107 Ga. 740 | Ga. | 1899
A fi. fa. issued from a justice’s court of Upson county, in favor of Harvey & Brown, for the use of Bates, Kingsbery & Co., against John M. W. Lyon, was levied upon a certain tract of land as the property of the defendant, which was claimed by Candy Sanders. When the claim case came -on for trial in Upson superior court, the issues of law and fact therein involved were submitted by the counsel for determination by the judge of that court without the intervention of a jury, upon substantially the following agreed statement of facts: Plaintiffs’judgment was obtained in the justice’s court on January 6, 1894, and execution issued thereon January 18, 1894. This execution was not entered on the general execution docket until November 2, 1894, and was levied upon the land in dispute March 31, 1897. The claimant, Sanders, purchased this land from the defendant, Lyon, on August 8,1894, paying full value for the land and taking an absolute deed thereto from the defendant. At the time of the purchase the defendant was in possession of the land and had a growing crop on the same, and it was agreed between him and the claimant that defendant should continue in possession of the land until he could gather his crops. Accordingly, defendant remained in possession until January 1, 1895, when claimant went into possession. At the time of the purchase by the claimant he had no notice of the judgment against the vendor, the defendant in fi. fa. The sale was open and fair between the parties, and was
Nor does it make any difference in this case that the purchaser did not examine the general execution docket of the county of defendant’s residence before paying for and receiving title to the land; for if he had made such examination he would have obtained no information from the docket that could possibly have put him upon notice of the existence of such judgment. What the law requires in such a case to put innocent third parties upon notice of the existence of a judgment lien is an entry of the execution upon a certain record in the office of the clerk of the superior court. Where there is a failure to make such record, third parties are not charged with any duty to make an investigation or inquiry in relation to the existence of such a lien against their vendor.
These principles have been virtually decided by this court in the case of Moody v. Millen, 103 Ga. 452. In that case it appeared that the registry act of 1889 was directly applied to
Judgment affirmed.