121 Cal. 272 | Cal. | 1898
W. S. Morton leased a tract of land in Ventura county from the plaintiff for the term of one year from ¡November 1, 1895, at the annual rent of four hundred and twenty dollars, payable before the termination of the lease. The terms of the lease were agreed upon, and a written instrument expressing them was prepared on that day, but was not signed by the parties until the 33d of December. The lease was not recorded, and contained the following provision: “It is agreed
Whether a chattel mortgage upon a crop yet to be planted is valid is a question AA'hich has not received a uniform decision. (See Pingree on Chattel Mortgages, sec. 217, et seq.) Whatever may be the law in other states, the right to make a chattel mortgage -upon a crop to be raised before the same has been planted was affirmed in Arques v. Wasson, 51 Cal. 620, 21 Am. Rep. 718, and has become an established rule of property in this state; and such mortgage may be made to secure future advances, as well as an existing indebtedness. (Civ. Code, sec. 2884; Tapia v. Demartini, 77 Cal. 383; 11 Am. St. Rep. 288; D’Oyly v. Capp, 99 Cal. 153.) As between the mortgagor and the mortgagee such a mortgage is valid and may be enforced, even though the formalities prescribed in section 2957 of the Civil Code have not
The plaintiff acquired no lien upon the beans by virtue of the foregoing provision in the lease. (Stockton Savings etc. Soc. v. Purvis, 112 Cal. 236; 53 Am. St. Rep. 210; Ferguson v. Murphy, 117 Cal. 134.) She was not entitled to recover from the defendants either the beans or their valué, by reason merely of being a creditor of Morton. Being his creditor gave her no right to this specific property. She had, however, the right to obtain ■n lien upon it by virtue of some legal process, and, after obtaining such.lien, to claim its priority over that of the defendants.
Keith er did the plaintiff, by the act of marking the sacks and moving them to a different place in the barn, acquire any interest in the beans as against the creditors of Morton, or anyone who should, purchase them from him. Such acts did not constitute a delivery or change of possession of the property. (Byxbee v. Dewey (Cal. Dec. 15, 1896), 47 Pac. Rep. 52; Button v. Rathbone, supra.) The court finds that at the time the defendants took the beans from the premises they were in the possession of Morton, and under the evidence it was authorized to make this finding. The lease to Morton gave him the right to "the possession of the land as against the plaintiff, and having taken possession under the lease he was presumptively in possession during its term. If the plaintiff would claim that
The rent for the premises was, by express agreement between the parties, payable “before the termination of the term,” and the plaintiff had no claim therefor at the time the beans were taken by the defendant (or, indeed, when the present action was commenced); and, as the beans were then in the possession of Morton,, he had the right to appropriate them to the payment of his-debt to the defendants, irrespective of the mortgage. As between his creditors, he had the right to give a preference to-either, and the defendants, by obtaining possession of the property with his consent, obtained a prior right thereto. (See Cameron v. Marvin, supra.)
The judgment and order are affirmed.
Van Fleet, J., concurred.
Garoutte, J., concurred in the judgment.