9 So. 2d 394 | La. | 1942
This is a petitory action, in which the plaintiff, Zepherin Daigle, is claiming a half interest in a tract of land described as SW 1/4 and SE 1/4 of NW 1/4 of Section 11, in T. 9 S., R. 6 W., in Jefferson Davis Parish. The land has an area of 202.18 acres, according to the government survey, and is in that part of the parish that was taken from Calcasieu Parish in the creation of Jefferson Davis Parish, by Act 7 of 1912.
The plaintiff, Daigle, holds a warranty deed from David Miller, dated April 28, 1899, and recorded in the recorder's office in Calcasieu Parish on May 1, 1899, in which deed Miller undertook to sell to Daigle a half interest in all of the property that Miller then owned in Calcasieu Parish and St. Landry Parish, under the following description:
"All vendor's undivided one-half (1/2) of the whole interest in all the property that he now possesses in his name at the present date in Calcasieu Parish and St. Landry Parish, both real estate and personal property, consisting of lands and improvements c." *1009
At the time when Miller made the sale to Daigle, Miller owned the 202.18 acres, of which Daigle is claiming a half interest in this suit. Miller had bought the land from Oscar Fulton by a warranty deed dated July 7, 1898, which was on record in the office of the recorder of the Parish of Calcasieu at the time when Miller made the sale to Daigle.
In the execution of a judgment against Miller, recorded sometime between May 1, 1899, and October 31, 1901, this tract of 202.18 acres described as SW 1/4 and SE 1/4 of NW 1/4 of Section 11, in T. 9 S., R. 6 W., was seized under a writ of fi. fa. and sold by the sheriff, a part to Edward J. Sullivan and a part to Pierre Theaux. One of the sales by the sheriff was recorded on June 24, 1901, and the other on August 21, 1901, in the recorder's office of Calcasieu Parish.
The defendant, Calcasieu National Bank in Lake Charles, in liquidation, holds title by mesne conveyances from Edward J. Sullivan and Pierre Theaux.
On August 1, 1900, Miller undertook to consummate his sale to Daigle by giving the latter a warranty deed describing specifically the half interest in the SW 1/4 and SE 1/4 of NW 1/4 of Section 11 in T. 9 S., R. 6 W. But this deed from Miller to Daigle was not filed for record in the recorder's office of Calcasieu Parish until October 31, 1901; which was subsequent to the recording of the sheriff's deeds to Edward J. Sullivan and Pierre Theaux, respectively.
Inasmuch as the deed from David Miller to Zepherin Daigle, dated August 1, 1900, *1010 describing specifically the land in contest, was not recorded at the time when the defendant's authors in title, Edward J. Sullivan and Pierre Theaux, acquired title by the sheriff's deeds, the question in the case is whether the indefinite description in the original deed from David Miller to Zepherin Daigle, dated April 28, 1899, was sufficient to put third parties on notice and to prevent Edward J. Sullivan and Pierre Theaux from acquiring a valid title from David Miller for the 202.18 acres described and SW 1/4 and SE 1/4 of NW 1/4 of Section 11, T. 9 S., R. 6 W. The judge of the district court decided that the description was not sufficient, and therefore rejected the plaintiff's demand. He is appealing from the decision.
Articles
As long ago as in 1872, in the case of Consolidated Association of Planters of Louisiana v. Mason, 24 La.Ann. 518, this court recognized the impossibility of adopting a standard for distinguishing a description which would be sufficient from one which would not be sufficient, in an act of sale of real estate, to put third parties on notice, — thus:
"We are not prepared to fix the line between a valid and invalid or sufficient and insufficient description, which shall serve as a guide in all future cases. Each case must depend on its own circumstances."
It seems to be settled now by the jurisprudence in Louisiana that such a vague and indefinite description, in an instrument purporting to convey title to real estate, as all of the land owned by the seller in a named parish, is not sufficiently specific to give notice to third parties thereafter dealing with the seller.
