168 Ga. 805 | Ga. | 1929
It appears from the record in this ease that Jones Motor Company sold James D. Strozier an automobile trailer for the sum of $275, payable in specified monthly installments, the first being for $50 and the last for $100, and the remaining five for $25 each. It is provided in the contract of sale that time is of the essence of the agreement; and various stipulations to this effect, not material to be mentioned, áre incorporated in the instrument. Upon default in payment of one of the monthly notes the Jones Motor Company proceeded, under the provisions of section 3298 of the Code of 1910, as amended by the act of 1921 (Ga. L. 1921, p. 114), to foreclose the sale contract, in which title was retained by the vendor to secure the debt, in the same manner in which mortgages on personal property are foreclosed. A mortgage fi. fa. was levied upon the trailer;, and though it was left by the levying officer for ,a short time at the defendant’s place of residence, a short-sale order, based upon the ground that the property was deteriorating and expensive to keep, was obtained from the judge of the superior court. The property was exposed to
Upon consideration we are of the opinion that the only real question presented as to which there can be any doubt is whether a vendor who reserves title in himself to secure payment for personal property, and avails himself of the right afforded by section 3298 of the Code of 1910, is required to make and have recorded a bill of sale conveying title to his debtor prior to the mortgage foreclosure. The point is stressed in the argument in this case that in foreclosing its mortgage the Jones Motor Company did not divest itself of the title or invest the administrator with title prior to the levy of the mortgage fi. fa. upon the property, or even prior to the sale of such property. Many cases are cited, and others could be mentioned, in which this court has held that a vendor who has retained title, especially in land, as security for the payment of the purchase-price or other debt, must make a reconveyance which must be recorded prior to the levy of a fi. fa. obtained in the
Judgment affirmed.