195 Mo. App. 438 | Mo. Ct. App. | 1917
This is an action upon a bond given to redeem real estate from foreclosure under deed of trust. Lucy B. Darnall was the holder of said deed of trust and became the purchaser at foreclosure. The bond to redeem was given by P. P. Brockett as principal with the defendant herein as surety. As first brought, the suit was by Lucy B. Darnall against said Brockett and his surety, the defendant herein. Service was not obtained on Brockett and the suit was dismissed as to him. Mrs. Darnall obtained judgment for $1000 the full amount of the bond, and the defendant appealed. After the appeal was perfected, but before it was submitted, Mrs. Darnall died and her executor, Evans, was substituted in her stead and the cause revived in the name and style under which it now appears.
The bond sued on .was given pursuant to section 2830, Revised Statutes 1909, which forbids the existence of any right to redeem unless the foreclosed owner shall give sepurity “for the payment of the interest to accrue after the sale, and for all damages and waste that may be occasioned or permitted by the party whose property is sold.” The bond is conditioned as follows:
“Now, therefore, if the said P. P. Brockett shall well and • truly pay all interest accruing on the note secured by said deed of trust from date of sale, to-wit, October 17, 1912, to date of redemption, and shall pay, or cause to be paid, the costs of said foreclosure sale; and shall pay, or cause to be paid, all damages and waste that may be occasioned or permitted by said P. P. Brockett, then this obligation to be void; otherwise to be and remain in full force and effect.”
At the trial a jury was waived, and the defendant offered to let judgment go for the plaintiff against the surety company for the interest accruing on the debt for the year Brockett had in which to redeem, and for the costs accruing to the time of the offer. The
.If we correctly understand appellant’s position, it is that the surety is not liable for any damages-.on account of waste during the year, because the bond covers only waste “that may be occasioned or permitted by said F. P. Brockett,” and defendant says none was “occasioned or permitted” by him, since the property was, during all that time, in the hands of a receiver and not in Brockett’s possession. The claim is also made that the evidence is such that the amount of damages on account of waste occasioned or permitted after the execution of the bond cannot with reasonable certainty be distinguished and separated from that suffered by the property before the execution of said bond.
With reference to this last claim, that the damages on account of waste after the execution of the bond are not distinguishable from those arising before the ex-cution thereof, the evidence amply tends to show that the damage arising after the filing of the bond and before the expiration of the year, exceeded the amount of the bond, and this, too, without taking into consideration anything for interest accruing on the debt after the sale. ' There is, therefore, no danger that the judgment includes too much or covers anything by way of damages from waste accruing prior to the giving of the bond.
We, therefore, proceed at once to the consideration of appellant’s other point, viz, that the surety is not liable for the waste herein'complained of.
A clear understanding of the' question presented requires a statement of the facts in the case. The note
On April 22, 1913, Mrs. Darnall notified the defendant surety company that the property was being wasted and damaged and that application would be made for additional security. And on April 24, 1913, in the proceeding brought by Brockett to have redemption bond authorized and amount thereof fixed, Mrs. Darnall filed her petition to compel Brockett to give additional security. On May 10, 193.3, the court found in favor of said petition and found that since the bond for redemption was given, the property had greatly depreciated by reason of waste, and that such damage and waste was ¿t that time in excess of $2000, and decreed that Brockett execute and file an additional bond of $1500.
On July 10, 1913, by an order entered in the attachment proceeding, the receiver was ordered to borrow $2500 on the property the money to be used in paying the taxes and in putting the property in .tenantable condition. The receiver borrowed said amount and expended $2274.95 in making the repairs absolutely necessary to enable the property to be rented, putting a first lien on the property for that amount.
Febuary 7, 1914, Mrs. Darnall filed her amended and supplemental intervening petition in said attachment suit wherein she prayed the court to determine title to said property and direct the receiver to surrender possession of same to her. Final judgment in her favor on her said amended and supplemental intervening petition was rendered April 16, 1914, and she obtained possession of the property. On November 2, 1914, suit on the case at bar was filed.
To hold that the surety is not liable on this bond because the property, at the time, of its execution, was in the hands of a' receiver, would not only put a strained and narrow construction on the terms thereof, but would ignore the purpose for which a bond is required as a condition precedent to the right of redemption, and would also disregard entirely the situation in which the giving of such a bond places the foreclosure purchaser. The bond creates the right to redeem, or at least such right cannot be exercised without it. [Moss v. King, 212 Mo. 578; Walmsley v. Dougherty, 163 Mo. 294.] It secured to Brocket! the right of redemption for twelve months. And it prevented Mrs. Darnall from obtaining title to the property immediately after the sale. Had she obtained a deed giving her the title, she could have taken steps to prevent the waste and damage accruing to the property during the time Broekett had in which to exercise his right to redeem. While this right lasted, Mrs. Darnall could not be expected to ex
It is true, a surety has the right to limit his liability to the very terms of his undertaking, but still a bond is construed in the same way as any other contract, that is, with regard to the intention of the parties and the purpose of the bond, as disclosed by the instrument read in the light of the surrounding circumstances. [Limberger v.. Krieger, 88 Mo. 160, 165; Springfield Lighting Co. v. Hobart, 98 Mo. App. 277, 233.] A strained construction should not be adopted either to hold or release a surety. [Beers v. Wolf, 116 Mo. 179, 184.] Now, the bond, according to its terms, applies to
The judgment is affirmed.