52 S.W.2d 96 | Tex. App. | 1932
The intention of the recording acts is to compel every person receiving conveyances of real property to place such an instrument of record, not only that he may thereby protect his own rights, but also those of all others who may afterwards seek to acquire an interest in the same property. In this manner a person about to deal with respect to a tract of land may be able to discover, or find the means of discovering, as was designed the public deed records should afford, every existing and outstanding title or interest in it which could affect the rights of a bona fide purchaser. The law intends to and does favor the recorded title, and any conveyance which is duly recorded must thereby obtain all the benefits which depend upon or flow from the fact of registration. Under the settled rules generally applicable to such situations, Donald W. Moore and the other defendants may predicate the right to take or obtain a legal estate or hold the oil interest claimed freed from the legal rights of George and Ella Anderson as well as the other plaintiffs in the case only that they acquired their rights without notice of the duly registered interests or claims of the plaintiffs in the same property. This involves, not a question of title, but a question of notice. It is a general rule most clearly established that a person who acquired a legal or equitable interest in property, even for a valuable consideration. *102
but with notice that the same property is already affected by a legal or equitable claim in favor of another, does not take the property freed from the claim or interest of such other person. By affirmative finding of the jury, Mr. Donald W. Moore at the time of the agreement of the lease by E. H. Brawley was personally informed by Mr. Brawley of the fact of the execution by George Anderson and Ella Anderson to B. P. Seay of the mineral lease. Thus Mr. Moore, as a fact, had information tending to show the existence of the fact of a prior right in Mr. Seay in conflict with the interest he was seeking to obtain. And as to all the defendants the circumstance appears sufficient at least to excite inquiry that George Anderson and Ella Anderson were in long continuous actual possession of the premises, as though no sale had been made since the deed in 1925 to the Rembert National Bank. As observed in Davis v. Cox (Tex.Civ.App.)
The only exception relied upon as relieving the effect of George Anderson and wife's maintaining the long continuous actual occupancy of the land for six years after having executed the conveyance to the Rembert National Bank, and which was put of record, is the case of Eylar v. Eylar,
It is next urged that the recovery by the defendants, as respects the 80-acre tract, is contrary to the preponderance of the evidence. It is believed that the evidence is sufficient to warrant the finding by the jury that the conveyance of George Anderson and Ella Anderson was an outright sale and not *103 in fact intended as a mortgage of the land. Being in fact a valid deed, passing the title, all the land covered by that deed would pass to and be acquired by the purchaser, although the conveyance in evidence to the bank and R. C. Barnwell overlaps the deed to E. H. Brawley.
Evidence was offered by the plaintiffs as tending to explain that the deeds from Anderson and wife were in fact mortgages. Upon objection to the evidence as against the defendants, the court at the time in sustaining the objection orally stated to the jury that, "Gentlemen of the Jury, in the testimony these two bankers have given as to conversations, you will not consider this testimony, if you consider it at all, as against the Mullendore Trust Company, Thomas N. Berry and Donald W. Moore." It is urged that there was error in so doing because (1) it was not done in writing, and (2) was upon the weight of evidence in limiting the effect of testimony. The evidence was not admissible for all purposes but in limitation against some of the parties. It is thought the admonitory statement to the jury, as it merely was, in respect to the ruling upon the evidence, was not erroneous, authorizing a reversal of the judgment.
We have carefully considered all the other assignments of error, and think they should be overruled as not warranting a reversal of the judgment.
The judgment as respects the recovery by the Mullendore Trust Company, Thomas N. Berry, Donald W. Moore, and R. Jungbecker is so far modified as to deny each of them any recovery in a leasehold estate or estate in the minerals in the 50-acre tract in suit. The judgment of the trial court in all other respects and as to all other parties will be affirmed. The judgment is modified, and as modified is in all things affirmed. The plaintiffs will pay one-half the costs of appeal, and the defendants above specially named will pay, jointly and severally, one-half the costs of appeal.