Tennant v. Watson

24 S.W. 495, 58 Ark. 252, 1893 Ark. LEXIS 37
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedDecember 9, 1893
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 24 S.W. 495 (Tennant v. Watson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tennant v. Watson, 24 S.W. 495, 58 Ark. 252, 1893 Ark. LEXIS 37 (Ark. 1893).

Opinion

BaTTRE, J.

This action was brought by Tennant, Walker & Company against Jesse Watson to recover the possession of a certain tract of land in Miller county. They based their right of action upon a deed executed by A. S. Blythe, as sheriff of Miller county, - bearing date the 12th day of September, 1890.

Rhoda Davis, on her application, was made a defendant, and she and Jesse Watson answered and said, among other things, that Watson was not in the unlawful possession of the land; that the defendant Davis aqd her husband, F. M. Davis, on the 27th of July, 1888, conveyed it to Thomas H. Humphrey, to secure the payment of a debt of P. M. Davis to Humphrey for $200 ; that it was agreed by the parties, at the time, that the conveyance should only operate as a mortgage to secure the payment of the debt; that, afterwards, on the 3rd day of January, 1889, the debt having been paid, Humphrey and his wife conveyed the land to the defendant Davis; that, after the conveyance of Humphrey and wife, plaintiffs, on the 3rd day of January, 1889, caused an order of attachment in their favor, and against Humphrey, to be levied on the land ; that the attachment was sustained, and the land was ordered to be sold as the property of Humphrey, and was sold to the plaintiffs ; that the sheriff who made the sale executed the deed on which this action is based; that the defendant Davis duly notified the plaintiffs, before and _ at the time the land was levied on, that she was the owner, and caused them to be notified of her claim at the sale.

The issues in the case were tried by a jury on the 23rd of June, 1891, and a verdict was returned, and a judgment thereon was rendered, in favor of the defendants ; and the plaintiffs appealed.

The facts of the case are substantially as follows : P. M. Davis, the husband of the defendant, Davis, was the owner of the land, and indebted to Humphrey in about the sum of $200. Being the owner, and indebted, he conveyed the land to Humphrey, by deed absolute on its “face, to secure the payment of the indebtedness. Mrs. Davis redeemed the land by paying the debt, but took no deed, or assignment of the mortgage, until about two months thereafter, to-wit, on the 3rd day of January, 1889, when Humphrey and wife conveyed the land to her by deed, which was acknowledged and filed for record on the 11th day of January, 1889. In the meantime, appellants sued out an order of attachment against Humphrey, and caused it to be levied on the land on the 3rd day of January, 1889, at 4 o’clock p. m. On the 11th of June, 1889, the court sustained the attachment, and ordered the land to be sold at public vendue. On the 20th of July, 1889, it was sold according to the order of the court, and appellants became the purchasers. Not having been redeemed, the sheriff conveyed it to them on the 12th day of September, 1890.

There was a cabin on the land, and about fifteen acres of it were cleared and in a state of cultivation. F. M. Davis testified in the trial that he was in possession of the land at the time he conveyed to Humphrey, and at all times since remained in possession, and had a tenant on it; and that when the land was sold he appeared and protested against the sale. The defendant Watson testified that he was “ the tenant of Mr. Davis, and had lived on the land for the past three years, and made a crop on the place each year.” He was on the place as Davis’ tenant when the deed to Humphrey was executed.

Shall the judgment of the circuit court be affirmed?

i. Attachnient does noi cut off prior equities. The statutes of attachment provide that “the plain- . .jv > r, ,-t , tiir m a civil action may, at or alter the commencement ^ ^ thereof, have an attachment against the property of the defendant, * * as a security for the satisfaction of such judgment as may be recovered.” Mansfield’s Digest, sec. 309. Section 325 of Mansfield’s Digest provides that “ an order of attachment binds the defendant’s property in the county, which might be seized under an execution against him, from the time of the delivery of the order to the sheriff or other officer ; and the lien to the plaintiff is completed upon any property or demand of the defendant by executing the order upon it in the manner directed in this chapter.” But this lien is allowed for no purpose except that for which the attachment is allowed. It creates no estate in the property attached, nor divests prior rights or equities therein. “It is neither a jus ad rein nor a jus in re.” The statutes, by making the attachment by which it is created a ■security for the satisfaction of such judgment as may be recovered, in effect, declare its only object to be to secure the judgment by preventing subsequent alienations and- incumbrances. It is no part of its office to cut off, destroy, or affect the prior rights, equities, dr incumbrances of third persons. But on the contrary the statute under which it can be created provides : “ Any person may, before the sale of any attached property, or before the payment to the plaintiff of the proceeds thereof, or of any attached debt, present his complaint, verified by oath, to the court, disputing the validity of the attachment, or stating a claim to the property, or an interest in or a lien on it under any other attachment or otherwise, and setting forth the facts upon which such claim is founded, and his claim shall be investigated.” Mansfield’s Digest, sec. 356. And in this connection they further provide : “The court may hear the proof, or may order a reference to a commissioner, or may impanel a jury to inquire into the facts. If it is found that the claimant has a title to, a lien on or any interest in such property, the court shall make such order as may be necessary to protect his rights.” Mansf. Dig. sec. 358.

■But these rights, equities and incumbrances may be such as can be lost through the neglect of the' person in whose favor they exist to comply with the statutes upon registration, or by a bona fide purchaser for value,, and without notice, acquiring the property.

2 statute construed?11

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
24 S.W. 495, 58 Ark. 252, 1893 Ark. LEXIS 37, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tennant-v-watson-ark-1893.