217 P. 1078 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1923
This action was brought to recover a Hudson automobile or its value from the defendants. From a judgment against them the plaintiffs appeal. *704
Plaintiffs alleged ownership and right of possession in themselves and that the defendants were wrongfully detaining the automobile; that the actual value of the same was $1,000. The answer denied the allegations of the complaint. The findings are really conclusions of law. They recite that the plaintiffs were not at any time the owners, nor entitled to the possession of the automobile and that the defendant bank, at all times mentioned in the complaint, was the owner of the property and entitled to the possession of the same, and that the automobile was not wrongfully detained by the defendants. It becomes necessary for us to go back to the evidence and to state the undisputed facts. [1] Some time about October, 1920, James S. Brian was in possession of the automobile in dispute by virtue of a certain conditional sales contract which had been assigned by the original vendor to the defendant bank. Messrs. Green and Gohl were in the business of repairing automobiles in the city and county of San Francisco. Brian brought the automobile to their place of business to have it repaired. They repaired the same and the charges for their services were $110. Section
Brian took the car away and damaged it and returned it to Green and Gohl for further repairs. It appears in evidence that on this second occasion Brian "threw the *705 counter-balance through the car." Green and Gohl thereupon sent the case out to be welded and had bearings put in and paid the bills for such work, amounting to $55. These bills were admitted in evidence and appear uncontradicted. The car never left the possession of Green and Gohl after they paid these bills for welding, etc., until after it was sold under the lien. Green and Gohl purchased the automobile at the lien sale for $175, and, later, sold it to the present plaintiffs.
We shall pause here to consider the effect of the payment by Green and Gohl of the bills for welding, etc. [3] Respondents contend that no lien could arise in favor of Green and Gohl for work done upon the car which was not done directly by them. In that contention, we think, respondents are in error. In the case of Quist v. Sandman,
Now to proceed with our story. [4] Green and Gohl called at the office of the defendant bank and explained that there was $165 due upon the car and that it was in their possession and they were holding it for a lien. Conceding *706
to the respondents that the claim of lien was for too large an amount, because the lien for the first work, amounting to $110, had been lost and the only lien existing at the time of the demand was one for $55, the rights of the lien claimants were not prejudiced in any way by this mistaken demand in the absence of any tender by the bank of the actual amount due. (Folsom v. Barrett,
Green and Gohl gave notice of a sale under the lien and duly and regularly purchased the car at the sale. The question of their right to retain only $55 instead of $165 out of the proceeds of such sale is not involved upon this appeal. We are concerned only with the rights of an innocent purchaser from the vendee at the lien sale.
Upon the facts so far recited we think the purchasers at the lien sale received title to the automobile and consequently their vendees, the present plaintiffs, have a good title and were entitled to recover possession of the automobile or its value from the bank.
However, two technical obstacles are raised by the respondents as to the right of the appellants herein to recover: one is that they failed to comply with section 8 of the so-called Motor Vehicle Act (Act 2331b [Deering's Gen. Laws, Supp. 1917-21], approved May 10, 1915, as amended by Stats. 1917, p. 382, and by Stats. 1919, p. 191), because they failed to secure an assignment of the certificate of registration issued in the name of James S. Brian and file the same with the motor vehicle department of the state of California. The other contention is that the plaintiffs did not file with the county clerk of the city and county of San Francisco a certificate required by section 2466 of the Civil Code, stating the names in full and the places of residence of the persons transacting business under the name and style of Goodman Brothers.
As to the first objection, the Motor Vehicle Act, section 8 thereof, provides that in case of transfer of ownership of a motor vehicle by operation of law, or otherwise than by the voluntary act of the registered owner, the notice of transfer, as well as the joint statement provided for by the act, shall be signed by the sheriff or other representative or successor in interest of the registered owner in lieu of such owner. Other provisions of said act are that until the registration *707 certificate is transferred in the manner provided in the act, delivery of said motor vehicle shall not be deemed to have been made and title thereto shall be deemed not to have passed and said intended transfer shall be deemed to be incomplete and not to be valid or effective for any purpose.
[5] Giving the above-quoted provisions of the act their full value it follows that the plaintiffs did not have the legal title to the car and the attempted transfer to them by bill of sale was incomplete. However, they were the equitable owners, for they had paid the full purchase price of the car and they had the right to demand of the lien claimants the documents required by said Motor Vehicle Act to complete their title. The lien claimants were the "successors in interest of the registered owner" within the meaning of the Motor Vehicle Act and had the power to make the assignment or the affidavits required by such act for a complete transfer of title to themselves as purchasers at the lien sale. If they failed to thus perfect their own legal title after they had purchased at the lien sale, such failure only delayed the completion of the transfer to them and did not give third persons with no claim to the property the right to step in and deprive them or their vendees of its possession. When Green and Gohl purchased at the lien sale and paid the purchase price, they, individually, became the equitable owners of the property, with a right, as lien claimants and successors in interest of the registered owner, to complete the transfer to themselves, individually, of the legal title. This equitable title, coupled with the right to have the legal title perfected, devolved upon the present plaintiffs when they purchased the automobile from Green and Gohl. They acquired all the right, title, and interest in the automobile which Green and Gohl had. Therefore, while plaintiffs did not have a complete legal title because of the above-quoted provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act, they had an equitable title and a right to receive the full legal title and they had actual possession conferred upon them by the persons entitled to the possession, i. e., the lien claimants who were rightfully in possession of the property prior to the lien sale and were vested with a power of sale and absolute transfer under sections
Plaintiffs were entitled to recover possession of the automobile from the defendants. They were the equitable owners and had been put in rightful possession by those who had the power to transfer to them the complete legal title and the possession of the property. Replevin may be maintained by one who has a qualified property in the goods, provided he has the right to the possession. (Lazard v. Wheeler,
[6] As to the other objection of the respondents with respect to the filing of the certificate required by section 2466 of the Civil Code, it is sufficient to point out that, although the certificate was not filed at the time of the filing of the action or at the time the answer was filed, it had been regularly filed prior to the trial of the action. The question is settled against the respondents by the recent case ofRudneck v. Southern California M. R. Co.,
There are no other matters requiring discussion and the judgment is reversed.
*709Nourse, J., concurred.