134 P. 603 | Utah | 1913
This is a proceeding in equity to set aside and annul a judgment. The facts upon which relief was asked, briefly stated, are as follows:
That the plaintiff is a municipal corporation, and the-defendant is a private corporation. That on the 26th day of October, 1869, the plaintiff by purchase and proper deeds of conveyance from the then owners acquired the title in fee to certain real estate situate in Salt Lake County,, Utah, which is fully described in the complaint, and which, deeds, it is alleged, were duly recorded in Salt Lake County in the month of August, 1870. That thereafter Salt Lake-County unlawfully sold the real estate aforesaid for taxes, and that pursuant to said tax sales the auditor of said county pretended to convey a portion of said lands to the defendant and that the defendant through certain tax sales and tax sale certificates, unlawfully made .and issued by said county,, claimed ownership of all the lands in controversy. That at all times since 1869 all of said real estate sold to and claimed by the defendant as aforesaid was exempt from taxation. That thereafter, on the 17th day of October, 1905, the defendant, claiming to be the owner, and basing its claim of ownership upon the tax deeds and tax sale certificates aforesaid, commenced an action in the district court of Salt Lake County, which action was designated as No. 7608, to quiet
The disclaimer mentioned above was set forth as an exhibit and made a part of the complaint. It reads as follows:
“Comes now Salt Lake City, one of the defendants in the above-named action, and, upon agreement that the decree herewith submitted to the court be signed, disclaims any and all interest in and to said premises except such as are vouschafed to it by said decree.”
The foregoing disclaimer was properly subscribed by the attorneys for appellant, and was indorsed by the clerk as follows: “Filed Nov. 25, 1905.” The date aforesaid was also the date on which'the decree was signed. The plaintiff herein also attached to the complaint as exhibits the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and decree in case No. 760-8.
The defendant demurred to the complaint for want of facts, and also for the reason that under our statute the action was barred by the provisions of Comp. Laws, 1907, section 2877, subd. 4, and further that plaintiff cannot recover because it has been guilty of laches and negligence. The district court sustained the demurrer, and, the plain
We remark that appellant concedes that its attorneys-aforesaid were its duly authorized attorneys; but it nevertheless insists that they were without authority to file tbe disclaimer or to consent to tbe decree aforesaid.
In this connection it is urged that under the ruling in the Liebhardt Case, supra, the judgment or decree in case No. 7608 is void as to those defendants not properly served with summons by publication, and since it is void as to them it is void as to all who were defendants in that action, of whom appellant was one. In support of this contention counsel cite 1 Black on Judgments (2d Ed.) section 211. It is true that the author of that work there says that many courts have held that where a joint judgment is void as to one it is so as to all defendants; but the author, also points out in the same section that the courts are very much divided upon the question, and then cites about as many cases in which such a rule is repudiated as of those in which it is upheld. But for the reasons already stated we need not now pass on what the effect of a joint judgment which is void as to one defendant would be, since we have seen, that in view of the separate interests of the different defendants the doctrine applicable to joint judgments can be given no effect.
“An action for relief on the ground of fraud or mistake, three years; the cause of action in such case not to be deemed to have accrued until the discovery by the aggrieved party of the facts constituting the fraud or mistake.”
By the allegations in the complaint which we have quoted in full appellant seeks to bring this case within the last clause of the foregoing subdivision, namely, that it did not discover the facts constituting the alleged fraud or mistake until a short time before this action was commenced. Considering the complaint as a whole, as we must, it is very clear that the allegations respecting the want or lack of knowledge or information on the part of appellant are in the main mere conclusions of law and not a- clear and concise statement of fact from which the lack of knowledge or information is deducible. Such general statements have frequently heen condemned and held insufficient as a pleading of the facts which show a want of knowledge or information concerning the alleged fraud or mistake. In the following cases the question is carefully considered: Kessler v. Ensley Co. (C. C.) 123 Fed. 563; Wood v. Carpenter, 101 U. S. 140, 25 L. Ed. 807; Ware v. Galveston, 146 U. S. 102-116, 13 Sup. Ct. 33, 36 L. Ed. 904; Boone County v. Burlington, etc., Ry. Co., 139 U. S. 685. 11 Sup. Ct. 687, 35 L. Ed. 319; Lady Washington Co. v. Wood, 113 Cal. 482, 45 Pac. 809; Foster v. Mansfield, etc., Ry. Co., 146 U. S. 88, 13 Sup. Ct. 28, 36 L. Ed. 899; Pearsall v. Smith, 149 U. S. 231, 13 Sup. Ct. 833, 37 L. Ed. 713; Lataillade v. Orena, 91 Cal. 565, 27 Pac. 924, 25 Am. St. Rep. 219; Bills v. Silver King Min. Co. 106 Cal, 9-19, 39 Pac. 43. See, also, Hiles v. Mosher, 44 Wis. 601; Ayers v. Morehead, 77 Va. 586; Broda v. Greenwald, 66 Ala. 538; Darling & Moore v. Mayor, etc., of Baltimore, 51 Md. 1; and Electric L. Co. v. Leiter, 19 D. C. 575.
“The rule is well established that the means of knowledge is equivalent to knowledge, and that a party who has the opportunity of knowing the facts constituting the fraud of which he complains cannot be supine and inactive, and afterwards allege a want of knowledge that arose by reason of his own laches or negligence.”
To tbe same effect are Deering v. Holcomb, 26 Wash. 595, 67 Pac. 242, 243; Hecht v. Slaney, 72 Cal. 363, 14 Pac. 88; and Ratliff v. Stretch, 130 Ind. 282, 30 N. E. 30.
If courts of equity interfered with judgments under facts and circumstances as alleged in the complaint before us, they would create infinitely more mischief and harm than they could avoid or cure by their interference. Moreover, in doing so they would in effect repeal the salutary effects of the statute of limitations, the purpose of which is to prevent the reopening of stale claims or demands of any kind or character, even in cases of fraud or collusion, when the means of discovering the facts constituting the fraud are at hand. Again, if it were once judicially determined that a party to an action could, for the reason stated in the complaint, repudiate the authority of his attorneys and escape from the consequences of their admissions made during the progress of the cause, there would be no end to litigation. Just so long as a.party could employ other lawyers to represent him,
It would subserve no useful purpose to review or even to refer to the many cases cited by counsel for appellant in their brief. It may be conceded that under the facts and circumstances disclosed by those cases they are correctly decided. None of them can, however, be given any effect in the case at bar.
The ruling of the district court in sustaining the demurrer and in rendering judgment dismissing the complaint are clearly right, and should be affirmed.
Such is the order. Costs to respondent.