6 S.D. 160 | S.D. | 1894
As cbnsolidated at the trial in the court below, this is an action to determine the respective and relative rights of the plaintiff, as assignee of a mechanic’s claim and lien, and the defendants A. L. Dean & Co., Noyes Bros. &-Cutler, William Tolmie, and other defendants named in the title of the cause, each claiming to have a mechanic’s lien upon the real property described in the complaint, and also to adjudicate the rights of the defendant the Equitable Loan and Trust Company, a mortgagee, and the defendant and appellant, Walter N. Carroll, whose claim is based upon a certain quitclaim deed to the premises involved in this suit, executed to him by the defendant the Alliance Building Company, on the 12th day of November, 1891.
If, under the circumstances, the assignment of a mechanic’s lien and a claim secured thereby entitles the plaintiff to enforce the same by foreclosure, the complaint, which is in the usual form, states facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action, and appellant’s objection to the introduction of any evidence thereunder was properly overruled. The case was tried without a jury, and the court found, in effect and among other things, that the firm of Fraser & Shepherd furnished, under a contract with the defendant the Alliance Building Company, certain labor and materials, which were employed and used in the erection and construction of the buildings and improvements situated upon the premises in controversy, and that, after deducting all credits, there was due on said account the sum of §700, and that, within the time provided by law, said
Pursuing the order adopted by appellant’s counsel, the assignmtnts of error pertaining to the defendants W. S. Hill & Co. will first receive our attention. As fairly disclosed by the evidence, the Alliance Building Company, being indebted to the firm of Fraser & Shepherd for material used in and' about the erection and construction of the buildings situated upon the
The contention of counsel for plaintiff and respondent to the effect that the evidence fails to show that the note was negotiated prior to the filing of the lien is not sustained by the record. The witness Mr. Jonks testified, on the part of the plaintiff, W. S. Hill & Co., that be was, at the time of the assignment of the note, employed by Fraser & Shepherd in the capacity of bookkeeper, and that he was still so engaged; that he had charge of all bills receivable belonging to said firm, including the note in question; and that said note was assigned to W. S. Hill & Co. on the 9th day of March, 1891, as shown by the books in which he entered and kept an account of whatever disposition was made of any of the bills receivable belonging to said firm. Nathan T. Shepherd, of the firm of Fraser & Shepherd, was present at the trial, and was called as a witness by the plaintiff, W. S. Hill & Co. On the ground that the note was sold and assigned to W. S. Hill & Co. before the lien was filed by Fraser & Shepherd, objections were made to the introduction of the lien in evidence, and to the various questions propounded to the witness with reference to transactions between his firm and W. S. Hill & Co. concerning the sale of the note; and, notwithstanding these objections, the testimony of Mr. Jenks as to the time of the sale and transfer of the note remains undisputed. Had Fraser & Shepherd’s bookkeeper been mistaken as to the date of the assignment and
Each respondent seems to be satisfied with the decree both as to priority of lien and the amount recovered, but it is urged by council for appellant that the taking of the note by Fraser & Shepherd from the Alliance Building Company, and negotiating the same to the plaintiff, before the claim for a lien was filed, constituted a waiver, and destroyed the right to a mechanic’s lien, under the provisions of our statute. It appeals from the evidence that the extension was granted at the instance and request of the debtor, and that the note was not taken in settlement or payment of the claim, but for the mere purpose of suspending the right to enforce payment by foreclosure of the lien, until the amount liquidated by the note became due; according to its terms. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, or anything to indicate an intention to discharge the lien, the acceptance by the claimant of the promissory note of the owner for the amount of the claim in no manner affects the right to file a statement and enforce the lien under the provisions of article 1, chapter 31, Comp. Laws. Phil. Mech. Liens, sections 275-277, ar d numerous cases there cited and summarized.
