183 Ga. 179 | Ga. | 1936
It appears from the record that Jim Crews filed a petition against G-. L. Stamper and the Bank of LaFayette, for the purpose of canceling and setting aside several deeds. The petitioner also asked that the title to a described house and lot in LaFayette, Georgia, be decreed to be in him. The suit was filed on February 14, 1935. Stamper filed no answer or plea, and made no defense. The Bank of LaFayette answered on March 8, 1935, denying each and every allegation in the petition, and in addition showed that in paragraph 15 of the petition the following recitals appear: "Petitioner shows that the said Bank of LaFayette, being the maker of the deed referred to, is a necessary party to this suit; and that while no specific relief is being sought against said Bank of LaFayette, they not being charged in any way of any
In this case the plaintiff testified that in 1920 he executed a voluntary deed o£ gift, in consideration of love and affection, to his wife, Mattie Crews, on the faith of which instrument and apparently with his knowledge and consent she was enabled to borrow money from the Bank of LaFayette and to execute a deed to the property involved, to secure her indebtedness to the bank. As the plaintiff asked that title be decreed in him, the general rules as to the proof necessary to recover upon such prayer are those applicable in a suit in ejectment at common law. One of these rules, so well understood as not to require citation of authorities, is that the plaintiff must recover upon the strength of his own title, and not upon the weakness of the title of his adversary. In this case it appears that the plaintiff not only failed to make proof of his title, but he actually disproved his title, to the benefit of his adversaries. As stated above, Stamper made no answer, and in his
The plaintiff demurred to, the petition of the intervenors, on numerous grounds which the court overruled. We deem these demurrers so much without merit as to obviate the necessity of quoting them. The court sustained paragraph 3 of the demurrer, and in response the intervenors amended by setting forth copies of their muniments of title to the premises in question. The court allowed the intervention; and for that reason the real trial was not between the plaintiff and the original defendants, but between the plaintiff and the intervenors. In view of the fact that the evidence, for reasons already stated, demanded the verdict in favor of the intervenors, the court did not err in overruling the motion for new trial. Exception is also taken to the court’s directing, in the verdict, a finding in favor of the plaintiff, Crews, for recovery of rent of the house, and not also directing that he was entitled to the possession of the house itself, on the principle that if he was entitled to rents, his title to the property rented would naturally accrue. There is
Judgment affirmed.