259 Mass. 83 | Mass. | 1927
On June 28,1923, the defendant Alfred Wight was adjudicated a bankrupt and- the plaintiff was duly appointed trustee of his estate. The trial judge made the following findings and rulings: In August, 1922, Wight purchased a parcel of real estate, taking a deed in the name of his wife, the defendant Victoria Wight. He paid as part of the purchase price $1,700, and with his wife executed a mortgage for the balance. A short time thereafter they gave on the same property a mortgage to a cooperative, bank for $4,500, out of which the prior mortgage was paid and the balance was used by Wight in his. business. In May, 1923,
This is not a case where real estate, title to which stands in the name of the bankrupt, is by him transferred or mortgaged .to one of his creditors. Here the title stood in the name of the bankrupt’s wife, and Locke took the mortgage to secure a debt without notice or knowledge that she was not the real owner or that her husband had any interest therein. In these circumstances the court rightly ruled, in substance, that the mortgage was not a preference and therefore was not invalid under the bankruptcy act.
Decree affirmed with costs of the appeal.