25 Pa. 282 | Pa. | 1855
The opinion of the Court was delivered by
It was held, in Crowell v. Meconkey, 5 Barr 174, that the want of an appraisement under the Act of 16th of June, 1842, can be taken advantage of by the defendant alone. In Crawford v. Boyer, 2 Harris 384, the same principle was applied to the want of a valid inquisition for the condemnation of real estate taken in execution; and it was declared, in the case last mentioned, that even the defendant himself must take the objection at the proper season. In conformity with this principle it was held that the consent of the defendant to a sale of fixtures without inquisition, precluded him from defeating the title of the purchaser:
If these views be correct, the case is stronger against the defendant in the execution after he has actually secured the payment of his debts out of the proceeds of sale. It is true that the Court thought otherwise in Menges v. Oyster, 4 W. & Ser. 20. But that decision was so contrary to equity that the legislature passed an Act expressly confirming the sale: P. L. 1843. And the Court, on reconsideration, overruled the former decision: Menges v. Wertman, 1 Barr 218. The Act was clearly unconstitutional. The legislature possess no judicial power, and it was a most mischievous error to concede to that body the authority to confirm a title on the ground of a moral right to it, arising from the payment of the purchase-money to the benefit of the former owner, with his acquiescence. This error was acknowledged in a subsequent case by the judge, whose casting vote made up a majority in favour of the first decision: Dale v. Medcalf, 9 Barr 108. The equitable ground for confirming the title of the sheriff’s vendee fully justified the Court in sustaining it, independent of legislative interference, on the principles always applied by the Courts, that whatever in equity and good conscience ought to be done by a vendor, shall be considered as done. The last decision was correct in its result, but the reasons assigned for it have not been adhered to by the judges who adopted them. The first is contrary to principle. Neither can be relied on as authority for anything.
In McPherson v. Cunliff, 11 Ser. & R. 422, it was held that the application of the proceeds of an Orphans’ Court sale to the benefit of a minor child estopped him from impeaching the title of the purchaser. In Wilson v. Bigger, 7 W. & Ser. 111, it was said that this position, taken by Judge Duncan, in McPherson v. Cunliff, “ has never been disputed, and has controlled the cause in
If the defendant in the execution may estop himself from impeaching a sheriff’s sale by previous consent to dispense with an inquisition, or by a subsequent neglect to make objections to the proceedings, he may certainly confirm the sale by surrendering the possession and executing a release. He may also preclude himself from making objections by representations that he had consented to dispense with an inquisition, and that the title was good, if by those representations the person to whom they were made was induced to purchase the property from the sheriff’s vendee.
As the dates of the surrender of possession and release are not stated, no question is raised in regard to the regularity of the revival of the judgment under which the plaintiff below derived title.
We are of opinion that the evidence offered, as stated in the bill of exception, ought to have been received.
Judgment reversed and venire facias de novo awarded.