It appears from the evidence that Fraser & Shepherd purchased the material furnished under their contract with the Alliance Building Company from the plaintiff, W. S. Hill & Co.; and, there being an unpaid balance of something over $700 due from Fraser & Shepherd to W. S. Hill & Co, the $700 note of the Alliance Building Company was endorsed in blank by Fraser & Shepherd, and transferred to W. S. Hill & Co., a few
It is evident that cases often exist in which the claimant and owner are mutually benefited by the assignment of the lien; and the case before us will serve to illustrate the proposition. The Alliance Building Company was disappointed in procuring funds with which to pay Fraser & Shepherd according to the terms of the contract. Fraser & Shepherd were indebted to W. S.-Hill & Co., for a portion of the material furnished under that contract. For the apparent purpose of postponing, if not avoiding, the necessity of a foreclosure and the expense and delay incident to litigation of that character, they-
In our opinion, the filing of the lien within the statutory time limit, by the parties for the benefit of whom the lien was created, and at a time when their interests required the full protection of the law enacted for their benefit, was a substantial compliance with the requirements of the statute as to notice; and the fact that the note had been, a few days prior thereto, conditionally disposed of, or transferred by an endorsement binding them to pay if the debtor failed, is of no concern to the owner of the property charged with the lien, or to his successors or assigns. The transfer of the note did not relieve Fraser & Shepherd from paying W. S. Hill & Co. for the material by
Still pursuing the order adopted by counsel for appellant, we will pass to the assignments of error which relate to the respondents Noyes Bros. & Cutler. In that case a note was taken and held for the express purpose of extending the time of payment, at the instance and request of the Alliance Building Company; and the failure to surrender the same at the trial for cancellation was accounted for and excused .by evidence establishing the loss of said note while in the hands of their attorney for collection. That, by merely taking the note, Noyes Bros. & Cutler waived their right to a lien, is the only remaining question so far as these respondents are concerned; and, as that question has received sufficient attention, further discussion is deemed unnecessary. There is no merit in either objection urged as a ground for invalidating the lien of Noyes Bros. & Cutler.
It is urged by appellant’s counsel that respondents Tolmie and the firm of A. L Dean & Co., respectively, failed to comply with the statute, in that no verified claim for a lien was evtr filed by either of these claimants; and we will now consider the assignments of error predicated upon the action of the trial court in permitting, over appellant’s objection, the introduction of x>arol evidence to sux>ply certain omissions axqiearing upon the face of the paxrnrs offered in evidence upon that branch of the case. As the rules of law governing the Tolmie case ax>ply with equal force to that of A. L. Dean & Co., both may be stated and discussed together.
It is therefore evident that the judgment, so far as respondents Tolmie and A. L. Dean & Co. are concerned, must be -reversed, unless it should appear from the evidence before us that appellant-is not a purchaser in good faith, and without actual notice of the existence of these liens. While there is conflicting evidence in the record upon the question of actual notice, we find that appellant, Walter N. Carroll, testified, in substance, at the trial, that he was a stockholder in the Alliance Building Company, and knew when the building upon the premises was being built, and understood that liens were filed for material furnished; that he bought the property November
Article 1, chap. 31, Comp. Laws, provides that ‘‘every mechanic, or other person who shall do any labor upon, or furnish any material, machinery or fixtures for any building, * * * by virtue of a contract with the owner, * * * shall have for his labor done, or materials,, machinery or fixtures
As against the claim of the Equitable Loan & Trust Company, appellant sought to interpose the defense of usury; and the ruling of the court in sustaining an objection to the introduction of any evidence in support of that defense,-under the allegations of the answer, is assigned as error. It appears from the evidence that on the 15th day of December, 1890, the Alliance Building Company negotiated a loan and executed to the Bank of Voiga its promissory note for $12,000, secured by a mortgage on the premises in controversy, which note and mortgage, by purchase and assignment, became the property of the Equitable Loan & Trust Company,' prior to the commencement of this suit, and prior to the -date of the quitclaim deed, by which the premises were' transferred to appellant, subject to said mortgage indebted ness; and the only question, therefore, presented, is whether the owner of the equity'of redemption who buys mortgaged premises subject to the lien thus created, and takes a quitclaim deed thereof, can avail himself of the defense of usury. The law upon the subject of usury was enacted with reference to the, interests of the borrower, but there is no law which requires him to avail himself of its benefits. To allow a stranger to interpose the defense of usury to a contract with which the maker is in all respects satisfied., and by the terms of which he desires to abide, and upon
There being in the record no reversible error, the judgment of the trial court, so far as appealed from,- is affirmed.