16 Kan. 346 | Kan. | 1876
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The facts presented by the record are as follows: The petition is for the foreclosure of mortgage given by the defendants to one Dean S. Kelley to secure a promissory note for $600 payable five years after date, and also ten semi-annual interest-notes for $36 each. The notes and mortgage were executed July 14th 1873. The mortgage is in the ordinary form except that it contains a covenant as follows:
“And the said grantors hereby covenant and agree that they will pay all taxes and assessments of every nature that may be levied or assessed on said premises at'the time the same shall become due and payable by the laws of this state; that they will insure or cause to be insured the building on said premises in a responsible insurance company, to be named by the grantee, in the sum of three hundred dollars, and assign the policy or cause the same to be made payable in case of loss to the grantee, his heirs or assigns, as his interests may appear, and continue such insurance until said indebtedness shall be paid in full. But in case of the nonpayment of said sum of money, either principal or interest or any part thereof, at the time or times above limited for the payment thereof, or in case of the nonpayment of any taxes that may be levied or assessed upon said premises, at the time the same shall become due and payable as aforesaid, or in ease of the failure of the grantee to insure and keep said property insured and the policy assigned or made payable to the grantee in manner aforesaid, then, and at the time of such nonpayment, or failure, or either of them, the whole sum hereby secured shall, if the grantee so elect, become due and payable, anything in said note to the contrary notwithstanding, and this deed shall then be and at that time become absolute, and notice of such election may be given to the grantor at any time thereafter. * * * And it is further covenanted and agreed, that in case of fail*354 ure of the grantor to pay taxes or cause said property to be insured as above provided, the grantee, his heirs or assigns, may, if he elect so to do, pay said taxes, or cause said property to be insured as aforesaid, and the amount of money so paid for taxes or insurance shall become an indebtedness against said grantor and draw interest at the rate of twelve per cent, per annum from the time of such payment.”
Kelley transferred said notes and mortgage to one H. M. Holden August 8th 1873, and said Holden transferred the same to the plaintiff afterward and before maturity of said notes or either of them. Defendants did not pay the first interest-note which fell due on January 14th 1874; did not pay taxes for 1873, due November 1st 1873; did not insure property; and did not pay certain back taxes which were due on a portion of said property at the time the mortgage was given; and by reason thereof, and after the maturity of the first interest-note, viz., on February 13th 1874, plaintiff elected to have the whole debt become due, and on that day gave notice thereof to defendants. The answer admits these facts, and sets up that Kelley acted as the agent of H. M. Holden and the plaintiff in making the loan to defendants, and claims a failure of consideration. The testimony shows (and there is no dispute on the point,) that Kelley paid a judgment of foreclosure against Clark upon the premises herein, amounting to $314.36; also, taxes on same land, $114.17; also, for abstract, $5, and for patent, etc., $2.50 — making a total of $436.03, which is alTthe consideration Clark ever received for the notes; that $150 commission was reserved by Kelley, and that he still has about $14 in his hands belonging to Clark. Defendant admits in open court that there is no evidence that Kelley acted as agent for plaintiff, or H. M. Holden, and hence the only question for this court is, whether the plaintiff obtained the notes and mortgage before or after maturity, and consequently, whether the notes are subject to or freed from equities between Clark and Kelley.
Though the defendant admits that the plaintiff received the notes as above stated and in fact long prior to the maturity
Counsel, for defendants in error raises the question that the plaintiff’s reply was not verified by an affidavit, and therefore that it did not put in issue some of the allegations of the defendants’ answer. The case was tried however in the court below, in the same manner as though it was considered by all the parties that the reply was sufficient, and therefore this court will now treat the case in the same way. (Bent v. Philbrick, ante, 190; Wright v. Bacheller, ante, 259, and cases there cited.)
The judgment of the court below will be reversed, and cause remanded for a new trial.