18 Conn. 257 | Conn. | 1847
Lead Opinion
It is in the first place, contended, by Hewlett, the only defendant who appears in this case, that there was no delivery of the deed in question to the plaintiff, by Swift, previous to the attachment, by Howlett, of the land embraced in it. It is essential to the validity of a deed that it should be delivered by the grantor, and accepted by the grantee,, A deed takes effect only from its delivery ; and there can be no delivery without acceptance, either express or implied. They are necessary simultaneous and correlative acts. Jackson d. Ten Eyck & ux. v. Richards. 6 Cow. 617. As there can be, no delivery without acceptance, a deed cannot be delivered where there is no person to receive it. Jackson d. Eames v. Phipps, 12 Johns. R. 421. And it must be delivered as the deed of the grantor, and not to any other intent. “A deliver’/ of a deed is either actual, — i. e. by doing something and saying nothing — or else verbal. — i. e. by saying something and doing nothing ; or it may be by both. And either of these may make a good delivery and a perfect deed. But by one or both of these means it must be made ; for otherwise, albeit it be never so well sealed and written, yet is the deed of no force. And though the party take it to himself, or happen to get it into his hands, yet it will do him no good, nor him that made it any hurt, until it be delivered.” 1 Touchst. 57. Ow. 95. Telv. 7, 1 Leon, 140. Therefore a delivery of a deed, where actual and not verbal, does not con- \ sist of the mere act of handing or transmitting it either to the < grantee or another person, but of that act and of the intention ; with which it is done ; although the possession of it by the grantee may be evidence of the intent with which he received it. It must be delivered to the use of the grantee. In this case, the court finds, that before said attachment, Swift executed the deed, and delivered it to a third person for the benefit of the plaintiff, and requested him to cause it to be recorded, and handed to the plaintiff, which was accordingly done ;
It is claimed, in the next place, that the debts intended to be secured, by the mortgage in question, are not described in it with sufficient certainty to render it operative against Howlett, who is a subsequent incumbrancer. The condition of the deed is, that Swift “shall well and truly pay to the said [tbe-plainnff] on demand, with interest, the sum of 1500 dollars, in which sum [the said Swift] is indebted to said [the plaintiff] on book, and by several notes, the exact date and amount, of which are not recollected, but amounting in the whole, together with the debt on book, to the sum of 1500 dollars, or thereabouts.” The bill, after setting forth the mortgage, and describing particularly the items of indebtedness by book and notes, which the inui tgage was intended to secure, alleges, that when said mortgage was given, neither of said notes nor said book account was present; that neither the precise amount of either, nor the dates of said notes, nor the sums for which the same were given, nor the time when they were payable, was recollected or known ; that a more particular description thereof could not then be given; that the said Swift, being then in embarrassed and failing circumstances, it was necessary that said mortgage should be taken immediately, and before a more perfect or accurate description of said debts could be paid or set forth in said condition ; and that the plaintiff would otherwise have been deprived of all security therefor, and wholly lost said debts. The finding of the court does not pass upon each of these allegations specifically, but it is sufficient to show them to be substantially true; and the indebtedness of Swift to the plaintiff, as
We appreciate the importance of having the title to real estate appear upon record, which is the great object of those laws, and of giving such a construction to them that this salutary object shall be fully accomplished ; and we are not disposed to sanction any relaxation of the strictness of description which has been hitherto required in mortgages of real estate, in relation to the incumbrances created by them ; nor to impugn or weaken, in the least degree, the force of our decisions on that subject. But a majority of the court are of opinion, that the deed in question ought to be supported, not only against the mortgagor, but against subsequent incumbrancers, as a security for the sum mentioned in the condition; and that, in holding it to be valid to that extent, we neither infringe our recording acts, nor the decisions which have been made under them.
