White v. Smith

73 S.W. 610, 174 Mo. 186, 1903 Mo. LEXIS 283
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedApril 1, 1903
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 73 S.W. 610 (White v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
White v. Smith, 73 S.W. 610, 174 Mo. 186, 1903 Mo. LEXIS 283 (Mo. 1903).

Opinion

MARSHALL, J.

This is a bill in equity for leave to redeem the land in controversy from, sale under exe[194]*194cution, in an action to foreclose a mortgage, or if not allowed to redeem, then for the surplus arising from the sale, and for an injunction to restrain the enforcement of a judgment in ejectment. The trial court found for the plaintiff, permitted her to redeem, upon certain terms imposed, and enjoined the enforcement of the judgment in ejectment. The defendants appealed.

The case made is this: On October 10, 1888, the plaintiff owned lot 1 and the west half of lot 2, in block 93 of Smith & Martin’s first addition to Sedalia. Her husband owned the east half of lot 2 and the whole of lot 3. They lived upon lot 1. Lots 2 and 3 were improved and the tenement houses thereon were leased. On October 10, 1888, Joseph Gr. White borrowed five thousand dollars from the Penn Mutual Insurance Company, and gave therefor his note secured by a deed of trust, in which his wife, the plaintiff, joined, covering all three lots aforesaid.

On February 6, 1890, Joseph Gr. White borrowed seven thousand dollars from the defendants, Martha E. Smith and Sarah E. Cotton, and to secure the same Mr. and Mrs. White executed their note secured by a deed of trust on certain land owned by Mr. White in Kansas City. At the same time Joseph Gr. White borrowed five thousand dollars from L. S. Mitchell, and to secure the same gave him a deed of trust on certain land owned by him in Kansas City. Thereafter the defendant, Phil E. Chappell, purchased the Mitchell note and still owns it.

S. P. Johns was surety for Joseph Gr. White, and to secure him Mr. and Mrs. White, on November 23, 1896, executed to him a deed of trust on all three of said lots, for thirty-five hundred dollars. Afterwards Johns had to pay the debt of White, for which he was surety, amounting to $232.05, and was about to foreclose the deed of trust, when at the request of Mr. and Mrs. White, the defendant, Phil E. Chappell, on Octo[195]*195ber 30, 1897, purchased the deed of trust from Johns and still holds it.

On November 23, 1896, Mr. and Mrs. White executed to the defendant Ittel as trustee for the defends ants, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Cotton and Mr. Chappell, a-deed'of trust on the three lots aforesaid, as an additional security for the seven thousand dollars borrowed from Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Cotton, and the five thousand dollars borrowed from Mitchell, and then held by Chappell, as aforesaid, and to cover certain unpaid interest due on said loans. As a consideration for this additional security the holders of the notes secured reduced the interest on the loan to seven per cent. This deed of trust recites that it is subject to the deeds of trust given to the Penn MutualLifelnsurance Company, and to Johns, and contained a provision that if the makers did not pay off the said prior deeds of trust, the parties of the third part (Smith, Cotton and Chappell) might, at their option, do so, and in such event the same should become a debt due to said third parties “and be secured by this instrument in the same manner as said notes were secured.”

The Ittel deed of trust was made to fall due October 20, 1898.

None of these deeds of trust were paid by Mr. and Mrs. White, and thereafter in July, 1899, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Cotton and Mr. Chappell caused the trustee, Ittel, to advertise under the deed of trust dated November 23, 1896. Thereupon, Mr. White entered into the following contract with Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Cotton and Mr. Chappell (Mrs. White did not sign the contract and does not seem to have known of it at that time):

‘ ‘ Certain property of J. G-. White is advertised to be sold this 22nd day of July, 1899, under a deed of trust made by said J. Gr. White and Mary B. White, his wife, to Adam Ittel, trustee for Martha E. Smith, Sarah E. Cotton and Phil E. Chappell, dated November 23, 1896, and recorded in the recorder’s office in [196]*196and for Pettis county, in book 111, page 526. To which deed of trust and record thereof reference is specially made. In consideration of $180 paid by the said J. Gr. White to said Smith, Cotton and Chappell, on the indebtedness secured by said deed of trust and the payment of costs of said advertisement, said Smith, Cot-, ton and Chappell hereby agree that said sale shall not, be made as advertised and also agree to not advertise said property for sale under said deed of trust until after September 11, 1899. On September 12,. 1899, said White agrees to deliver possession of the-property covered ,by said deed of trust to the said, Adam Ittel, trustee as aforesaid, for the use of said Smith, Cotton and Chappell, and at that time said White is to have the tenants in the houses on said lots 2 and 3 attorn to said Ittel as trustee as aforesaid. And, said White who now occupies the building on said lot 1 agrees to rent the said lot 1 at a rental of $20 per month, payable monthly at the end of each month, and in ease of the sale of said property under said deed of trust and a purchase of said lot 1 by said Smith, Cotton and Chappell, they agree to continue the said White as tenant of lot 1 and the buildings thereon for one year from September 12, 1899, at a rental of $20 per month, payable, at the end of each month. Signed and delivered in duplicate by said parties'this 22d day of July, 1899.”

Pursuant to this agreement Mr. White paid the $180 on the past-due indebtedness, and gave an order to the tenants, on lots 2 and 3 to attorn to Ittel, the trustee, which they did, and the trustee has collected the rents ever since. A lease on lot 1 was also prepared for Mr. and Mrs. White to execute, but they refused to do so, and repudiated that part of the contract.

In the meanwhile, however, the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company brought suit to foreclose its deed of trust, and made Mr. and Mrs. White,-.Mrs. Sinith, Mrs. -Cotton, Mr. Chappell, Mr. Johns,-Mr: Lamm- and [197]*197Mr. Ittel, parties defendant, and on June 3, 1899, a judgment of foreclosure was duly entered as prayed, adjudging the debt to be $5,171.70. No appeal appears to have been taken from this judgment. On October 14, 1899, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Cotton and Mr. Chappell .purchased the judgment from the insurance company, -paying therefor $5,269.63.

This was the status of affairs on December 27, 1899, and on that date Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Cotton and Mr. Chappell, the beneficiaries, caused Mr. Ittel, the trustee, under the deed of trust, of November 23, 1896, to institute a suit in ejectment, against Mr. and Mrs. White, for the recovery of lot 1 aforesaid. They appeared, on February 5, 1900, and filed a joint answer, and such proceedings were had in the case that a judgment was entered for the plaintiff, on March 26, 1900, for possession, ninety-three dollars damages, and the rents and profits were assessed at twenty-five dollars a month. From this judgment the. defendants appealed to the Supreme Court-

On March 31, 1900, Mrs. White began this suit, asking to have the Ittel deed of trust cancelled, and the enforcement of the judgment in ejectment enjoined.

On September 7, 1900, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Cotton •and Mr. Chappell, the assignees of the judgment fore■closing the Penn Insurance Company deed of trust, caused an execution to be issued on said judgment, and the land (lots 1, 2 and 3) was sold on October 6, 1900. Lot 3 was sold first. A third party became-the purchaser, for $1,600. Lot 2 was next sold to Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Cotton and Mr. Chappell for $3,375. Lot 1 was sold last to Mrs. Smith, Mrs.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
73 S.W. 610, 174 Mo. 186, 1903 Mo. LEXIS 283, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/white-v-smith-mo-1903.