In Pargoud v. Pace, 10 La.Ann. 613, in 1855, it was held:
"A sale by one of the partners of all her interest in a partnership theretofore existing between them, including stock in trade, merchandize of every kind, credits in Ouachita parish, and in New Orleans and elsewhere, real estate, slaves, cash, c., is, as to the real estate, void as to third persons, for want of a description of the thing sold. Nor can such a description be eked out by parol evidence."
In the case of Green Brothers v. Witherspoon, 37 La.Ann. 751, it was held that, in a *1012 sale by one Edward Edwards, of several tracts of land described according to government subdivisions, and embracing 1,560 acres, the additional clause, "also all other lands, tenements and real estate of every description not heretofore particularly described of him the said Edward A. Edwards, owned by or belonging to him or to which he is legally entitled in the State of Louisiana", did not put third parties on notice, or prevent a third person from acquiring from Edwards a valid title to four separate tracts of land "interspersed in the midst of this tract" of 1,560 acres, but not described in the deed for the 1,560 acres.
In the case of Ideal Savings Homestead Ass'n v. Gould et al.,
"As there was no valuable consideration and real transfer of title from Gould to Edmiston, and as in our opinion no rights of any innocent third person as purchaser have intervened, we find no valid objection to reforming the act of sale from Gould to plaintiff association, so as to include the Lowerline street property, as such was the evident intention of the parties * * *.
"It must be observed, however, that in correcting this deed, the rights of any bona fide holder, or holders of any mortgage note, or notes, or other incumbrance on this property, must be protected and reserved."
In Hargrove v. Hodge et al., 9 La.App. 434, 121 So. 224, 225, decided by the Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit, in which case a writ of review was refused by this court on the ground that the judgment was correct, it was held that a deed purporting to convey "one hundred feet off the West end" of a triangular lot, which lot itself was correctly described, was insufficient to identify any portion of the lot, and *1015 too indefinite to put on notice third persons relying on the record. In the course of the opinion it was said:
"The description in a deed must be such that the property intended to be conveyed can be located and identified, and the general rule is that the description must fully appear within the four corners of the instrument itself, or that the deed should refer to some map, plat, or deed as a part of the description, so that the same may be clear."
In the case of Simar v. Ledoux,
In the case of George v. Manhattan Land Fruit Co.,
"It is the law of Louisiana, just as imperative as the principle above adverted to, that a purchase on the faith of the record *1016
protects a purchaser against off record equities and claims; that such purchaser must be able to point to a record which upon serious consideration and by clear description conveys the specific property in controversy. * * * A conveyance of land in Louisiana, without description, or boundary or location, but merely as `"all other lands owned by the vendor in the State of Louisiana," is inoperative as notice to the public of any particular tract conveyed, if not void for want of description.' Green v. Witherspoon, 37 La.Ann. 751; Succession of Mrs. Bradley, 8 La.App. 260; Ideal Savings Homestead Ass'n v. Gould,
"The instrument relied on by Nigh contains no description of any specific property, the only description being `all its present right, title and interest in and to all its lands in the Parish of Plaquemines, in the State of Louisiana.' We think there can be no question but that such a description would not be sufficient to seize hold of particular property and support a claimed purchase of that property in reliance upon the public record."
In the case of Baldwin v. Arkansas-Louisiana Pipe Line Co.,
In the case of United Gas Public Service Co. v. Mitchell,
The plaintiff's attorney cites 8 R.C.L. p. 1076, sec. 131, and 16 Am.Jur., verbo Deeds, p. 591, sec. 272, showing that in some other states a deed describing all of the grantor's property in a certain locality, or *1020 in a named city or county, is sufficient to convey title, so far as the description is concerned. The decisions which we have cited have established the other rule in Louisiana, with regard to giving notice to third parties acting upon their faith in the public records. Thus the jurisprudence has established a rule of property, which the courts must adhere to.
The judgment is affirmed.