42 Neb. 281 | Neb. | 1894
The Bohn Sash & Door Company, M. A. Disbrow, and George A. Hoagland each began a separate action for the foreclosure of a mechanic’s lien in the district court of Douglas county. These three cases were consolidated and tried as one, and upon final hearing a decree was rendered granting each plaintiff and cross-complainant relief, though not in each instance in the measure prayed. The facts out of which arose the controversy adjusted by the above decree were, in substance, as follows: On the first of October, 1889, William J. Paul, one of the defendants, was the owner and in possession of the following described real property: Lots 3 and 4, in block 1, in Capitol Hill Addition to the city of Omaha, being a tract of land situate at the northeast corner of Twenty-sixth and Harney streets in said city, and hereinafter mentioned and called the
Before the contract was made for the erection of the block of buildings on the Twenty-sixth street property, that property had been mortgaged by a former owner, one Andrew J. Rosewater, to John P. Sehoning, who had assigned his mortgage to the Omaha Savings Bank. By this mortgage there was secured the payment of three promissory notes for $5,022.22 each, but one of these notes meantime had been paid. On the Twenty-sixth street property William J. Paul, on May 1, 1888, made another mortgage to secure payment of his promissory note for $6,500, held by J. H. Millard, trustee. On the 27th of May, 1890, William J. Paul executed to W. B. Millard, trustee, a mortgage on the Twenty-sixth street property to secure payment of his note for $10,000, due August 27 following. On the 13th day of June, 1890, said Paul made another mortgage on the Twenty-sixth street property to W. B. Millard, trustee, for $5,000, due in ninety days after date. Each of said mortgages was duly recorded. On July 7, 1890, Mahoney & Co. filed a subcontractor’s claim for a mechanic’s lien for $178.85. So far as is shown by the record this was the condition of the Twenty-sixth street property when, in July, 1890, Mr. Paul applied to the Omaha agent of the Kansas City Loan Company for a loan thereon to be made by Willis G. Myers. This loan was afterwards effected, and with a part of the proceeds thereof there were paid on the mortgages above referred to the following sums, to-wit: To the Omaha Savings'Bank, $11,203.91; to J. H. Millard, $6,933.74; to W. B. Millard, $16,258.91. Mr. Myers procured the release of these mortgages of record, and forebore to take any assignment of them; but, in consideration of the fact that the loan was effected for the purpose of taking up these mortgages, the district court subrogated Mr. Myers to the rights of the holders of the original mortgages' which he had paid
We are now confining our attention to the discharged mortgage held by the Omaha Savings Bank, and to that held by J. H. Millard, for the reason that the third and fourth mortgages, being those to William B. Millard, were filed later than the inception of the lien of the Bohn Sash & Door Company and of Edward C. Tighe, and it matters not, therefore, whether or not there was subrogation as to these last named mortgages, for if subrogated the party so entitled would only find himself holding a lien junior and inferior to that of the Bohn Sash & Door Company and Edward C. Tighe. In each of the cases cited to sustain the right of subrogation there was a recognized equity upon which to found that right. For instance, in the case of Blodgett v. Hitt, 29 Wis., 169, land had been sold at administrator’s sale. The notice of the sale was insufficient and the proceedings void, and the heirs of the deceased were entitled to the land. It was held, however, that the money which the purchaser paid, having been used to pay off a mortgage on the land and other debts of the ancestor which the heirs would have been obliged to pay in order to hold their inheritance, it was but equitable that the purchaser should be subrogated to the lien of the mortgagee and to the rights of all creditors whose claims had been discharged. What was regarded as the pivotal inquiry in that case is indicated by the following language quoted from the opinion: “ But the question is not, alone, wha-t is the natural and inherent justice of the case? but it is, are the principles and rules of equity jurisprudence, as recognized and enforced by courts of equity, sufficiently broad and comprehensive to reach the case and compel the heirs to repay
Let us now consider the evidence of Mr. Pease, who was the agent through whom the $35,000 loan was made. He testified as follows: “In 1890 I was the representative of the Kansas City Investment Company at Omaha, and negotiated the mortgage with William J. Paul on the property at the corner of Twenty-sixth and Harney streets, in the city just mentioned. This mortgage was taken in the name of Willis G. Myers. I examined the property at the time I made the loan, and made an estimate of its value. I also examined the records, or had them examined, in regard to the condition of the title. Only one mechanic’s lien of a small amount appeared against the property, if I recollect right, for about $100. I entered into as particular inquiry as I could and asked all the questions of Mr. Paul that pertained to the subject; and he informed me and made figures to show that the amount of the loan we were making, — that the balance above that was to be paid out,, that the prior mortgages would pay all the incumbrances up, — all the liens; that they were provided for, all the larger ones were provided for, and that there would be cash enough come out of the loan to pay the balance. He said he had paid the contractor $16,000 in cash, if I recollect right, and that they were to take real estate to the amount of the balance that was coming to them. He had arranged to sell them certain real estate; that they should
The judgment of the district court is modified in the particulars above indicated, and a decree accordingly will be entered in this court.
Decree accordingly.