146 Minn. 95 | Minn. | 1920
This is an action in ejectment involving the same property that was involved in the case of Schauble v. Hedding, 138 Minn. 187, 164 N. W. 808. In that action Mrs. Schauble sought to recover possession of the property from Mrs. Hedding, but, before the action was finally determined, Mrs. Hedding’s tenant moved out of the building leaving it vacant, whereupon Mrs. Schauble moved in and is now in possession. The present action followed. The trial court directed a verdict for plaintiff and defendant appeals from an order denying a new trial
■Considerable evidence seems to have been presented in the former case, which was not presented in the present case, and hence is not now before us. The case turns on the validity or invalidity of a deed executed April 8, 1914, and recorded April 9,-1914, purporting to convey the property from the defendant to the plaintiff. The deed was put in evidence by plaintiff, and, being properly signed, witnessed and acknowledged, was prima facie evidence that it had' been duly executed and delivered. Section 8425, G. S. 1913; Tucker v. Helgren, 102 Minn. 382, 113 N. W. 912; Murray v. Foskett, 114 Minn. 44, 130 N. W. 14.
The deed was a nullity until the name of a grantee was lawfully inserted therein. Board of Education v. Hughes, 118 Minn. 404, 136 N. W. 1095, 41 L.R.A.(N.S.) 637; Werntz v. Bolen, 135 Minn. 449, 161 N. W. 155; Schauble v. Hedding, 138 Minn. 187, 164 N. W. 808. It being admitted that, after the deed had been signed and acknowledged and had passed out of the hands of defendant, it had been changed by inserting the name of plaintiff as grantee, and that plaintiff through her husband, who acted as her representative and agent, was a party to the making of this change and had full knowledge of it, the prima facie presumption created by the statute in support of a duly-acknowledged instrument was completely overcome, and it was incumbent on plaintiff to show that Hatton had actual or apparent authority to insert her name in the deed. 'That Hatton assumed to have and exercise such authority is, as against defendant, no evidence that he possessed it. Graves v. Horton, 38 Minn. 66, 35 N. W. 568; Gude v.
There is nothing in the record to show that negotiations concerning this property were in progress between plaintiff and defendant, or'to show that defendant had ever employed or authorized Hatton to do anything whatever in respect to a sale or exchange of this property,- or to transact -any business whatever on her behalf with plaintiff for any one else. We search the record in vain for any facts or circumstances tending to show that Hatton had apparent authority to -complete or deliver this deed, and there is no basis for the claim that defendant w-as estopped from denying his -authority.-
The validity -of the deed was not established, and the excluded evidence w-as clearly -admissible. It follows that the order appealed from must be and is reversed.