57 N.W. 345 | N.D. | 1894
The single question in this case arises upon the construction of a written instrument, which is in the
This instrument was duly signed, witnessed, acknowledged, and recorded as a real estate mortgage, and also filed in the proper office as a chattel mortgage. The grantee named in said instrument brought an action in equity to foreclose, both upon realty and personalty. The. makers of the notes and grantor in the mortgage were made defendants, and also one Edward G. Hanson. Planson alone defends. As to him it is alleged in the complaint that he is a subsequent purchaser of a portion of said real estate, to-wit: the N. E. % of section 12, from said Brown, and as against him a foreclosure is asked upon said land. Pie demurred to the complaint as not stating a cause of action against him, and, the same being overruled, he elected to stand thereon, and appeals to this court. If the instrument sued upon constitutes a mortgage upon said land for the payment of the debts therein described, then the action of the trial court must be affirmed; otherwise, reversed. We have quoted the exceedingly verbose instrument in full, as our interpretation must rest exclusively upon its wording. The language is unusual. The portion relied upon as converting the instrument into a mortgage on realty is as follows: “And it
“To have and to hold, all and singular, the personal property-aforesaid,” etc.; and all the provisions relating to the power of sale, and the sale, and insurance are confined to personal property. The clause relied upon, when construed literally, may be broad enough to include land, but, when viewed in the light thrown upon it by the other provisions in the same instrument, it is clear that the parties intended to contract only concerning personal property; and hence, under the rule of construction prescribed by the legislature, the contract must be limited to that class of property, and is a chattel mortgage only, and appellant’s demurrer was well taken. The District Court will reverse its judgment, and sustain the demurrer.
Reversed.