54 So. 685 | Ala. | 1911
The bill is filed by appellant to establish title to land by an equitable estoppel, and to cancel a deed under which appellee claims title, as a cloud on appellant’s title. The facts out of which the estoppel is alleged to arise, such as to defeat appellee’s legal title and to decree in appellant the equitable title, are stated as follows by the appellant: “On the-22d of November, 1882, John C. Key executed a deed to said lands and acknowledged the same and left said deed with the purchasing agent of Thomas Peters to be delivered to him when paid for, and if not paid for in 30 or 60 days to be returned to said John C. Key. Said land was not paid for within the time specified, and said deed was never returned to said Key, but was on, to wit, the 25th day of January, 1883, duly filed for record, and recorded on the same day. On the 23rd day of May, 1883, said Thomas Peters, by virtue of his apparent ownership of said land, obtained a. loan from Samuel Noble, by executing a mortgage on said land; said mortgage being in form of a deed. Said Noble had no knowledge or notice of the infirmities of the title of said Peters. S'aid mortgage was duly foreclosed and the register in chancery conveyed said land to T. Gr. Bush-and A. L. Tyler, who were innocent purchasers for value, without any knowledge or notice of any infirmities in the title to said land; and appellant obtained title by purchase from said Bush and Tyler, as innocent purchasers for value. John C. Key had knowledge of the record of said deed, and with such knowledge negligently permitted the said
The bill is certainly demurrable for laches if for no other infirmity.
If it was actionable negligence on the part of Key to allow his deed to remain in the hands of Peters for five or six months, and to fail for that length of time to compel Peters to reconvey the land to him, before Key conveyed to Musgrove Bros., such as to- forever estop Key, Musgrove Bros., and those who claim through the latter, from asserting their legal title against those who claim through Peters, what must be said of the negligence of Noble and of those claiming' under him, in waiting more than a. quarter of a century before attempting to assert their equity against those who, all this time, held the legal title to these lands?
If Noble or those under whom he claims had actual knowledge of all these facts, of course they would be barred by the statute of limitations of 10 and 20 years. If they did not have actual knowledge thereof, they were guilty of laches in failing to discover them for more than 20 years.
No actual fraudulent intent is averred; it is onxy arleged that it was negligence in Key to fail to compel Peters to reconvey to him (Key) before he conveyed to Musgrove Bros. — which status was, at most, a matter of only a few months’ duration.
“Whenever ignorance of fact is urged a.s an excuse for clela3, the general doctrines on the subject of knowledge, actual and constructive, may be said to apply. One must have been diligent and have made such inquiry and investigation as the circumstances reasonably permitted or suggested. Means of knowledge of
“Courts of equity, while sometimes bound by and at other times following the analogy of statutes-of limitation, also act independently of such statutes, refusing relief to parties who have slept upon their rights or have been negligent in asserting' them. Negligence in the prosecution of the suit after its commencement may bar relief. A party himself diligent may be precluded
“It is sometimes said that lapse of time will not bar the enforcement of a direct or express trust. This statement is too broad, and trusts form no true exception to the rule. As long as the trust is acknowledged, the right continues, and negligence cannot be imputed under such circumstances. But from the time of the repudiation of the trust the ordinary rules prevail. Suits for relief against fraud also occupy a peculiar position. It has been said that in such cases lapse of time ought not to bar relief, but the modern doctrine is that negligence, and even lapse of time alone, may bar relief from fraud; the question being as to the time from which the delay should be computed. But when fraud is clearly proved the court will look with much more than usual indulgence on any disability under which plaintiff may labor as excusing his delay in asserting his rights.” 16 Cyc. 151, 152.
The doctrine of prescription is likewise fatal to relief under this bill.
There is a rule of prescription or a presumption raised from the statute of limitations that any and all claims or right of property which have been permitted to slumber without assertion or recognition for 20 years have no legal existence, or that they have been adjusted.—Jellerson v. Pettus, 132 Ala. 674, 32 South. 663; Black v. Pratt Co., 85 Ala. 511, 5 South. 89.
This court has adhered, with uniform tenacity, to the doctrine of prescription, and has repeatedly held that the lapse of 20 years without recognition of right, or admission of liability, operates an absolute rule of repose.—McArthur v. Carrie, 32 Ala. 88, 70 Am. Dec. 529, is
. The doctrine is broader and more comprehensive than a mere statute of limitations, although based on analogous principles of repose to society.—Garrett v. Garrett, 69 Ala. 4429; McArthur v. Carrie, 32 Ala. 75, 70 Am. Dec. 529; Harrison v. Heflin, 54 Ala. 552; Greenlees v. Greenlees, 62 Ala. 330; Baker v. Prewitt, 64 Ala. 551; Matthews v. McDade, 72 Ala. 377; Bozeman v. Bozeman, 82 Ala. 389, 2 South. 732.
In support of the regularity and validity of the decrees, and of the title acquired thereby, almost any fact essential to that end, and certainly any fact necessary to supply the defects pointed out, whether consistent with or contradictory of the record, will after the lapse of twenty years, be presumed to sustain the validity of the proceeding.—Barnett v. Tarrence, 23 Ala. 463; Gantt v. Phillips, 23 Ala. 275; McArthur v. Carrie, 32 Ala. 75, 70 Am. Dec. 529; Matthews v. McDade, 72 Ala. 377; Duncan v. Williams, 89 Ala. 3441, 7 South. 416.
While the bill avers that Noble had no notice of the facts which are claimed to give the bill equity, at the time he purchased or lent money on the faith of Peters’ title, it does not aver that he, or those who have claimed through him, did not have such notice before he or they parted with Noble’s claim or right. If Noble acquired such notice before he died, or his representatives subsequently acquired such notice before they parted with their interest or claim, it was their duty to file this bill then, and not wait for their successors and future generations to file it.
And so as to each of the succeeding purchasers through whom complainant claims title. The bill alleges that they had no notice or knowledge of the facts which gave the hill equity, before or at the time they ac
The Supreme Court of the United States, speaking to> this question, through Justice Brewer, quoted from Justice Story, the great judge and law writer, as follows : “General allegations that there has been fraud, or mistake, or concealment, or misrepresentation, are tooi loose for purposes of this sort. The charges must be reasonable, definite, and certain as to time, and occasion, and subject-matter. And especially must there be distinct averments of the time when the fraud, mistake;, concealment, or misrepresentation was discovered, and how discovered, and what the discovery is; so that the court may clearly see whether, by the exercise of ordinary diligence, the discovery might not have been before made. For, if by such diligence the discovery might have been before made, the bill has no foundation on which it can stand in equity, on account of the laches..
gut yie ¿oes -^.j- gtate what particular-discoveries have been obtained, or when they were obtained, or by what inquiries, or in what manner, or at what time.”—Stearns v. Page, 1 Story, 204, 215, 217, Fed. Cas. No. 13,339; Hardt v. Heidweyer, 152 U. S. 559, 14 Sup. Ct. 671, 38 L. Ed. 548.
Moreover, the majority of the court, including the writer, are of the opinion that the complainant and those under whom it claims are not bona fide purchasers in such sense that they can assert the alleged equitable estoppel attempted in this case, and that the decree of the chancellor could well be affirmed on the au
Affirmed.