| Iowa | Dec 13, 1875
The right to intervene is purely a statutory right, and it must be exercised at the time, and in the manner, the statute prescribes.
Sections 2683 and 2684 of the Code provide:
“Any person who has an interest in the matter in litigation, in the success of either of the parties to the action, or against both, may become a party to an action between other persons, either by joining the plaintiff in claiming what is sought by the petition, or by uniting with the defendant in resisting the claim of the plaintiff, or by demanding anything adversely to both the plaintiff and defendant, either before or after issue has been joined in the cause and before the trial commences. The court shall determine upon the intervention, at the same time that the action is decided, and the' intervenor has no right to delay.”
The record shows that at the February Term, 1874, of the District Court, the intervenor knew that this action was pending in the name of Henry, Lee & Co. The agreement of settlement was not filed until the February Term, 1875. The intervenor had ample time to present his petition before the controversy was'concluded by settlement. Not having done so, if he has any independent rights he must present and prosecute them by an original action. He has permitted the time of availing himself of the right to intervene to pass by.
The court erred in overruling the motion to strike the petition of intervention from the files, and in refusing to enter judgment upon the agreement of the parties to the record.
Reversed.