296 F. 891 | 5th Cir. | 1924
This is a bill to quiet title to the N. E. %. of the N. W. % of Sec. 16 of a township in Dade county, Fla., brought by the heirs at law of Edward J. Arapian. The defendants hold under a foreclosure in 1908 of a mortgage given by Arapian in 1893 to the receiver of the Bank of Key West, and the case turns' on the question Whether the foreclosure proceedings embraced and sold this land. The description in the mortgage is in these words:
“N. W.' yé and N. E. 14 of N. W. % an$ N. W. 14 and N. E. 14 of N. E. % of section 16 (being the north half of the N. W. and N. E. quarters of said-section 16), to township 54 south, of range 41 east, containing 160 acres.”
The petition for foreclosure states:
“That the lands conveyed by said mortgage deed are situated, lying and being in Dade county, Florida, and more particularly described in the said deed as follows: The N. "W. 14 and the S. E. 14 of the N. W. 14 and the N. W. 14 and the N. E. 14 of the N. E.14 of section 16, being the north half of the VN. W. and N. E. quarters of section 16, township 54 south, of range 41 east, containing 160 acres.”
The decree orders that “said mortgaged premises be sold, said premises being described in the bill of ‘complaint/’ and forecloses “the equity of redemption in and to said mortgaged premises or any part thereof.” The report and confirmation of sale refer to the decree, and to “said premises.” The deed follows the description in the petition.
The deed is to be construed with the foreclosure proceedings of which it forms a part. It is, of course, important in proceedings for judicial sales by which title is to be involuntarily divested that there be-certainty as to what is to be sold, to the end that the property may bring its full value, and that disputes may be avoided, and if reasonable certainty is lacking the sale is void. 16 R. C. L. § 18.
“In regard, however, to the description of the property conveyed the rules are the same, whether the deed be made by a party in his own right, or by an officer of the court. The policy of the law does not require courts to scrutinize the proceedings of a judicial sale with a view to defeat them. On the contrary, every reasonable intendment will be made in their favor, so as to secure, if it can be done consistently with legal rules, the object they were intended to accomplish.” "White v. Luning, 93 U. S. 514, 523 (23 L. Ed. 938); Cox v. Hart, 145 U. S. 376, 12 Sup. Ct. 962, 36 L. Ed. 741.
A reference to other records is permissible to describe what is to be sold. '■ .
“Such references are not unusual in voluntary conveyances, and deeds which but for them would be meaningless axe sustained, the description referred to being treated as if copied in the deed. So the deed made in pursuance of an order .or decree of sale may refer to another record for the purpose of either describing the tract of land to which it relates, o>r of showing what parts, if any, are to he omitted.” 16 R. C. T. § 96.
The judgment is affirmed.