The general principle established with respect to mortgages, is, that to render them valid against creditors and purchasers, they must give reasonable notice of the incumbrances created by them. Stoughton v. Pasco, 5 Conn. R. 442. But, although this principle is settled, and its justness readily ac
But it is insisted, that the description of the indebtedness should have been more particular ; and that the amount not only of the book debt, but of each of the notes, constituting the aggregate amount of the indebtedness mentioned in the condition, together with the date and other terms of those notes, should have been specified. This appears to us to be, in this case, an objection, rather for want of particularity, than of certainty in the description. Such particularity, or distinct enumeration of facts or circumstances as is necessary in order to disclose the incumbrance with reasonable certainty, is undoubtedly requisite to constitute the notice of it, which ‘was intended to be furnished by our recording acts: but a greater degree of particularity than this would be superfluous. The nature of the indebtedness secured by the deed in question, is clearly disclosed in the condition, and the particularity insisted on by the defendant, would shed no additional light upon it. It is stated to consist of a book debt due from, and promissory notes executed by, the mortgagor, to the mortgagee. The character of the indebtedness would obviously be made no more plain, by an enumeration or description of the items composing the one, or the terms of the other. As to the amount of the indebtedness, it is, as lias been already said, stated truly, although the amount of each particular portion of it is not given. We perceive no substantial reason why this should be required. The object of stating the amount of the indebtedness would seem to indicate what degree of particularity, in this respect, is necessary. That object is, that credi-
It is said, that the description of the debt in this deed, is not sufficiently definite to guard against the substitution of fictitious claims. We are, however, unable to perceive how this would be prevented, by requiring a greater particularity of description.
The defendant objects to the note of April 23d, 1827, that it was barred by the statute of limitations when the mortgage in question was executed. It is however found to be unpaid and due ; and it was competent for Swift, the maker, to waive the benefit of that statute, which he clearly did, by giving the mortgage for its security.
As to the note of October 5th, 1844, it is found, that it was negotiated, by the plaintiff, and subsequently, at his request, paid with his funds, and taken up, by Swift, as his agent. The effect of this was, tore-instate the plaintiff as the proprietor of the note ; and he might have recovered on it, in the , samematíher as if it had never been negotiated. The objections to these notes are therefore unfounded.
The superior court is advised to render a decree for the plaintiff accordingly.
Dissenting Opinion
dissented, and gave his reasons to the following effect.
I am constrained to dissent from the majority of the court upon one point, and that the main one in the case. The question involved has been so often discussed, that I shall do little more than to express the conclusion to which I have come.
Two principles are deductible from the decisions of this court as to the certainty necessary in describing securities in a mortgage deed, viz. where the securities or debts exist in a known definite form, they shall be described with reasonable •and practicable precision, so as to show their identity; but where, from the nature of the obligation, the indebtedness is
Suppose Rowlett, instead of attaching the property before any bill brought by the plaintiff, had concluded to take out execution upon his judgment against Swift, and to levy it upon Swift’s equity of redemption in the property mortgaged to the plaintiff’; in such case, it would be necessary for him to obtain the precise amount of the incumbrance ; and how is he to do that ? He makes inquiries, and finds certain notes in favour of the plaintiff, ascertains the amount of them, and the plaintiff’s book account, and discovers that their amount is less than the sum of 1500 dollars ; what then is to be done ? Shall he levy, subject to that amount l If he does, he has no security that other notes may not afterwards appear to sweep away at least a portion of his equity of redemption. Shall he levy, subject to the 1500 dollars and interest Í That amount may prove too large, and hence his levy be void.
The present is the case of a definite debt and specific securities ; but in looking upon the deed, we find nothing definite or specific. What is the amount due on book — itself a form of indebtedness very broad ? Is it 10 dollars, or 1000 dollars ? How much is due by note? How many notes are there? What are their dates? When payable and to whom given ? In my judgment, it avails nothing, that the mortgagor gave the draftsman all the information he had ; though I can scarcely believe he could be so ignorant. He should have been furnished, if need be, with definite knowledge, since the creditor chose to leave to the debtor the giving of the security in the creditor’s absence. Here we have “ a book debt, and several notes, to the amount of 1500 dollars, or thereabouts.” Now, suppose they should amount to 1600 dollars; will not
To sanction the validity of such a decree, it seems to me will be equivalent to saying, that the condition need never describe the character of the indebtedness, whether by bond, bill, or note ; and that, in all cases, it will be sufficient to say, the mortgagor owes a gross sum, or about so much.
Decree for plaintiff.