when requested by the owner or holder of the note so to do, then and in that event the owner and holder would have full power to appoint a substitute trustee. The owner and holder of the note in question being- the San Antonio Joint Stock Land Bank, and being a corporation, the power to appoint a substitute trustee, under such circumstances, would be vested in the board of directors of such bank. The order entered by the board of directors on January 21, 1931, long before this particular indebtedness had been declared due and long before the trustee named in the deed of trust had refused to act, naming six different persons who might be appointed by the executive committee to a£t as substitute trustee in the event it should become necessary to appoint substitute trustees, was not a proper exercise of this authority vested in the directors. At most it was a delegation of the authority vested in the board of directors to the so-called executive committee to appoint substitute trustees; the executive committee consisting of three men appointed by virtue of article 8 of the by-laws of the bank. Article VIII of the by-laws reads as follows:

“The Board of Directors shall appoint or elect an executive committee of three, two of whom agreeing shall constitute a quorum and may transact business. The action of the Board in the appointment or election of the executive committee shall be made a part of the record of the proceedings of the Board.”

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Bluebook (online)
101 S.W.2d 868, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-san-antonio-joint-stock-land-bank-texapp-1936.